The timing belt in my 1999 Camry
Written: June - July, 2023
This is a non-interference engine, which means that if the belt breaks before you get around to fixing it, the car stops, you pull to the side of the road and call a tow truck. But the engine is not destroyed as it would be with a VVT interference engine. I also presume this means that if you screw up installing a new timing belt, terrible things don't happen, but we intend to avoid finding out.
It is a great video, but it has one major flaw. He does not explain installing the belt using the marks that are typically provided on new belts. See the 5 minute timing belt install video for full details on this.
These guys work on a Lexus ES300, which is also exactly identical. A good video. The following 5 minute video shows the timing belt being installed on an engine that is not in the vehicle. This makes it easy to see exactly what is going on. If you don't watch any other video, watch this one.The guy in the following 3 videos is kind of a cocky pain in the ass. At least he is in these videos. I have watched some of his other videos and they are actually quite good. He may have just been having a bad day or had on too many obnoxious Youtube watchers giving him nasty comments. He mentions past videos, where he skipped over something, and people complained. Of course it is their fault for being stupid, not his for neglecting something important.
He provides a some good information if you can ignore his nasty attitude. You have to pay for that information though (these long winded videos are a total of 63 minute!) Not only that, despite all this footage, he does not give you a bolt by bolt guide as to how to do the job! It is only fair to warn you.
And here are more videos that I found and may have looked at along the way.
As I researched timing chains, I ran across the claim in several places that a Toyota engine is designed to last 250,000 miles (and so is the chain). This is an interesting data point given that my Tacoma has 320,000 miles on it and I intend to be replacing its timing belt soon. That engine is stretching beyond its design lifetime. This Camry on the other hand has 220,000 miles on it, so it still has 30,000 miles to go on its expected engine life. It is curious to me how the Tacoma is is generally much better shape than the Camry, yet with 100,000 more miles on it. To jump to conclusions, Toyota aims to make trucks that will last longer than their sedans. Both vehicles have had essentially the same care, maintenance, storage conditions.
Timing belt intervals I used to hear 60,000 miles, and my literature says that was true for the 1998 Camry. The literature that came with the AISIN timing belt kit I have says every 72 months (6 years) or 90,000 miles for 1999 and newer.
I ordered an AISIN timing belt kit with water pump and new tensioner from "Parts Geek" for about $182. I bought the camshaft seals from the parts desk at the dealer.
The crankshaft seal I bought later, a FEL-PRO TCS-46195. The database on Amazon says the Toyota part for the Camry would be 90311-38034, but it did not like this for the Tacoma. The Rock Auto database did not list the Toyota part for either, but listed the same FEL-PRO part.
I never did end up using the chain wrench.
About $132 for tools specific to the timing belt job. Consider though -- I just had my Tacoma in to the dealer. They recommended some work, including the timing belt (which I intend to do). The estimate for the work is $1951. Round that up to $2000 and consider that I am doing both my Camry and the Tacoma. That would be $4000 all told -- so investing $132 in specific tools is no big deal.
That tool would have been nice also when I get to work doing my Tacoma timing belt also, and I was figuring to mentally split the cost between the two jobs. There is an issue with A versus B versions of this tool. Milwaukee issued a recall on "B" and they should no longer be getting sold. If I get one, I will return it. It will be marked H96A (good) or H96B (bad).
Away we go. June in Tucson. 8 AM and 75 degrees. I plan to work a few hours each morning until the temperature becomes unbearable. I managed to move enough things to pull the car into the garage, which should extend my working hours and hopefully make things more pleasant. This will serve as a "log" of how things go.
There is actually just enough room to work along the passenger sige of the car and under the wheel well fairly comfortably, though it may not look like it.
1 - drain coolant. There is a white valve at the base of the radiator towards the passenger side. Most of the coolant has drained itself due to the water pump issue.
2 - disconnect battery. This is entirely a safety concern and standard practice. I am not doing this yet as I anticipate using the "starter bump" method to loosen the harmonic balancer bolt.
3 - raise the vehicle. My jack stands are 12 inches and I would rather use only 10.5 or 11 inches, so I use some big wood blocks and other items to support the vehicle. I also chock the rear wheels before I begin jacking it up, and I check the chocks after. The vehicle shifts about an inch forward (as you might expect when you think about it). So I rearrange the chocks and supply them front and back rather than just in the rear.
4 - remove passenger side wheel. This would be easier if the bolts had been broken loose before jacking up the car. A 21 mm socket is required. I jacked up this side of the car again and lowered the tire onto a board in order to be able to break the bolts loose. Then I removed the board and then removed the wheel.
5 - remove "apron" behind passenger side wheel. This is held by two 10mm bolts. This is easy to remove, then you are looking at the dreaded bolt holding the harmonic balancer onto the crankshaft.
6 - break loose the crankshaft bolt.
You could do this now, I end up doing it later. This requires a 22mm socket.
I have a worthless worn out pneumatic impact tool. It will not budge the bolt, but this is no surprise. It wouldn't break loose the tire lug nuts either.
Note that the crankshaft will rotate clockwise as viewed from the passenger side. This is important to know if you try the "starter bump" method. It is worth noting that a special tool is sold to "lock" the crankshaft so that this bolt can be removed using a plain old breaker bar. I think this is what the engineers intended. I bought one of these tools to use on a Honda, but of course it doesn't work on a Toyota.
I called it a day at 10:30 AM (outside temperature 86). Not that I was tired or that it was too hot, but most of my tools are in my truck (which is in the shop).
7 - remove "dog bone" (aka "engine control rod", aka "torque strut") and bracket. I removed my cracked and useless coolant overflow tank since it is simply in the way. Remove one 10mm bolt, then pull straight up, it is "plugged into" a rubber grommet like thing under it. Then disconnect the two engine ground wires using the available connectors.
Some people recommend supporting the engine before you remove the dog bone. I found this to be unnecessary. The bone is one of the three motor mounts. I used a floor jack along with a piece of 2x6 as a load spreader under the oil pan. After a few hours, my jack leaked enough to cease giving any support and it just didn't seem to matter. So don't sweat supporting the engine.
Then two 14 mm bolts get removed and the "dog bone" gets ried out. Two more 14mm bolts almost remove the bracket. These two are a mile long and go straight down. Another Y shaped piece is held by three 10mm bolts. Only the one on the engine itself needs to be removed, the Y piece can remain attached to the bracket which then lifts up.
I spent a lot of time trying to figure out where my power steering leak is at. I gave myself an education in power sterring systems, watching videos and such. It doesn't look like it is the rack leaking! It is either the pump or hoses.
9 - move wiring harness out of the way. A wiring harness is draped along the top of the timing belt cover. If any plastic clips remain (mine were long gone), disconnect those, then I used some parachute cord to pull and hold it up out of the way (tying the other end to a spot on the hood.
10 - remove timing belt cover. There are six 10mm bolts. 4 are easy. One is down low. The last is at the very rear. Then you can maneuver the plastic cover and remove it. One bit is under the lower cover but can be slipped out.
11 - loosen support bracket. This is the alloy piece you are looking straight down on that used to support the dog bone bracket. It is held by 4 fasteners. All 12mm. There are two nuts (top front and rear lower) and two long bolts (top rear and bottom front). The top front nut also holds a metal piece that goes to the alternator pivot. It will fall off when the nut is removed (if the alternator pivot is loose, as it should be). The long bolt at the bottom front doesn't have room to be pulled out, so leave it loose and it will come out with the bracket later. The bracket is now loose, but can't come out until the lower timing belt cover is removed.
I worked a bit in the morning, then again in the afternoon. My garage faces west and at 3PM when I was trying to work, the front of the garage was in the sun and temperatures were at 100 degrees, making it pretty unreasonable. I need to work in the mornings. Even if the temperatures get to 100 by noon, it is OK in the shade.
12 - remove power steering belt. First go in from behind the passenger side wheel. Loosen the obvious adjuster bolt (12mm). Next, go in from above to loosen the hard to get to pivot bolt above the pump. This is a 12mm bolt, and I used a deep 12mm socket on my 3/8 ratchet after using a big bar to break it loose. There are two 14mm bolts in this area behind the steering pump pulley. You don't need to mess with these (though I mistakenly used a wrench to loosen both before I discovered to proper 12mm bolt. The pump should now be loose. Shove it up, pull off the belt and remove it. I should replace this belt.
Optional - if you want (as I do) to entirely remove the power steering pump, this is how to do it.
The game now is that bolt on the harmonic balancer. I rigged up the "starter bump" method using a 22mm impact socket and my big 1/2 breaker bar. I tied it with some rope to the passenger side suspension members. Then inside the vehicle and click the key. I tried it 10 times, hearing a loud click each time. The last time the sound was different and I thought I might have had success, but the socket and bar had merely fallen off. Note that I did nothing about relieving fuel pressure or disconnecting spark plugs. I am relying on my own fast reaction if the engine tries to start.
Here is a tip from one fellow that I just discovered when researching this:
Pull the EFI fuse. That removes power from the ECU so there's no way the motor can start, and the injectors won't fire and drench the cylinders with fuel.
I did not do this, but it sounds like a simple and smart idea if you are going to do the starter bump thing. Another way is described here:
Next step - a drive to Harbor Freight. I purchase an air impact for $129 dollars. Their web page advertises 20 percent off for Father's day all weekend. However, the cashier tells me I need a coupon and won't give me the deal.. I take the unit home, getting less happy on the drive home. I try it using my 22mm 1/2 drive impact socket and it does nothing. I return it for a refund. Fooey on them for having a wimpy tool and double fooey for false advertising and coupon games.
Next idea - on the way home, I am wondering how I am going to torque this bolt to spec if I use an impact to get it loose. I decide to fabricate a crankshaft immobilizer using some stout scrap metal in my jumk pile. I use a big grade 8 1/2 inch bolt for a pivot and two metric bolts from the $12 puller kit I did buy and keep from harbor freight. I use my 3/4 breaker bar, reduced to 1/2 to drive two impact rated extensions to my 22mm impact socket. I put a jackstand on the outboard end of this at the pivot for support and am able to stand with my full weight on the end of my breaker bar with no effect!
After a break and some thought, I have two more ideas. One is that I will find my cheater bar. The other is that I will give myself permission to break these tools (and replace them with 3/4 drive tooling if they break). I end up standing and bouncing on the end of my cheater bar expecting something to break and dump me on the floor. At first nothing, but then there is a loud "click". I inspect -- nothing is broken, but the bolt won't just move. I repeat, getting another loud click and the bolt is loose!!
After breaking the bolt loose and less than one turn, it is loose enough to spin out with my fingers! Not only that, I can wiggle the harmonic balancer and get it off the shaft with just my hands and no puller! The metric bolts I used to thread into the harmonic balancer are bent, but that is a small sacrifice to get the job done. I will replace them with grade 8 bolts from Ace hardware and feel good about the whole thing. These have metric 8-1.25 thread.
Some thoughts after reassembling the engine. It was no big deal at all to torque this bolt to 159 ft-lbs. Nothing like the nearly impossible situation that threatened to destroy my breaker bar and 1/2 inch extensions removing it. I have a theory. My theory is that some lazy technician, when he did the previous timing belt job, just put an impact driver on this and tightened the living hell out of it, figuring nobody (and certainly not him) would be doing another timing belt job. This theory is bolstered by the fact that once I broke the bolt loose I could spin it out with just my fingertips. It wasn't locktited in there or held by corrosion.
14 - remove the lower timing cover. This is held by three 10mm bolts. These are easy to find and remove.
Once this is removed the big aluminum bracket (see 11 above) can be lifted up and out along with the long bolt left in it (which can now fall out).
With this stuff out of the way, I have a good view of the water pump for the first time. I have been worrying that my coolant leak near the timing belt cover might be something more serious than the water pump, so this is the time to check it out. I add coolant (water) and look. Water is leaking around the water pump. The gasket failed. It will be interesting to see just what sort of gasket it was.
I head off to church after a bit of work in the cool of the morning. I get home around noon and it is too hot to work (for any reasonable person). (Temperatures hit 108 this afternoon). But by 5PM it is cool enough (dropping to 105 with less sun) to get back to work. 15 - break loose the cam pulley bolts. These are 17mm. You have to imobilize the crankshafts or else you just spin the engine. I used a "wishbone" like tool for the front pulley, jamming it against the A/C compressor pulley. With a impact socket, breaker bar, and my cheater bar, it pops loose. For the rear pulley, I put my big breaker bar on the crank bolt, jammed it against the frame and again used my breaker and cheater to pop the bolt loose. It takes a lot of force, though nothing like the crank bolt. The belt visibly stretches during this, but I suppose it can take it, and I am going to replace it anyway.
Just a note on the belt, it is radically overdue, but looks entirely in good shape. It is the water pump leak that has forced this repair. One fellow with videos online says he has done dozens of timing belts and only seen one where the belt itself actually failed. The other cases were all idler bearings and such -- which is why you get a good kit and replace all that when you do the belt.
16 - position the engine to top dead center. There are 3 sets of marks you have to find and pay attention to. Each camshaft pulley has a mark (mine were marked in white by a previous worker) and should match notches on the rear cover. The crankshaft also has a tooth marked with a "dot". I added some white paint to the crankshaft mark myself.
Note! I also marked the belt at this time and it proved invaluable later when I went to install the new belt. I used white paint (fingernail polish is good) to mark a white line at the mark on the rear and front cam pulley. I also made a mark next to the "finger" below and right on the crank. All this is silly and wasted time if your new belt comes with marks. See the next section.
Second Note: Many new belts are marked to make you life more reasonable. They mark the edge of the belt that goes to the front of the engine. Then solid lines are provided that you should line up on each camshaft. With this you line up 3 sets of marks on each camshaft, and then just have the crankshaft left to fuss with. There are a set of "dotted lines" on the belt that you line up with a mark drilled on the front of the crank pulley. This will be near the "finger" if the enginer is at TDC.
17 - remove tensioner. It is held by two 12mm bolts. Work them each down in alternation so it more or less drops straight down. Then remove tensioner pulley. It is held by a 10mm allen bolt of an odd sort. It would be nice to have a 10mm allen key that fits on a 3/8 ratchet (and I bought one for the reinstallation). For removal, I made do with a regular 10mm key I had using the handle for my floor jack as a cheater bar.
18 - remove idler pulley. Simple with one 14mm bolt.
19 - remove belt!
20 - remove both cam pulleys. Note that they have white marks on the side that will be visible when remounted. The one in the rear has a flange on the outside.
21 - remove the back plate. It is held by six 10mm bolts.
22 - remove water pump. It is held by four 10mm bolts and two 10mm nuts. Lots of coolant pours out. I used a sponge and a bucket to mop it all up. I positioned two empty cans to catch as much as I could, but there is no practical way to avoid a mess. The pump had the metal gasket behind it, which somewhat surprised me. Even the metal gasket doesn't last forever apparently.
This is by no means part of a normal timing belt job. My power steering is leaking like crazy and my inspection of the rack tells me that the leaks are not the rack. As with most major leaks, fluid is everywhere and it is all but impossible to be sure where it is coming from. But the mess is all around the pump. It very well may be the hoses, in particular the hose from the reservoir to the pump looks suspicious, but nothing is certain.
The pump is already loose from the belt removal. The thing to do now is to fully remove the two bolts that were loosened and disconnect 2 hoses. As always, this is easier said than done. The bolts are easy. The high pressure line is pretty easy too. It is held by a big bolt (reported to be 24mm). One fellow called this a "banjo bolt". I used a 1 inch wrench to break it loose, then it was easy to remove with my fingers. Subsequently I have dug up a 15/16 wrench I have that should fit better.
The hose from the tank provided the challenge. It is held by some odd spring clips that resist every effort I made to remove them. What I did was to remove the pump, hose, and reservoir as a unit, fishing it all out from the bottom. First I tried to remove the return hose from the reservoir. The clips are normal and no problem, but the ancient hose is both petrified and crumbles as I pry on it. I decided that the important thing is to preserve the reservoir. I sawed the return hose near where it bends downward. Then I removed the three 10mm bolts that hold the reservoir to the fender. Then down it all goes out the bottom.
Once I had it out, I tried again the get the clamps off of the reservoir hose. I ended up using an abrasive disk in my dremel tool to cut up the clamps and remove them. I'll buy new ones (and a new hose).
With this all out, I ordered $148 of parts from Rock Auto as follows:
23 - replace seals. There are three to be done, two camshaft seals and the seal on the crankshaft. I had never done this before and was quite worried about it. It is no different than anything else -- you just do it.
I had purchased a Lisle "shaft type seal puller 58430" tool and cannot imagine doing the job without it. You can of course use screwdrivers, awls, and spike like tools to pull the old seals and many do. The Lisle tool provides a fulcrum for prying. The main tip I have is to position this as close to the seal as possible in order to get maximum leverage.
I got the two camshaft seals at the dealer parts desk. They were marked 90311-38034. I also got a cam seal installer tool (TATYF2232) and it worked like a champ.
For the crank seal, I purchased a Felpro TCS 46195, I think on Amazon. The material and design look exactly like the crank seals I got from the dealer. To get to the seal you have to remove this big gear thing. First you remove a 10mm bolt holding a little "finger" and then the gear should pull straight off. Mine did not. I had to carefully pry on it. I got it off a ways but then it seemed to jam up, so I pushed it back to start and then coated the shaft with oil. After doing this, I could pry it off without excessive force.
The Lisle tool neatly pulled this seal. As with all the seals, I coated them with petroleum jelly and took care that the inner fold of the seal did not fold back on itself. My recommendation is that once you have the seal on the shaft you should spin and inspect it. If it does not spin easily, something is wrong. I did not have an installer for the crank seal, so I seated it as evenly as I could by hand, then used a brass drift punch to genly tap it flush and even.
I oiled the inside of the "gear" and it slipped on easily and I replaced the finger and its 10mm bolt. Note: The finger goes on concave side towards you. If you put it on looking at a nice smooth rounded surface, you are doing it wrong.
By 10 AM the temperatures are already over 100, so I call it enough for a day.
I put a very thin layer of permatex 82180 on the mounting surface, then on with the new metal gasket and on with the pump. Four bolts and two nuts, all 10mm secure it. I torqued them to 80 in-lbs. It doesn't seem like much. The video seemed to say 53 in-lbs. Some searching online yielded a Toyota document that specified 71 in-lbs. This was all quick and easy.
All done with this by 8:30 AM.
I spend the rest of the morning cleaning up parts (various covers and brackets that I will be reinstalling on the vehicle soon. I use kerosene in a tuna can along with a toothbrush and lots of paper towels. If it doesn't come off with that in a reasonable time, it can stay. By 11:00 AM I am done with that and done for the day. Temperature is 104, but it doesn't feel bad at all in the shade.
(25) - I'm going to start work again by replacing the pressure hose on the power steering. This involves two 10mm bolts (actually a bolt and a nut) that hold the hose against the back of the engine. Once those have been removed the trick is getting at the connection between the hose I want to replace and the hard line that goes to the rack. I did this partly from under the vehicle and partly from above. I got lucky from above and the connection popped loose. You need two wrenches for this. It almost might be worth removing the air cleaner duct and such to get better access from above.
The new line lacked the "tab" that the nut would secure. The other place where the hose should be held has a bolt and a flat tapped metal piece to hold it. I gave up on the latter and used a tie wrap here to secure the line as best I could. My new hose included a new O-ring for the connection, which I replaced. Then I tightened that connection as mightily as I could.
Crank bolt - 159 ft-lbs Cam bolts - 94 ft-lbs Idler bolt - 32 ft-lbs Tensioner - 25 ft-lbs (the pulley with washer behind it) Tensioner - 20 ft-lbs (the two bolts for the plunger) Bracket bolts 21 ft-lbs Cover 10mm - 74 in-lbs Water pump - 69 in-lbs (the 10mm bolts and nuts)
The replacement "SKP" brand pump came with brackets. But one is bent just enough to not fit right. If I could find my dremel tool I would grind a bit off, but once I give up on that search I decide to just put the original Toyota brackets on. This involves pulling the pulley once again, and putting it back on. With the Toyota brackets it mounts on the vehicle nicely.
Now to attach the pressure hose. I reuse the "U" shaped copper washer thing. The trick now is tightening the nut. It requires a 24mm wrench. My 15/16 open end fits nicely, but I can't get enough motion to tighten the thing.
I need either a very deep 24mm socket (so I don't damage the electrical connection), or some other 24mm tool. I ended up using 4 different wrenches in alternation. Each one had a little different shape and a little different angle and could move the "bolt" another 5 degrees. This was an exercise in patience and reminding myself that as long as we are making progress at some point it will be done, and so it was.
Be sure to reconnect the sensor cable when this is done.
27 - replace the backing plate (timing belt rear cover), securing it with six 10mm bolts (easy).
28 - install new idler pulley, 14mm bolt, torque to 32 ft-lbs.
29 - install new tensioner pulley, 10mm allen, torque to 25 ft-lbs.
I dumped in a gallon of coolant. A water pump leak is what forced me to start on this long procrastinated project. I felt it was worth learning if there were other problems before buttoning everything up. The good news is that it is holding that gallon of coolant just fine without leaks.
30 - install both camshaft pulleys and torque to 94 ft-lbs. This was actually no big deal, though it takes some muscle. I have the cam pulley holder tool and with it in one hand and my torque wrench in the other, even at my advanced age I can get it done.
31 - install the tensioner with its two 12mm bolts loosely.
32 - install the belt!!. Some small clamps (like stout clothes pins) would be a big help to hold the belt on the camshaft pulleys until the belt gets tensioned.
This is the moment we have all been waiting for. This proved to be more tricky than I expected. It took multiple attempts before I got it all right. First of all, be sure you know how to inspect the three sets of marks (on the two camshafts and the crankshaft). As long as you know how to verify that things are correct, you can try over and over until you get it right. I found that the marks on the old belt I made at step (16) to be extremely helpful. I put the belt onto the rear cam pulley first. It was not possible for me to get the proper mark onto the front cam pulley without doing two things. First I put a clamp on to hold the belt onto the rear pulley. Second I backed up the front cam just enough to get the tooth I needed matched up. Then it was down to the crank "gear" where similar games were required. Finally the belt goes up and over the tensioner pulley. There is just barely enough slack to do this without any real trouble.
Now to check. I snug up the two tensioner bolts, but I do not pull the pin. Now I put my 24mm socket and breaker bar on the crank and turn the engine clockwise. They say two full turns, but I just watch the marks on the front cam pulley. Once they get back to where they started, you will have turned the crank two turns. Now check all the marks. If they aren't perfect, fix things and repeat this. Once they look good, repeat it again and ensure they still look good. Then torque the bolts on the tensioner to 20 ft-lbs and pull the pin.
Note: If you pull the pin and end up having to remove it later to make adjustments (best avoided if possible), you have two choices. First is that you can try compressing the tensioner in a vise and reinstalling the pin (I did not do this). Alternately you can just start the two bolts and adjust them in alternation a little bit at a time. This will send the plunger straight up. This is what you would do if you were reusing a tensioner.
After all this it was 10:30 AM and getting hot. I was going to persist and get the belt on even if it killed me, but I decided that I would quit regardless once sun started coming into the garage where I was working. Temperatures when I quit were around 105 (but work was still reasonable in the shade).
33 - install the metal cover over the water pump. Two 12mm nuts and two 12mm long bolts. The lower front bolt must be "captive" in the cover when you lower it down as there won't be room to install it otherwise. Maneuver the cover to go over the two long studs and tighten it all up.
34 - install the alternator bracket. This requires taking off the upper front nut you just put on for the metal cover as it goes under that nut (at least it does on my vehicle). The slot end of it goes under the 14mm pivot bolt for the alternator (which you don't need to tighten yet).
35 - remove the crank bolt (mine was quite tight after all the engine rotating with the timing belt install).
35b - install the "disk" that keeps the timing belt where it belongs.
36 - install the lower timing cover. Only 3 bolts for now. A fourth bolt will go in when the upper cover (which goes behind the lower cover at that spot) goes on.
I'll make a suggestion. It actually works out better to install the upper cover at this point, immediately followed by the lower cover. This is because part of the lower cover needs to go over the upper cover.
37 - install the harmonic balancer!! The crank bolt is the big deal because it gets torqued to 159 ft-lbs. The balancer just slides on and has a key. I used my "jig" to hold the harmonic balancer via the two threaded holes while I torqued the bolt. I torqued first to 100, then 120, 140, 150, 159. It turned out to be no big deal. The hardest part was getting my jig loose when I got done.
This was a busy and tragic day. I got everything back together and the job in theory "finished", but the engine won't start and run. Here is the play by play:
38 - install power steering belt (new Bando). This is easy enough. To decide on proper tension I use the rule that you should be able to "flip" the belt 90 degrees, no more and no less. A prybar is important to yank on the power steering pump. Inspecting to be sure the belt is properly in the grooves is very important.
39 - install alternator (and A/C belt). This is very easy given the tensioner bolt. I use the same 90 degree rule to decide on belt tension. When satisfactory, there is a bolt up front and low to clamp the tensioner, and the 14mm pivot bolt should be tightened.
40 - install upper timing cover. The only tricky part is getting the low central bolt under the lower timing cover. There are six 10mm bolts. Drop the wiring harness down on the cover so it goes under the next piece.
41 - install engine mount with 2 long bolts. There is also a 2 piece bracket that bridges over to the engine.
42 - install dog bone
43 - install power steering tank and connect bolts. This was part of my optional power steering leak fix and wouldn't ordinarily be part of a timing belt job.
44 - install coolant tank if you removed it, reconnect the two engine ground wires. Remount the fuze box if you unmounted it.
45 - replace the fender flap/cover (two 10mm bolts). Replace the wheel. Torque tire lug bolts to 76 ft-lbs.
46 - fill with coolant and refill the power steering system
47 - lower from jacks.
48 - reconnect battery and try to start engine.
My engine turns over erratically and never really tries to start. It almost makes me wonder if it is not getting fuel or if there is some electrical problem (did I disconnect something that I forgot to reconnect?)
So I may need to tear it apart again, at least far enough to verify the marks and perhaps even to reinstall the belt. But I won't need to do all that I have already done. I won't have any power steering stuff to do. I won't need to remount the water pump. I won't need to replace seals, and I won't need to remove the camshaft pulleys. So it won't be as much work as what I have done -- and I am familiar with all of it.
Then I spent several hour watching (and rewatching) repair videos to see if I could figure out what I had missed or what I had done wrong. Nothing jumped out, but I did learn for the first time about the marks on the timing belt and how they could make everything simpler. As near as I can tell, I have the timing correct, but I think I am going to pull the belt and reinstall it using the "marks" method.
I pulled the belt and put it back on using the marks on the belt. I also bought a couple of small spring clamps at Ace Hardware. This method, along with the clamps made it simple and easy to install the belt.
Again, it did not start. I was persistent. A couple of times I heard what sounded like backfires. When I got done, there was an exhaust smell in the garage. Most importantly, the P0115 code set again.
So, let's focus on P0115. This is "Engine Coolant Temperature" malfunction. Perhaps my ECT sensor has actually gone bad. This is near where your pour in coolant. By golly, my sensor is simply busted off! I drain some coolant from the radiator and rush over to Autozone to buy a replacement "Duralast" part for $25. You need a 19mm deep (or 3/4) socket.
She still won't run, although it seems somehow "better". I am now getting a P1300 code, which is "ignitor circuit malfunction". The "ignitor" is a flat module mounted on the driver side of the engine compartment. Looking at diagrams, it translates logic level signals from the ECM into beefy signals that drive each ignition coil assembly. It seems hard to believe this has suddenly gone bad (and it is on the opposite side of the engine from where all the timing belt work was done). My thoughts lead to what wire or connector I might have damaged or dislodged.
A quick discussion of the Camry ignition. There are 3 coils, each firing two plugs (one on the back and one on the front of the V6). I say front and back for the sideways orientation of the engine as mounted in the Camry, i.e. front for the front of the car, not "front" of the engine. Note that this car-relative "front" is also what is referred to as bank 1 in some of the diagnostics. One plug fires for the power stroke while the other fires uselessly and harmlessly during the exhaust stroke of the other cylinder. So the ignitor just needs to deal with 3 signals. The ECM sends IGC1, IGC2, and IGC3 to the ignitor. The ignitor returns a single IGF signal for "failsafe confirmation". Note also that inputs from the Crankshaft and Camshaft position sensors arrive at the ECM and are part of this system.
This is called a DIC (direct ignition system) and a key aspect of it is eliminating the distributor. But now we need accurate signals from the crankshaft sensor in particular. Actual failure of the sensor itself is said to be very rare, check the RPM value in an OBD tool.
A quick first session with it without trying to start the engine yielded the following. It sees code P1300 left from several days ago. It offers "freeze frame" data, and a peek at that shows engine RPM of 577. This seems reasonable and suggests that the Crankshaft sensor I have worried about may actually be OK.
Some of the troubleshooting videos I have watched suggest looking at the tachometer on the car dashboard -- but they also say that some models will show it move while cranking and some won't. I tried my 2000 Tacoma, and on it, the tachometer stays solidly on zero until the engine actually starts. This suggests that it will do likewise on my 1999 Camry and will not be useful to examine while cranking.
I have read that some scan tools won't connect without the engine running. This gadget certainly seems to connect with KOEO, but maybe I would get more information with the engine running. But of course if I could get the engine running I wouldn't be doing any of this.
So we pushed the car out of the garage and gave this a try. The first time it ran for about 4 seconds then died. We got erratic behavior when we tried to start it again. Then we got it going and it ran very nicely at 1900 RPM for almost a full minute. When I tried using the accelerator, the engine died.
No codes! The P1300 code I saw once is gone now (I swapped batteries, and disconnecting the battery for any length of time clears the codes.).
The fact that it ran nicely for a full minute confirms to me that I have the timing belt installed properly. Why it won't start predictably and why it won't stay running are the questions now. The gas tank is full.
Tom's Camry pages / [email protected]