Hey :!: When did you steal those pics out of my book? :lol: I seriously believe a timing belt change to be one of those things that looks like cake, but is really a small pain in the a$$ One of those things I still need to do. Amongst other things Have you done it yourself yet?
The only thing that concerns me is that when I've done timing belts before there is usually a way to adjust the cam belt pulley against the cam to get perfect TDC on the crank and cam.
This seems to rely on the tooth spacing being such that the cam and crank will be at TDC - but this is not how I've seen it in the past (Usually the teeth spacing on the belt will slightly differ from the old belt - or is it simply that you do not have to worry about it being spot on and the cam being out by 1/2 a tooth is acceptable?
--- Out by half a tooth on a 3s-ge and the car won't idle :?:
And to any-one who has not done this before - the hardest part is getting the crankshaft pulley off
I have the Toyota manual, but what I was waiting for were actual live pictures from the mail carrier that has done this 3 times or so showing how to remove the bolt that you supposedly need that custom Toyota tool for. Especially since I have antilock brakes this looks like a job for a contortionist.
I've got 115,000 miles on mine and am thinking with my gentle driving I can wait until 150,000 milles to change the belt and pump. Time will tell. I will wait for a $189 coupon from Toyota and let them do it (with the cost of the pump added on). For some reason I think changing the coolant every two years on my '99 has kept my water pump bearing well lubricated? since I hear no start up noise yet.
This is a related question for someone who has changed out their timing belt
I purchased a 2000 with 130K miles. I am curious if the belt has been changed. I checked the belt visually, and it is a Toyota Belt, but is is also labeled " Made in America".
I am assuming (& hoping) that when the original engine was made in Japan that the belt would be also, thus this may be a replacement.
Has anyone who changed their original timing belt noticed where it was made?
This is a related question for someone who has changed out their timing belt
I purchased a 2000 with 130K miles. I am curious if the belt has been changed. I checked the belt visually, and it is a Toyota Belt, but is is also labeled " Made in America".
I am assuming (& hoping) that when the original engine was made in Japan that the belt would be also, thus this may be a replacement.
Has anyone who changed their original timing belt noticed where it was made?
The manufactured date is printed on the original ignition wires. Take another look at the belt. It may also have a date printed on it. If it does, you have your answer.
"I've got 115,000 miles on mine and am thinking with my gentle driving I can wait until 150,000 milles to change the belt and pump. Time will tell. I will wait for a $189 coupon from Toyota and let them do it (with the cost of the pump added on). For some reason I think changing the coolant every two years on my '99 has kept my water pump bearing well lubricated? since I hear no start up noise yet."
Hello. How did everyone get to the timing belt area when replacing their belt? Did you have to drop the engine down? What were your methods to getting to that area?
This guy on toyotanation changed the timing belt on his camry. I believe its the same type of engine, but i notice a few things different. He changed his timing belt and shows how with pics http://www.toyotanation.com/forum/showthread.php?t=109966
ANd here is a link to those four link pics that sig228 posted, they are all together and a little bit more clear. http://yotarepair.com/3S-FEtimingbelt.html
ANNDDD here is another guy from toyotanation with a camry that changed his timing belt too http://www.toyotanation.com/forum/showthread.php?t=149232
I did a little homework on changing the timing belt I think with all these links and the haynes manual, I have a shot at changing it. If and when I do, I will take pictures and share with u all
The camry engine is VERY similar to the rav engine.
The camry is not like the rav though, as it was sold with a 6 cylinder engine, so changing the timing belt on a camry is a joy, the rav is a pain as there is no room anywhere...
You dont need any special tools to change the belt, its not hard other than rusted or siezed bolts, and tight spaces.
You remove the ac compressor mounting hardware, pay attention to how it all goes together, take a picture maybe.
The power steering belt has to come off, then the motor mounts on the timing belt side, and the timing belt covers.
To access some stuff, you go through the wheel well, some stuff you get at from under the rav.
I found the crank damper/pully easy to get off, the belt was easy to get off, the water pump has a philips head screw at the top that I had to grind down and removed the stub with vice grips, it would have come right out with an impact screwdriver, but there is no room to get one in there.
I replaced just the front part of the pump, with the bearing and seals, the philips head is used to center/align the two pump parts.
Getting the belt on was easy, setting the tension was tricky, you can not rotate the engine backwards at all, the belt just jumps ruining the alignment.
Timing was easy, the crank is set at tdc, and the cam sprocket lines up with marks.
The haynes manual prociedure has you rotate the crankshaft so much then lock down the tensioner, I had to do it 3 or 4 times before I was happy with the tension.
You need a good selection of tools, a 1/4 inch drive socket set helps in the small spaces on things like the timing belt cover bolts.
Some penitrating oil for rusted bolts is handy, a dremel with a grinder thing may help for things that strip out/snap off if your rav is rusty.
I also recomend a new timing belt cover gasket, it keeps the dirt and water out, and tends to crumble when you remove the cover.
I did not have one on hand and used some vacuum hose split lengthwise to replace bad sections, a real new gasket would be easier...
Plan for an all day job, take your time, put the tunes on, drink some beer, clean things up while you have things apart, some paint makes things look nice, I clean and grease up rusty bolts, and inspect all the parts carefully.
You may be able to do it in much less time, if your rav does not have heavy rust on parts. Mine was bad, the power steering mounting bolts were half gone with rust, anything low down under the rav has a lot of rust, I think it went through salt water as some point in its life.
I just replaced timing belt, tensioner pulley, idler pulley and water pump on a 99 AWD with Antilock brakes and AC. Here are some helpful tips for the archives:
0. Remove battery and battery holder plate (10mm socket).
1. You do not need to drain or disconnect the power steering reservoir or lines. Simply lift up the plastic reservoir from it's clip, remove the bolt holding the hardline pipe from the fenderwall/wheel well (10mm socket) and push the whole assembly back towards the firewall.
2. Remove the alternator and alternator/AC belt
3. Remove 3 bolts holding antilock brake module to fenderwall (12 or 14mm socket) as well as the two bolts holding the brake lines to the wheel well (10mm socket)
4. Remove sparkplugs and plug holes with shop towel
5. Jack up front right corner and remove wheel and plastic under-engine panel (10mm socket)
6. Support engine with 2nd jack. Put block of wood on 2nd jack and lift at oil pan. Just take up weight.. to hold motor in place...do not lift Rav4,.
7. Remove right side engine mount (3 bolts to fender wall 14mm socket). The back 14 mm behind the antilock brake box is best attacked from the fender side with those cheap ratcheting wrenches (not the nice ones). Remove the nuts and bolts connecting the engine mount to the engine mount bracket on the front face of the motor. A deep socket is best for this (12mm or 14mm can't remember). One of the nuts is attacked from below. For the underside nut, use some long extensions on a 3/8" ratchet. Lift out engine mount. Yeah it is a pain but it will come out between the old alternator location and the antilock brake module. You may have to loosen the AC tubing brackets in the area.
8. Loosen the PS pump and slide it toward the front of the Rav. (14mm socket with universal joint attachment helps). Remove PS belt.
9. Take engine out of gear and use a 19mm socket to rotate motor at damper pulley bolt. Align tick on damper pulley with "0" advance mark on the plastic lower cover's graduation. NOTE the triangle ~ 1 " to the left of the 0/5/10..etc gauge. This triangle is the 45degree BTDC mark where you later set the belt tensioner. If you are uncertain of the timing pulley's accuracy for true TDC at "0" (they can delaminate and slip) simply put a very long screwdriver or 3/8" long socket extender in sparkplug hole #1 and rotate the engine. Hold the long device on the top of the pistion and use the 19mm socket to turn the damper pulley back and forth over 0 and make sure the piston is at its highest point when the damper indicates "0" .
10. Remove the bracket at the front face of the motor that attaches to the engine mount. WARNING THIS IS TRICKY. The problem is that there is little clearance between the fender wall and the three 14mm bolt heads that hold the bracket to the motor. If you stick a 14mm socket on these bolts, it may be diffficult to get off due to the tight spot and lack of clearance and webbing cast into the bracket. Here are some ideas to help you keep/get out of trouble.
-A. The goal is to crack the bolts loose with the socket... do not try to extract fully as the bolt will drive the socket into the fender wall.
A. Use a shallow 14mm socket. You may wish to simply sacrifice an old 14mm and grind it down. I STRONGLY RECOMMEND YOU GRIND DOWN A 14mm SOCKET AFTER NOW HAVING CHANGED TWO TIMING BELTS.
B. Try to remove the bolts with a box-end 14mm (tough to do)
C. Use penetrating oil to reduce workload.
D. If you are stuck in there with a 14mm and are tired of cursing and are now reading this, here is what you do... use a small screw driver to flick the direction latch on the ratchet and tighten in the bolt then work/wiggle the ratchet to get it loose. Lowering or raising the motor can help a lot here!!!!! You can also twist the motor a littte to... be patient... you can work the socket off... I did this twice!
11. You have to now remove that hefty "well cursed" engine mount bracket. It comes out best from below. Push the PS pump all the way to the back to help. Yeah this job stinks too. Lowering the motor a little helps.
11b. Remove the damper pulley. I simply put the RAV in 5th gear and stuck a pick-axe handle through the wheel bolts to prevent it from turning. I used a breaker bar and 19mm socket to break the damper pulley bolts. A pipe on the end of a ratchet will give mechanical leverage. My pulley was easy to remove by hand. If yours is stuck.. DO NOT PULL OR PRY AT THE OUTER EDGE (IT IS CAST AND CRACKS EASY). Use a correct puller. Note: There are 4 holes in the harmonic damper/pulleys. Two opposite hole are M6 with 1mm pitch (don't know the other two but they seem different).
12. Remove the bolts holding the top plastic timing cover (I recall 4 of these longer bolts... one is in the back near the engine mount bracket so look well. (10mm)
13. Remove the bolts holding the lower timing cover. (10mm socket). Remove both covers from below.
14. Time belts swap:
1. Place the lower plastic cover in place (no need to bolt it).
2. Place damper pulley and bolt on crank (no need to bolt it tight at all)
3. Put RAV in neutral
4. With all plugs out, rotate damper to "0" degrees (align damper "tick" with "0" mark)
5 Follow the toyota instruction pictures and look through the hole drilled in one of the CAM pulley arms and ensure it aligns with the rectangular tick mark on the head of the engine. (Note, my motor had two marks!!! a circle punched dimple and a rectangular tick. After a lot of trouble, I learned it was the rectangular tick that Toyota uses!!)
6. Use a white paint pen/grease pen/china marker and put a dot on the cam (CAM) gear outer edge as close to the engine as possible and place another dot on the head of the engine as close to the cam dot as possible,these two dots are for emergency alignment and make it easy to get out of trouble. When in trouble, just align these dots to get cam pulley in TDC location. TIP: On my 98 RAV, I noticed a bump in the cam gear's inner lip that is near the top of the motor when at TDC. I used this to line up against a mark I made on the engine.
7. Choose a tooth on the CAM gear and mark it with white paint. Then mark the belt teeth on each side of this tooth with a white dot (mark on the outer edge of the belt as the pulleys will remove any marks on the back belt surface.
8. Choose a tooth on the CRANK gear and mark it white. Then mark the belt teeth on each side of this tooth with a white dot (mark on the outer edge of the belt as the pulleys will remove any marks on the back belt surface). Note which marks are for cam and which are for crank..
9. Loosen the tensioner pulley and push it down to stretch the spring and remove tension from the belt. Then lock it in this position. (14mm socket)
10. Remove timing belt and hold against new belt and copy the 4 white dots to the new belt. You can count the belt teeth separating them as a check.
11. Replace the idler and tensioner pulleys, water pump, thermostat, seals, etc if required. (Drain rad if changing pump). You need to loosen and drop AC compressor if changing water pump.)
Tips:
- Take time to disconnect wires around AC, alternator.
- I used tensioner and idler pulley torque of 40 ft-lbs
- Use flat screw driver to pry/twist between old water pump and connection to tubes/flange below plug #1 to break water pump loose after removing bolts
- Remove only required water pump bolts ~3
- Toyota water pump and housing comes with all seals including thermostat seal
12. Place the new timing belt in place and align the dots.
13. Loosen the tensioner bolt enough so that the spring pulls the belt tight.
14. If you have not removed the plugs do it now. Also ensure transmission is in neutral.
15. Place lower plastic housing in place (no bolts) and install damper hand tight and turn motor using 19mm ratchet for 1 and 7/8 turns (DO NOT TURN CCW AS BELT CAN JUMP) . Align the 45 degree BTDC "lonely" triangle with the tickmark in the pulley. At this point of 45 degrees BTDC, The springs in the head will now be at maximum resistance causing the tensioner to be stretched at its maximum. Lock down the tensioner bolt (14mm with torque ~ 35 to 40 ft-lbs). FYI if the belt tension is too tight, the bearings in the idler pulleys will whine when the engine comes up to temperature and stretches the belt from thermal expansion of the block and head). I know LOL.
16. Continue rotating the damper pulley for another 2 and 1/8 turns (thus the motor has turned 4 complete revolutions and should be now at TDC). Complete this rotation with the damper at "0" and verify the cam hole is aligned with the rectangular fixed tick mark. (FYI The engine is a 4 stroke so the crank has to rotate twice before the Cam completes 1 full turn...each crank rotation from 0 is a downstroke and upstroke.).
17. Before you put it all back together, do a test run by starting the car with the battery only. If it starts you are good to go. (Don't forget rad fluid, removing anything that can be thrown, etc). The PS pump, AC, Alternator, timing belt covers, engine mount are not needed when test running
Put it all back together.
Tips:
- Torque for 19mm crank nose bolt that fastens the harmonic damper/pulley is 110 ft-lbs according to we source.
- Lift engine up and down to fit parts close to the fire wall and to remove jammed nuts.
Note if you removed the pump, you should have aslo drained the rad fluid. As well, there is a pipe running across the front (relative to RAV body) of the motor that has an O-ring compression fit into the water pump body. Removing this take a lot of pulling and elbow grease... be strong and endure LOL!
IF THE BELT IS BROKEN OR YOU SKIPPED THE TIMING WHEN SWAPPING TIMINING BELTS DON'T WORRY AND DO THIS:.
1. Put belt on with lower plastic cover in place
2. Set the damper pulley to 0 degrees (TDC)
3. Loosen belt tensioner, push it away and tighten tensioner bolt so that tensioner is not taking up tension.
4. Remove the belt from the cam gear and tuck it under cam gear (belt is still on crank gear at this time and lower plastic cover is in place.)
5. Rotate cam gear so that the drilled hole in cam gear arm aligns with the rectangular tick mark (use mirror to inspect). Use a 14mm ratchet to turn CAM at CAM nose.
6. Install belt over cam and loosen belt tensioner 14mm bolt so that tensioner takes up slack in belt.
7. Repeat steps 14/15/16 just above this.
8. IMPORTANT NOTE. If the motor does not start, it is possible that the cam and crank are out by 180degrees. NO PROBLEM. Here is how you resolve this:
A. Turn crank's 19mm bolt so that damper tick is at "0" and that cam gear hole is aligned with rectangular tick.
B. Now turn Crank 1 full revolution so that damper tick is aligned with "0" but cam gear hole is not aligned with rectangular tick REPEAT CAM GEAR HOLE IS NOT ALIGNED
C. Loosen belt tensioner then push it down and lock in place so as to remove belt tension.
D. Pull belt off CAM gear and use 14mm socket or box end wrench to rotate cam so that the hole in cam gear aligns with rectangular tick mark (use mirror to inspect)..
E. Reinstall timing belt over cam gear , let tensioner take up tension then follow steps 14/15/16 just above this.
Can we get this placed in the Mods/Maint/TSB section?
Elegant explanation, and proper frustration is directed at the engine mount bracket and the damper pulley. I used a 3 foot long pipe to help with the pulley. Royal pain...
Thanks for such a big and detailed write-up, Blue.
Just an fyi to everyone out there still watching this thread, I am currently in the process of doing a timing belt change on my 98 RAV. I am following the step-by-steps described in this thread, as well as two step-by-steps from two official repair manuals that my mechanic gave me to look at. I am making notes and taking pictures that I plan to post on here as soon as I am finished.
On another note, if any moderators are following this, I think it would be very helpful if it was posted as a sticky because many people are doing this change by themselves and I can speak for all of us when I say it's rather difficult to track the threads down relating to timing belt changes, even when using search on the site.
[moderator comment: As suggested... this thread has been stickied July 12, 2010]
We did not get very far today. We were delayed by many things. In the picture you see that the alternator and surrounding components are bungeed out of the way because we could not actually remove them, unfortunately. So far today, the problem list is as follows: all three sockets attaching the engine mount to the fender wall broke in two and must be drilled out. We had a hell of a time getting the engine mount and alternator out. Additionally, we discovered that the backside of the right front brake rotor is more worn than the front side of the rotor, which does not bode well, and the spark plug #4 was filled with lots of oil idicating that the valve cover gasket must be replaced. Luckily, a replacement came in the kit that I got off eBay so we will be replacing that.
I will post more of our progress tomorrow.
Hey :!: When did you steal those pics out of my book? :lol: I seriously believe a timing belt change to be one of those things that looks like cake, but is really a small pain in the a$$ One of those things I still need to do. Amongst other things Have you done it yourself yet?
Well if its in the car YES.
Those diagrams (not pictures) show some guy with the engine out looking like it's apiece of cake.
Having done belts on Peugeot Diesels, Toyota 2VZFE quad cams, and Suzuki GTI's I am about to do my RAV4 belt but the engine is out and i will do it sitting on a chair in a well lit workshop.
As for getting the crankshaft bolt out, could not believ it gave it a big wack with a hammer and 19mm ring spanner and the doggone bolt kicked loose.
And the pulley came off in my hand.
Following my replacement of the cursed EGR VSV, this timing belt/water pump service has been yet another nightmare.
This damper/pulley bolt wasn't budging no matter what I tried. I had read about other people having luck with bracing the bolt/socket and engaging the starter, but that sounded a bit risky to me so I wanted to exhaust all other options. My advice to anyone with a problem pulley bolt - skip the other options and GO STRAIGHT TO THE STARTER METHOD. This was so quick and easy and I'm kicking myself for wasting so much time trying breaker bars and pneumatic impact wrenches. :wall
I didn't brace the breaker&socket against the frame as mentioned by others. I used a pipe extension and braced against the floor. Re-installed the battery, took it out of gear, made sure the parking brake was engaged. When I turned it over, there was no grinding of the starter or any other alarming issues I was afraid would happen. Instantaneous and easy. Of course, now I still have a pulley that is stuck to the end of the shaft, but I'll be renting a puller tool for this from the local Checker Auto.
Other recommendations/hints for this work:
1. Flex-head ratcheting socket wrenches are very handy for the tight spaces you have to work in on this engine. I know that in one case (I don't recall which bolt) using one of these was the only way I could get the bolt out.
2. Removing the right side engine mount was easy. Removing the bracket between the engine mount and the block had me scratching my head. Haynes does not tell you how many bolts need to be removed from the engine block connection (three). I could not see the third bolt at all and didn't know to even look for it. After some frustration, I checked the service manual pdfs I had downloaded. Sure enough, they indicate three bolts to be removed. Hidden between two "webs" on the cast iron bracket.
I also plan on replacing all of the end shaft seals while I'm in there. Will follow up if that turns out to be another "learning experience".
So I’ve read a lot of post on what people have really recommended for power increasing for the RAV4. I’m wondering when modding what should I do to the flat 2.0 for the 1gen. Also if that’s not an option would using the Tacoma 2.1 or 2.7 or 3.4 motors be a better bet
I am replacing the timing belt on my 97. I had the cam gear move on me when removing it to replace the seal. It had moved clockwise off the timing mark a little. I rotated the cam gear manually to get back to the timing mark (with the belt off).
The crank was on the TDC when I rotated the cam...
Hi Gang,
I have been in a mission and it's to fix the delay starting of my Rav4. I have tried almost everything and was able to pin point the area of testing/ fixing.
The injectors are the only thing I have not inspect, cleaned or treat.
What is the best bet in testing, cleaning and if I...
Instrument Panel LED Conversion and Polarity
I couldn't find anything for the polarity of the instrument panel circuit board so by trial and error here it is. Note: LEDs unlike regular bulbs must be oriented properly by polarity.
Instrument panel lights from right to left (as seen from the...
Okay, this works and I believe it is superior to the OE hoses, no steel to corrode, stainless steel wrap instead of cloth, much less expensive, easy to do, and it looks kool,
Use the following to make your own manual transmission hoses.
1) 6 ft @ $2.50 ft - LEDAUT AN6 Stainless Steel Braided...
One of those things I still need to do. Amongst other things 
Allen52009 · updated 
miles26 · updated 
eodgator · updated 
