Outer Limits 4x4 Board

The timing belt light just came on in my LN106 hilux.Ive never changed a hilux belt before,so ive had a look and read the manual.My question is,would it be easier if i remove the radiator and would it be the go to replace the waterpump while its apart,the old water pump is still ok.Ive ordered one from toyota because its a gates belt,ive read that gates belts are best used,is this true? Anyother tip are greatly appreciated
Thanx
Dasha

Hi mate you talking to petrol or diesel motor?

I've done one on the 2.8L diesel and it was relatively straight forward. From memory it was far easier to work on if you pull the radiator, being 4 bolts it's no drama to pull out. You can replace the water pump if you want but if you've had good cooling and no leaks then I wouldn't bother. Remember the injector pump needs its timing mark aligned too, so between the crank, cam and pump needing to all line up it can be a bit fiddly.

Make sure you rotate the engine through a couple of revolutions and recheck your timing marks as from memory I lost a tooth on the injector pump once the slack was wound out of it. Careful putting the balancer back on the crank as the keyways are known to be damaged in removal/installation. Apart from that I don't think there's many surprises for you here.

Good luck!

You should consider fitting new tensioner bolts as I have seen these break in service just after a belt change.
Nothing worse than doing the job twice for the sake of a couple of $$

would i better off changing the whole tensioner and bolt ?

yep change the whole tensioner i had a so called hilux mechanic do my timing and 15000ks later the tensioner collapsed.

dasha wrote:would i better off changing the whole tensioner and bolt ?

Tensioner for sure. Never seen tensioner bolts let go but I guess for a couple of $$ why not. Gates should do a kit which includes a belt, tensioner and seal/s that should work out cheaper than buying the bits individually. There is no reason to use a genuine pump unless it is similarly priced to aftermarket (GMB etc). Grab new drive belts to put on too since you have to remove the old ones which you can keep for spares.

If you haven't done a timing belt job before, take your time. Allow yourself the whole day but you should knock it over in a few hours.

Thanks for pointing me in the right direction guys.ive done a few timing belts before on petrol cars but not one on a diesel hilux.I read that sometimes the fuel pump pulley can turn backwards throwing out the timing marks so ill have to keep that in mind.Just got to wait for the parts to come in now and ill give it a bash.
Thanks heaps
Dasha

Loctite the crankshaft pulley bolt because they can work loose over time which will at least wreck the harmonic balancer and also wreck the crankshaft key way which is a very expensive repair.

Getting that bolt undone can be a hassle as well as getting the harmonic balancer to slide off the crank. To change the crankshaft oil seal that comes in the kit (if you go that way) means taking off the crank sprocket that the belt runs on. The sprocket can be very reluctant to slide off the crank and will need at least a puller, more like puller, lots of WD40, hammer taps, swearing, etc ...

Re the timing marks, the injector pump is right on a lobe or something when it's mark is at the right spot, meaning it will never sit on that spot and so the pulley will spring backwards by a few teeth as soon as you release tension on the belt. You will never get it to sit on it's mark by itself.

Another tip is to make note of which bolt went in which hole for the belt tensioner pulley. These can commonly be mixed up as they are similar in looks and length.

You also need to get a decent amount of tension in the belt itself to ensure it isn't so loose as to jump teeth and throw the timing out - being able to just twist the belt 90 degrees between cam and pump pulleys seems to be the rule. And before you decide to reinstall everything, turn the motor over by the crank bolt a few full revs to ensure the timing marks line up properly.