97 - Broken Thermostat Housing. Any Experience?

How did u get that nut to break free OP? I'm dealing with same issues trying to remove thermostat housing. That nut stripped

Sorry for the delay. Dude it just managed to come off, but it only came off after I ****ed up and bent the stud. Now I'm doing the entire timing belt / water pump job.

Do not hammer on that nut hoping to spin it. You'll end up like me. The water inlet (thermostat housing) broke and the housing on the water pump broke as well.

I tried every specialty socket available. (I bought 3 different sets) Nothing worked. Just soak it in PB Blaster and pray. Good luck.
 
Aircabanman's FOUR Timing Belt Kits

Update: I ordered the AISIN TB kit on Amazon I mentioned previously. Due to Covid-19, it was delayed until early to mid-May. So I cancelled the order. I need this TB kit here before our baby :lmao:

I opted to go with one of AirCabinMan's kits on Ebay instead.

For those that are worried about the price like I was, I discovered Aircabinman offers four different kits for 3rd Gen 4Runners (with oil coolers) with different amounts of OE parts depending on what you need. I strayed away from Aircabinman's kit because of the price. I didn't realize he has several kits.

Here they are...

Kit #1 $207.93
V6 3.4 TIMING BELT KIT & WATER PUMP Genuine & OE Manufacture Parts!

Kit #2 $242.27
Toyota V6 Trucks TIMING BELT+WATER PUMP KIT w/ Hydraulic Ten Genuine +OE Parts

Kit #3 $292.42
15 Piece 3.4L engine TIMING BELT KIT WATER PUMP Genuine & OE Manufacture Parts!

Kit #4 $318.16
TOYOTA Timing Belt Kit Tundra 4Runner Tacoma T100 Belts Rollers Seals PCV

Hopefully this helps others. I wasn't aware he had so many options. In my case, I didn't need all of the drive belts. The $242 kit is exactly what I need.
 
glad you got the stud out. for the person with stripped nut there is a nut extractor that works pretty well so you don't have to bend the stud.:fish2:
 
glad you got the stud out. for the person with stripped nut there is a nut extractor that works pretty well so you don't have to bend the stud.:fish2:
[MENTION=164664]brillo_76[/MENTION] [MENTION=10169]TheDurk[/MENTION]

It’s not out yet. Kit just came in. Getting started tonight.

Quick question. I ordered the replacement crank bolt. But from my research here, the 96-98 crank bolt would have a separate washer from the bolt. And the 99-02 bolt would have the washer connected to the bolt.

I ordered the “older” bolt #90105-16031 which is the recommended fit for my 97, but mine has the washer attached which has been described as the “newer” bolt that is supposed to be torqued to 200+.

Which one do I have and what’s the rec torque?
 

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Glad to see it out:banana:

A remaining piece of the water pump was holding it in when I went to pull it. I took a flathead and broke it off and slid off the WP. Surprisingly I didn’t need heat. It was tight, but I just carefully used pliers and twisted it out.
 
I was hopeful that was all you needed to get it out.

Now I'm struggling to get the cam pulleys off to replace these seals. Crankshaft pulley wasn't difficult due to the threaded holes I was able to get into. I got a chain vise grip from harbor freight and used a piece of old timing belt that I cut to protect the teeth, but that's not doing the trick. These things are really torqued on. I may try an air impact if I can borrow a compressor, or my grandfather may build a DIY tool. (He's bored during quarantine and already repaired everything with a motor on his property) I certainly don't want to buy the special cam pulley holding tool. Any tips would be appreciated.
 
I made a tool for this out of some flat stock and some grade 8 bolts. Do a search and see what others have made. You don't want to go back down the rabbit hole. Mine Looks like a Y one side is straight and another piece is bolted to the long part so it can open and close the head of the bolts at the end of the Y are just long enough to reach behind the openings. Sorry no pics to hard to dig out right now. Maybe a 2x4 with long bolts with a hole drilled in the middle for a the 1/2 extension wacko:
 
love hearing success stories about persistent attempts to get to the solution. good job [MENTION=122363]anormalflame[/MENTION]








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love hearing success stories about persistent attempts to get to the solution. good job [MENTION=122363]anormalflame[/MENTION].

Thanks man. I love this stuff even as frustrating as it may be at times.

It's therapeutic at this point. My mechanic uncle and I used to work on my cars and his together. He passed last year, and I inherited all of his tools. It's good for the soul putting them in my hands and putting into action all that he taught me.
 
Now I'm struggling to get the cam pulleys off to replace these seals. Crankshaft pulley wasn't difficult due to the threaded holes I was able to get into. I got a chain vise grip from harbor freight and used a piece of old timing belt that I cut to protect the teeth, but that's not doing the trick. These things are really torqued on. I may try an air impact if I can borrow a compressor, or my grandfather may build a DIY tool. (He's bored during quarantine and already repaired everything with a motor on his property) I certainly don't want to buy the special cam pulley holding tool. Any tips would be appreciated.

A chain wrench, like to hold pipe, the longer the better.

You could remove the valve covers and stick a wrench on the cam to keep it from moving. If one likes a challenge, this is the route to go.

I used this tool, for $42 from Napa back in the day it has made my life so much easier when it comes to holding pulleys:
Universal Pulley Holder | OTC Tools
 
[MENTION=163346]plcfcng[/MENTION] [MENTION=69868]LittleCaesar[/MENTION]

Tried the chain vise grip on a piece of the old TB a cpl days ago and had no luck.

I ended up getting my hands on a Matco cam pulley holder and crank pulley holder. Reached out to a local 4runner owner from our FB group and a friend with a motorcycle shop. Both pointed me in the direction of a guy with a shop nearby and asked if I could borrow them on my behalf. Turns out the guy worked under my uncle in the past and remembered me from my uncle’s funeral. He told me some funny stories from when they worked together, offered me the tools, and invited me to hang at the shop and put my truck on the lift whenever they have a get together on the weekends. Pretty surreal experience. It’s as if my uncle put the tools in my hand to finish the job.

Now just got to put her back together tomorrow.
 

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Looks good sounds like your on your way to finishing up. If you talk to your uncle in your prayers tell him hi for me.:bravo:
 

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