First time post; forgive my naivety and a good razzing is acceptable as you read on . Got an '89 4Runner, 3VZ, great frame, decent body, runs good but needs some work and for just a few grand it was a steal that I couldn't say no to! Needs crank seals, cam seals, timing, etc. Long story short, pull it apart, TDC everything (all marks line up in unison), crack the crank bolt; still in time all the way around. Break two 1/2" to 3/8" adapters on the breaker bar trying to break the cam bolt on the passenger side. Get a 17MM impact socket and break the passenger side cam pulley bolt no problem. Timing was off a little so rotate crank back to TDC and go at the driver side cam pulley bolt (everything still in time in all three places). Up to now I'm pumped; a little too pumped, and crank on that bolt with all my might.......in the wrong direction, TIGHTENING THE BOLT! Didn't break or shear the bolt but made 3 pretty good "cracks" as when you break a bolt that you're loosing. As my wife said; "the look in your eyes!!" Quickly re-time everything (I think); get the holder and break the driver's side bolt like my life depended on it! Re-rotate crank; crank lines up to TDC (of course); passenger side cam still TDC (both pin & pulley hold true to TDC according to the metal cover) but the driver's side pulley (which I hung like an ape onto ) is off almost 1/2 rotation from the timing marks (both pin & pulley marks are off in unison). What in the world did I do?!!? How is that even possible? Belt slip? Cam rotate without pulley, pulley without the cam? Is that even possible? With me ape-hanging did I just destroy my cam? Since the cam has the pin that sits in the pulley how can any of this even be possible?

So the optimistic side of me is like, just pull the belt and tensioners and all that off, drop an extension (or something of the like) into the #2 spark plug, rotate the cam (without the pulley on) to confirm TDC on the cam and see where the marks are; yeah? Obviously I can line up crank and cams interdependently (avoiding the overlap of the exhaust stroke) and re-time everything but how in the world could the driver's side cam be out of time from everything else? I won't even go into what the pessimistic side of me is thinking.

I hope someone had a good chuckle at my misfortune, but some insight from some seasoned veterans would be amazing as this is my first 4Runner that I'm attempting to destroy

 

Why do you care where the timing is on disassembly???

Strict attention to this is only necessary when reassembling.

 

Agreed, all that really matters is that TDC is achieved before reassembly. My question (concern a little too) is two-fold: 1.) how did the driver's side cam rotate that far off of TDC with the cam pulley bolts still finger-tight and the belt still being on and 2.) did any damage occur while playing jungle-gym on that bolt?

Not sure I can really answer that until I put it all back together and fire it up, but the more points of view the better!

 

As far as the bolt being over-torqued, my thought is get a new bolt, chase the cam threads with a tap, and as long as you can torque the new bolt to spec I'd think you'd be fine.
I never laugh at someone's misfortune, well, except for a neighbor a few doors down. what a parasite.

 

Do take a look at the pins that fix the cam pulleys on the cam. On mine, both were bent slightly (which probably affected timing). I'd be surprised if the timing belt could hold the pulleys firmly enough to bend the pins when cranking on the bolt, but mine were bent somehow.

 

Appreciate it Jimkola; that was the plan, new cam bolts and crank bolt (not sure if they're stretch or not but I more than likely stretched one of them . Still not sure about how I got that cam so far off the other marks

 

Will do this afternoon; I've been walking around it just looking at it still trying to figure out how that one cam is out of time with the rest of the mechanics , a true mystery as of right now. I'll be taking tension off everything and pulling it apart shortly; a little nervous about what I find! Appreciate the input!

 

If you cross you fingers and have some luck it could be that the timing belt skipped over a few teeth as you were molesting the cam bolt.
not having been there to see how you were holding everything in place to break the bolt loose (or stretch it) I couldn't say for sure.
good luck.