pulliung cam gears...any advice? - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

aosmith · 01-27-2005, 09:51 PM

any advice on how to get these suckers unbolted and off? thanks

Pineapple · 01-27-2005, 10:59 PM

Get a manual and follow the unbolt sequence so you don't bend the shaft. Lube the shaft with engine oil ONLY before you put it in.

aosmith · 01-27-2005, 11:30 PM

we have a haynes manual...is there a better one you would suggest...im sure its in there somewhere...just wanted pointers before i dive right in

Pineapple · 01-28-2005, 08:42 AM

Oh wait cam gear, you mean the timing belt pulley? Or the two cam shafts?
The belt cover is a bitch to remove. You may need to remove the engine mount first. It'll be easier to put belt back if you losen the idler but I don't know if thats possible with engine still in the car.

MR-355-5sfTe · 01-29-2005, 12:04 AM

it can be done with the engine in the car... just a really tight fit. I had to change my timing belt in an elemetary parking lot when it decided to go kamikazi one afternoon... but changing the belt wasn't the hardest part.... getting that fool back in time while it's still in the engine bay... I had to use two little mirrors..(GF's makup) to bounce the timing light around to the mark.... truly fun stuff.... but the cam gears should be no problem to remove. and if I can remember correctly it will be alot easier if you remove the passenger motor mount, and the engine hoist hook on the passenger side as well... them take a 10mm and remove the number 1 timing belt cover, loosen the idler pully ...12mm I think ... remove the upper portion of the timing belt, and have at those cam gears.

aosmith · 01-29-2005, 10:24 AM

i got the cover off pretty easily...gotta love having small hands for this kinda stuff...

jtl · 01-29-2005, 08:57 PM

I can tell you exactly what you need to do and I learned this by having to tear down a rebuild 3 times because of a bad replacement head gasket. Yea, the timing cover is a bit of a bitch to get off and you'll have to remove the motor mount (at least I had to). The idler pulley will have to be loosened off completely and then you'll still have a bit of fun pulling the belt off (its tight). Once you do that and have the valve cover off, look on the camshaft and you'll find midway along its length a section of the shaft that is not round. This squared off section is where you put an adjustable wrench on so that you can hold the shaft from moving when you loosen the camshaft pulley bolt. After that, follow the right sequences for loosening the bearing covers and you're in business.

There are a number of steps I haven't mentioned which you need to do first before removing the camshafts and if you don't have a manual you wil be in trouble. Like I said, I unfortunately have been down this road a number of times recently so I can offer you some hints if you have further trouble. Good luck.

bighoss · 05-14-2006, 10:22 AM

I'm thinking of doing a head gasket change on my own. Can you post a guide with tools needed/gaskets to replace/tips and tricks? Thanks!