2001 Lexus ES300 timing belt advice

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Has anyone changed the timing belt on a 2001 Lexus ES300, 1MZ-FE, or similar Camry V6? Please comment on the job's complexity, special tools, pitfalls, etc.
 
If you are mechanically inclined, it's do able. Biggest thing is to get the bolt off the crank pulley, remove the passenger engine mount, and when you get the new belt on, turn the engine SEVERAL times with a ratchet before you lock the idler pulley in place.

You'll also be pulling the spark plugs, the serpentine belt, and the passenger tire. In addition to making 100% sure the timing marks are lined up perfectly. You'll even have to make your own timing mark on the crankshaft if the belt hasn't been replaced before. To get the crank pulley off, you'll probably need a air tools in addition to the prybar locked into the flywheel.

Or, you could take it to a good technician and drink some cold beers while he busts knuckles and asks for forgiveness for the profanity!
 
It doesn't look that bad to me. The engine is not an interference type, so this one is a good engine to learn timing belt service on.
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You'll definitely need a crankshaft pulley holder to remove the nut though.

Or, you can pay your local Toyota dealer $300 and have them take care of it.
 
Originally Posted By: LT4 Vette
$300 for the entire job ?

$300-ish (depending on the dealer and the promotions that they are running) should cover the timing belt and the drive belts. Unlike Hondas, replacing the water pump during a timing belt service is not a common practice. Replacing the water pump is not as labor intensive as it is on a Honda and failures are rare on the older models, which is why it isn't done at the same time.
 
The shop manual includes instructions to remove the pulleys from the cams during the timing belt r&r. I am uncertain why; is the 1MZ-FE prone to failure of those seals?
 
Originally Posted By: Drew99GT
Another thing you may want to have done is check the valve lash since it'll be easier to do during a timing belt change.


Good Grief!!! Do you mean to tell me that Lexus engines do not have hydraulic valve lifters, an almost universal feature of American engines since the 1950's, which eliminates the need for periodic valve adjustment? Bad enough that they use timing belts instead of chains.
 
Timing belts are evil. Why haven't all manufacturers gone to chains yet?

I realized the 2008 Legacy we just bought has a belt. If I would have researched that more beforehand I would have seriously considered another car.

It looks like a pretty expensive job due to the H engine layout.
 
I've done it on a 2000 Avalon. I'm not a pro and I got it done. There are a few tricks. If you can practice on a 4 cylinder, that would really help :)

You don't need to remove the plugs. You'll need a friend or two to hold things in position when alligning the belt though.

You can remove the pully bolt with a breaker bar and socket using the force from the starter engine. This a pretty freaky way to do it though. (Tightening is a different problem though.)

Mark the old belt and pulleys with paint. Then you can get the new belt on without even lining up the engine w/ TDC.

You need to be sure to remove the wiring harness from the #3 (?) belt cover in order to see the alignment mark when you are finalizing that the timing is right.

Good luck.
 
Originally Posted By: flanso
The shop manual includes instructions to remove the pulleys from the cams during the timing belt r&r. I am uncertain why; is the 1MZ-FE prone to failure of those seals?


I've never heard of any "proneness" to failure on those things. But they will fail sometime. I plan on replacing that stuff every other timing belt change.

Keep it simple this time, I would suggest.
 
Originally Posted By: astraelraen
Timing belts are evil. Why haven't all manufacturers gone to chains yet?


LOL! Who sez timing chains aren't evil? (other than less prone to snapping???)

To me, both chains and belts are necessary evils for if chains and their tensioning rails start to wear, that's where all the trouble comes from.

With many high-end engine manufacturers going after HNC timing-belts these days (which lasts at least 2+times longer than ordinary OE belts as far as service intervals's concerned), one should never be afraid of the T-belt anymore.

Folks who got smitten by outrageous cost of servicing T-belts mainly has to do with the associated water pump changes, idler-tensioning pulleys, etc. where in the case of t-chain, the chain tensioner would still fail as engine reaps the mileage, and water pump may have been neglected/ignored during regular servicing of the engine until it drastically fails.

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Q.
 
Originally Posted By: flanso
The shop manual includes instructions to remove the pulleys from the cams during the timing belt r&r. I am uncertain why; is the 1MZ-FE prone to failure of those seals?


While I'm certainly would like to see you become successful in this timing-belt change endeavour, Ialso sense that you aren't mechanically-competent in this particular regard (RE: t-belt seriving).

Plse take a deep breath and ask yourself if you think you can handle all of these w/o suffering from any mishaps or serious consequences, and/or you have enough mechanical knowledge to take on such task.

Being cheep/economical is certainly not a bad thing these days but granted that you aren't really/serious competent on this job, might as well pass the ball to someone who is doing this for a living. It saddens me to see a nice car goes bad simply because of a bad/poorly done T-belt job done by someone who doesn't know what they are doing.

Please take good care of yourself.

Q.

p.s. Please get a factory service manual and torque (double-check) all the nuts and bolts to spec (esp. the cam/crankshft bolts where they may fail if you don't follow the specs).
 
Originally Posted By: LT4 Vette
$300 for the entire job ?


Are you sure? At a Lexus dealer that would be an oil change..
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