TimingBelt and Cranks, how hard to replace Options

[sapperk]

How hard is it to replace my belts, and crank? can some one give me a step to step.

[97GTinKC]

I changed mine last weekend, $38 for the belt from Toyota, its pretty easy, easier than my wife's Protege, allow several hours, and disregard Toyota's shop manual where it says to remove all the sprockets, the lower crank pulley is the only one that needs to be removed, you would only remove the rest of them if you were completely dis-assembling the motor or changing the seals behind them, ( I think they list those steps along with their special tools to discourage us from doing it ourselves ) inspect both idler pulleys and the water pump for leaking grease or water and roughness while turning, replace if needed.
If you dont have a manual, go to the public library and copy the procedure steps (and all related steps mentioned) from their Mitchells repair manuals
Steps in a nutshell:
1 remove Rt front wheel and splash shield
2 remove alternator and belt,
3 remove rt motor mount and bracket (these can be hard to get to, have a selection of 14mm wrenches and sockets) also need to support motor on jack, and you can jack the motor up or down a little to make it easier to reach certain bolts.
4 loosen p/s pump (2 bolts), and remove belt
5 align crank on TDC compression stroke and then remove crank pulley (need a puller - and maybe an impact wrench -see below) also should remove spark plugs to make it easier to turn over
6 remove upper and lower timing covers (10mm wrench & sockets) will also need to unclip wires or remove crank sensor with lower cover
7 loosen timing belt idler after checking timing marks ( I marked head and cam sprocket with a felt-tip b4 dis-assembling as the factory marks are kind of hard to see without a small mirror and lite)
change belt, following instructions for aligning and setting idler tension (very important) and re-assemble everything

This sounds easy, but be patient, some of the bolts are rather hard to get to, you can only turn them a short bit with every wrench stroke , just take your time ( and I didnt list the basic, obvious steps like disconnect the bat b4 removing alt, supporting car on stands etc...)
As for a puller, the crank pulley wasn't real tight, but dont pry it off, if you dont have a proper puller, you can improvise with a short piece of steel bar or something, a socket that will fit thru the pulley center and rest on the crank, and 2 6mm bolts approx 2-3 inches long. drill 2 holes in the bar to match the threaded holes in the pulley, set the proper size socket on the end of the crank, the steel bar on the socket and tighten the bolts , it should pop right off. other than that, and possibly an impact wrench for the crank pulley bolt, you dont really need any special tools. the manual shows a long tool that bolts to the pulley to hold it while you remove the crank pulley bolt. should also use a torque wrench on the crank bolt on assembly if you have one and can rig something to keep the motor from turning, maybe a longer hunk of steel bolted to the pulley with a hole for the socket, I just carefully used the impact gun to re-install.

This post has been edited by 97GTinKC: Nov 5, 2004 - 2:42 AM