jasonbrink

My water pump on my 92 3.0 4runner is leaking. I just turned 100k miles, so I'm going to change the timing belt & idler pulleys while I'm in there.

I was told to change the crank and cam seals at this time to be safe. How much extra work is this? Any write-ups on this? I can't seem to find any...

Is there anything else I should change/look at while I'm doing this? Any other parts I may need than the idlers, crank/cam seals, and water pump? What about the "seals" for the timing cover? Are they necessary to change or can they be reused?



Anyone who has done this (timing belt, waterpump, or even the cam/crank seals) and used a particular write-up, could you post a link to that write-up? I'm trying to get as prepared as I can before tearing into this. I have until Monday May 18th before the parts will be here & I have to start. I do have the FSM, but pictures,hints, tricks etc. from write-ups are always better than that thing.

Also, I ordered a kit on ebay with Aisin water pump, Mitsuboshi belt, and GMB idler pulleys. This comes with the crank/cam seals as well. All made in Japan stuff. It was $140 shipped to NY from CA. With the same water pump at around $90 alone from the the dealer, this seems like a steal. In fact, the whole kit is $50 cheaper than anywhere else I could find online from anywhere for the same parts.

I looked locally for the Aisin water pump and quality idlers, and the parts stores just carry crappy Chinese/Taiwanese stuff that would actually add up to way more than this kit. This is NOT something I want to do twice. I will post details about seller after I receive items and make sure the transaction went smoothly.

Thank you all for any and all help!
Yotatech ROCKS!!!
Jason

bugs1961

I always change the cam and crank seals with a timing belt due to a hard lesson after my first belt change many years ago. About 2 months after changing the timing belt, the cam seal failed and leaked oil all over the timing belt causing it weaken and break. You can make a tool to hold the cam and crank pulleys while removing or torquing the bolts. Look here for what I made and use: https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f116...92/index2.html

Since you are going to remove the radiator, go ahead and take it to a radiator shop to have it cleaned and any leaks repaired.

Change the thermostat with a new one from Toyota.

Unless they are pretty new, change the alt, a/c, and p/s belts.

If the radiator hoses are more then a couple years old, change them.

Take a good look at the heater hoses for signs of cracking, softening, bulges, or leaks.

After you take the cam pulleys off you can remove the steel back cover that's behind the pulleys to make it easy to access the upper idler pulley.

To remove the seals I use a sharp pointed punch to poke a small hole in the seal near the outside edge. Then I screw in a small wood screw into the hole a couple of threads, but not deep enough to contact the surface behind the seal. Grab the screw with a pliers and pull the seal out of the housing. This will prevent damage to the sealing surface that will cause leaks. Make sure the screw will not contact the cam or crank sealing surface.

Kiroshu

oil pump, all belts, thermo stat, rad hoses

jasonbrink

Thanks for the fast reply and tips guys, I really appreciate it/them! I like that tip using the wood screw to get the seals out, that should work very well. Also thanks for the link to the tool you made, I was wondering how I was going to manage those pulleys off of there!

Radiator, all belts, hoses, thermostat are all new. Damn water pump had to go a couple months after fixing all that stuff!

Thanks again, and any more tips or links are CERTAINLY appreciated!

Jason

Catlin

You will find that taking off the cam wheels is a challenge. They are torqued far more than the 80# called for, even 250-300. That steel tool described above is good if you can fab it. I have had good luck making a tool out of 2 x 6 pine. Use a hole saw at the end of a 2-3 ft piece to drill a socket hole.Then drill 2 holes beside it for 3 inch -3/8 diameter bolts. These stick through and will hold the cam spokes firmly. A similar tool can be made for the crank pulley bolt removal. You have to drill 4 holes in the 2 x 6 for it and buy 4 eight mm bolts at the hardware store to screw through the board into the pulley holes. Its a lot easier to work with wood. The 2 x 6 easily handles the job. Don't use spruce - too soft.

While you are in there, be sure to go a little further and replace your knock sensor wire. It will be really brittle on your car and it must be replaced. About a 12.00 part at the dealer. If you don't, it will go out soon and you will have to take everything apart all over again.

UKMyers

Hydraulic tensioner if it was not part of your kit

jasonbrink

How much "further" is it to get access to the knock sensor wire? I always thought you had to remove the whole upper plenum etc. to get to that. Is there an easier way since I will have most of the front part of the engine off?

Also, can the "seals" on the timing cover be reused or do they need to be ordered as well?



GREAT info on the option of using wood vs steel. Thank you. I'm not worried about getting them off so much now that I've thought about it, as I have a ton of, and have access to, any IR air tools made (I work for IR) but this will be awesome for getting them torqued back properly. BUT I know how these things go, and the "simple" things are not always so simple.... like the starter that took me 2 hours to get out tonight... it got dark, I got pi$$ed and started just twisting and yanking & off it came! Why wasn't it that easy when it was still light out and I could see what I was doing? Nothing a few beers can't solve!

UKMYERS-I'm pretty sure I don't have the hydraulic tensioner, my production date is 5/92 and it looks like they started using those in 7/92. PLEASE correct me if I'm wrong, as I don't have it apart yet and want to have all the parts I need ready to go.


Thanks again everyone!
Jason

jasonbrink

bumpity

bugs1961

The knock sensor is under the intake manifold, which is under the upper plenum. Quite a bit of work is involved in removing the intake to get to the wire: removing the upper plenum, removing the fuel injection pipes and hoses, fuel injectors, bypass hose and connectors at the rear of the manifold, and the manifold.

On the other hand, I have done this to two different 3.0s due to water leaks at the back of the intake manifold from intake manifold gasket failure. This gave the opportunity to replace all the top end gaskets and o-rings (you might as well replace the valve cover gaskets) and stop/prevent any oil, fuel, and antifreeze leaks in the future. You can also thoroughly clean the plenum, intake, and throttle body and improve overall performance. Replace any hardened or cracked vacuum lines, put in a new PVC valve and grommet (they get so hard they're like glass and won't seal well if reused). I also replace the PAIR hose from the plenum to the PAIR valve- a short 90 degree elbow- and the PVC hose. If you plan to replace the PAIR hose then just cut the old one in half with a knife and save yourself the biggest hassle of removing the plenum in trying to get the bastard off (it will seem glued on).

Most of the oil slime on an engine comes from the valve covers so I routinely remove the plenum and replace the valve cover gaskets at every timing belt change. The engine stays dry and clean for it's whole life with an occasional hosing out with a garden hose to remove dust.

If you have the FSM and enough skills to do a timing belt then you can do the rest too. Follow the FSM procedures for cylinder head removal up the step to remove the the knock sensor wire.

Take care and have fun,
Bugs

zlathim

I bought a similar kit on ebay when I did the 2uz t-belt in my Tundra. It was a pretty good set. The price is hard to beat, and the components all seemed to be good quality. The kit I bought was from a seller named "volkstoy". Is that who you bought yours from?

jasonbrink

Bugs1961-
Thank you for that information. I think I'm going to go ahead and do all that you mentioned. You have given me the boost of confidence I needed to just go for it. I have a little oil seepage on both sides of the block at the valve covers. I'm betting all my rubber lines are very brittle as well.

Any good places to get a whole "kit" of all these parts or is it best to just order them individually? I see lots of kits that come with a lot of the gaskets, injector o-rings etc but I won't need all of the gaskets in the set.... Also, I'm worried that if I order head gaskets that may kick in the "Murphy's cosmic karma law" and make mine go bad!

The seller I bought from was "panjapaneseengine" a newer seller to ebay, but in the rebuild business a long time. I actually called them to make sure of what I
was getting prior to my order. To my surprise, there was a real person and EXTREMELY knowledgeable man named "Henry" on the other end. He said they actually own a factory in Japan that makes gaskets, called "Stone" gaskets. I guess they are supposed to be a high quality replacement gasket. I've seen them since he told me this, and they seem to be touted as the "best." He also said they import all these parts by the container load from Japan. Nice people, and I would recommend them, especially since they have the best prices on "real" replacement parts.

Thanks again everyone!
Jason