How to change timing belt on a 91 gt

[burban055]

i have a 91 gt 2.2l dohc.

just wondering the difficulty on changing the timing belt on this model and the cost it would be if i took it into a dealer. I haven't changed one on a celica before.

thanks!

[edwardr]

My reliable mechanic (not a dealer) estimated $550-600 to replace the belt, tensioner, water pump and cam/crank shaft oil seals on my '94 2.2L 5SFE. Dealer would probably be higher. You can get belt/pump kits on eBay for less than $100. I went for a $220 kit that's a little higher quality and also included accessory drive belts, valve cover gasket and spark plug tube seals. Planning on doing it this weekend... allowing at least a full day with 2 of us working on it. It's our first time so won't be surprised if it takes longer. With the money we save, I figure we will probably making about minimum wage when we're done.

More than the money, I like what I learn about a car when I break it down and put it back together for a project like this. The payoff will likely come when I can diagnose and fix a future problem.

[burban055]

Originally Posted by edwardr

My reliable mechanic (not a dealer) estimated $550-600 to replace the belt, tensioner, water pump and cam/crank shaft oil seals on my '94 2.2L 5SFE. Dealer would probably be higher. You can get belt/pump kits on eBay for less than $100. I went for a $220 kit that's a little higher quality and also included accessory drive belts, valve cover gasket and spark plug tube seals. Planning on doing it this weekend... allowing at least a full day with 2 of us working on it. It's our first time so won't be surprised if it takes longer. With the money we save, I figure we will probably making about minimum wage when we're done.

More than the money, I like what I learn about a car when I break it down and put it back together for a project like this. The payoff will likely come when I can diagnose and fix a future problem.

Thanks for your responce, i'm most likely going to do it myself for the expierience and savings.

Any idea if it's true on the early-mid 90's celicas you should replace the tensioner with it.

please let me know how it goes, the difficulty, tips you find out, etc... would reallly appreciate it.

[edwardr]

I'm back with my report on how it went. Took 4 days...probably about 25-30 hours of actual work time. Here are the issues that made it difficult:

Crankshaft pulley - expected this to be difficult based on what I read in this forum but it was worse than expected. I read in this forum that a 19 inch chain wrench would be good to hold the pulley steady while loosening the bolt so I bought one. Chain was too small. Bought a larger strap wrench that fit but couldn't get it to grip, pulley kept slipping. Finally cut a piece of the old timing belt and wrapped it between the pulley and strap wrench. Got enought traction to hold the pulley while using a 4 foot cheater bar to break the bolt loose...about 4 hours elapsed time.

Engine Mount Bracket - My instructions did not say to remove the bracket that's bolted to the block in between the upper and lower timing covers. Took a long time to figure out that's what I had to do. Took even longer to do it because the bolts cannot be seen or reached easily. Socket and rachet won't fit in space. Box end wrench could only turn bolts a few degrees at a time. One bolt couldn't be seen or reached at all from above or below because it was set back in a pocket in the bracket. Found it with a mirror then had to go buy off-set wrenches to reach it. About 2 hours getting bracket off and almost the same putting it back on.

Timing Cover Gaskets - These are reusable parts but mine were stretched out and sloppy. I hadn't ordered new ones in advance so I did the best I could to hold them in place when putting the covers back on. They are really just dust seals so I figured no big deal. After all was back together, about 2 miles into the test drive the car died and would not start. Had to be towed home. Took it all apart again the next day (only took 2 hours now that I had experience and the right tools) and found that a loose piece of the cover gasket had been torn loose by the timing belt and traveled to the camshaft gear where it jumped a tooth or two. Ordered new gaskets, reassembled everything and all is well.

Supporting the engine - A tip I read that worked very well is to support the engine by placing a block of wood on a hydrolic jack and lifting at the oil pan. The engine must be raised a little to remove the passenger side mount. Once it was off that mount, the jack made it easy to raise and lower the engine and inch or two which was just enough to allow access to some hard-to-reach places.

Even though this was a difficult project, I'm now confident enough to do it again on my other cars.

[Pineapple]

Originally Posted by edwardr

Engine Mount Bracket - My instructions did not say to remove the bracket that's bolted to the block in between the upper and lower timing covers. Took a long time to figure out that's what I had to do. Took even longer to do it because the bolts cannot be seen or reached easily. Socket and rachet won't fit in space. Box end wrench could only turn bolts a few degrees at a time. One bolt couldn't be seen or reached at all from above or below because it was set back in a pocket in the bracket. Found it with a mirror then had to go buy off-set wrenches to reach it. About 2 hours getting bracket off and almost the same putting it back on.

Sounds like you're removing wrong bolt. There are two nuts under the bracket which you can get to with socket on extension.