is this dangerous

[The Black Camry]

Is it dangerous to take off the timingbelt cover? i would like to buy some cam pulleys and i was just wondering if i could take off the cover and leav it off with no problems?

[JetspeedCamry]

Well think about it...why would Toyota put a cover on there to start with, if it was all fine to run without one....

[Ken4]

Water, dirt and oil ingress will shorten the life of the timing belt. Imagine driving down a dusty road, then u go thru puddles of mud, I dont think the timing belt would like that, esp if some large piece of stone chip gets lodged between a timing belt tooth and gear. Not to mention the timing belt might slip off the top cam gear. Other than that, I think its fine to run without a timing belt cover, why dont u go ahead and try it?

[Cyorke]

Can you do it, YES. Is it recommended, NO. It is there for a reason. If you are planning on doing this so you can show off your cam gears and you go ahead with it jsut make sure you only take off the top part of the cover that covers the cam gears. This will help things form getting to it a little bit from lower in the engine bay.

Like I said though it is not recommended at all.

[Hajoca]

Get a sheet of lexan and vacuum form a clear cover.

Anyways, which engine do you have? the 3S-FE and 5S-FE (4 cyl's) only have one cam pulley, and the intake cam is driven by an internal gear set on the cams.

[zoni]

cut a hole where the cam gear goes, and then put some plexiglass behind it. seal it up, and you are good.