Hello all,

I've beeen doing a lot of searching about changing the belts in my 99 4runner. I would love to save money by doing it all myself but wanted to know how hard it is?? Do I have to worry about messing up the timing? Anyone willing to Scan directions from a toyota repair man on how to do this i have a 99 3.4 sr5. I read its a good time to do the water pump as well. Any scans/pictures/help would be awesome!! Thansk guy!


H-

 

From this link:
https://www.yotatech.com/forums/show...ht=timing+belt

....you would find these:
http://www.toy4x4.net/timing_belt/index.htm
http://www.lieblweb.com/tacoma/Mecha...cans/index.htm

Hope it helps.

 

I just did mine and it wasn't that bad, but it does take several hours to do if you are doing it by yourself and are changing the water pump too. You also need to figure out how to loosen the cranshaft pulley bolt, ie. impact gun or using a breaker bar resting against the frame rail and using the starter to break the bolt loose. I would say if your dealer has a special going for $250 or less, let them do it. I got a coupon for $209, but I decided to do it myself. I also changed out all the other belts, waterpump and thermostat as well. Also, I bought a special tool from Snap On to compress the tensioner so you can get the new belt on without removing the tensioner itself. Part #YA9370, if memory serves me right. It's about $60. You can get a waterpump online from 1sttoyotaparts.com for right around $100 delivered, it does not come with a thermostat so order that as well. The whole thing really depends on how much you value your time and if you feel comfortable tackling a job like this. I would say you need at least moderate mechanical ability. You can mess up the timing, but you will want to double check your timing marks on the crank pully and the cam shafts before you button everything up. According to the dealer, the 5VZFE is a non interference engine so the valves will not hit the top of the pistons if your timing is off, so at least you won't hurt the engine.