99 Camry Broken Timing Belt

[sabbates]

Hi all-

The timing belt on my 99 Camry (5sfe) broke.

Does anyone know of a good procedure for getting the new belt aligned properly with the cam and crank shafts?

All the procedures I've seen assume you can mark the old belt location.

Thanks guys.

[Fortified Souls]

X2 going through the exact same problem right now bump

[Mister_Perkins]

Pull the #1 spark plug out and rotate the crankshaft until the piston is all the way at the top of the cylinder. (use a screw driver or straw). Once your piston is completely Top dead center, Remove the Camshaft and follow the DIY I made:

Easy way to get Gen 3 (3.0-3.5) 5sfe Timing perfect

Once you mark the camshaft and backing plate, Reinstall the camshaft and route the belt around the camshaft, water pump, Idler pully, Crankshaft, then up to the Tensioner. Release the pressure on the tensioner and rotate the motor counter clockwise two revolutions and bring it back to Top dead center. Check alignment. If OK, rotate the timing back to 720 Degrees and tighten the tensioner. The belt between the Camshaft and the water pump should be firm to the touch. If it has a lot of up and down play, its not properly tensioned. Loosen the tensioner and rotate the motor 2 more revolutions and Re-tension the belt.

[sabbates]

Mister_Perkins

How do I line up the crank shaft?

[Mister_Perkins]

TDC?

You pull the Passenger side spark plug out (Cylinder 1), install the crankshaft bolt, stick a long screw driver into the spark plug hole, and rotate the crankshaft until the screw driver Maxes out (Goes all the way up). If it goes up and then starts to go down, rotate it another revolution and try again.

TDC On the timing cover?

Install the lower timing cover and install the harmonic balancer. Line the lines on the balancer up with the marks on the timing cover. Should be set at 0

You can confirm this by removing the #1 spark plug and placing a long screw driver in the cylinder. If your screw driver touches the top of the piston, your at Top Dead center.

After the bottom is set, its easy to get the top aligned.

[sabbates]

Mister_Perkins-

Does it matter if cylinder 1 is at top dead center for the compression or the exhaust stroke?

[71Corolla]

Originally Posted by sabbates

Does it matter if cylinder 1 is at top dead center for the compression or the exhaust stroke?

No. The piston is either at the top or not, the camshaft determines intake/exhaust stroke.

[Mister_Perkins]

if your piston is all the way up in cylinder 1, this will be the Compression Stroke. Your motor will actually go TDC Twice, thats why it's important to make sure cylinders 1 and 4 are the cylinders that are up. Once cylinders 1 and 4 start to drop, cylinders 2 and 3 will start to go up. They will go to Top Dead Center as well.

If you set your timing so that your motor is TDC on cylinders 2 and 3, then when cylinders 1 and 4 are all the way down (Exhaust stroke) The spark plugs will be trying to fire, and your car will not start.

Just make sure cylinder 1 is all the way at the top before aligning the Camshaft Sprocket and setting the timing, and you will not have any problems at all

[ha9981]

My v6 sienna 99 timing belt slipped. I can test for tdc on valve 1 and valve 4. But to get it exact can I then spin the camshaft pulley to adjust it slightly to meet marking. Am I right or can the camshaft connection to pulley have also slipped so the markings are not helpful for precision.

Btw, from my research 99 sienna v6 is non interference right?

[dc_98_cam]

Originally Posted by Mister_Perkins

The belt between the Camshaft and the water pump should be firm to the touch. If it has a lot of up and down play, its not properly tensioned. Loosen the tensioner and rotate the motor 2 more revolutions and Re-tension the belt.

This is important for a successful timing belt replacement.
I bet a lot of people miss this little detail. There should be no obvious slack, particularly on the lower side between the cam pulley and the crank pulley.

Somebody ought to put together a sticky note and post it at the top of the forum.

[JohnGD]

Marking the belt does help the installation but is not necessary. The main thing is aligning the timing marks on the cam and crank sprockets (see DIYs and various manuals).

With the non-interference engine you can spin the cam and crank independently, come back after a beer, line up the marks, put on a timing belt, tension it according to instructions and be running smooth.

The lack of an automatic tensioner does take some time. Because the belt likes to jump teeth as you rotate the crank 2 revolutions to set the tension (tensioner is loose at this point). So I would give it a few more revs and double check that the marks are still aligned.