Planning Timing Belt and Water Pump. Anything I should Know?

[clunker]

1992 3VZE

I found a very small coolant leak that appears to be coming from the water pump. I bought a quality kit with all of the goodies, but I have never dealt with a Toyota timing belt, water pump, tensioner, or anything else Toyota for that matter, and my last belt/pump change was a Nissan 3.0L. Can anyone who has done this before tell me about some unexpected surprises I might encounter?

 

[Blamalam]

I did it 3-4 weeks ago. Honestly, it's a piece of cake. You just have to make sure that you rotate the crank through two complete turns after you get the belt mounted to verify that the timing marks all line up. Don't worry about the marks on the belt, they're going to shift because they're designed that way to reduce wear on the belt.

When you have everything buttoned back up (WP, T-stat, radiator, etc.) loosen the top hose from the radiator, rotate it to face up, and pour your coolant mixture directly into the hose. This will help minimize air in the cooling system and allow your t-stat to open up. If you didn't get a Toyota t-stat from the dealer, you'll probably regret it--that jiggle valve is mandatory!

 

[helo-mech]

Get and read the FSM for the belt change. It is not bad.

Here is a link from when I did mine. http://www.toyota-4runner.org/classic-t4rs/126791-3-0-timing-belt-remove-install.html

If you don't have the FSM, look up at the sticky at the top of the classics page, or PM me.

 

[clunker]

Thanks for the feedback. My kit arrived yesterday, and I noticed that it does not come with a tensioner spring. Does everyone just use the old one? Also, I just assumed there would be a timing belt cover gasket. Does the 3VZE not use one?