Can we take a moment to realize that this video is being uploaded now in 2022 for a car built 20+ years ago? Not only that and it was worth it because people are still working on them with hundreds of thousands of miles on them. Toyota/Lexus vehicles are incredible. I have a 2001 Lexus ES300 Platinum edition with 268k miles on it.
Here's what I do when I do a timing belt job. After the water pump, the timing belt, the lower cover and the harmonic balancer are reinstalled I fill the engine with coolant and start it up. With the top cover still off I watch the belt going around and listen for any funny noises. I let it run for about 30 seconds, which is just long enough to be sure the engine is timed right and running okay. After I shut it off I look for any coolant or oil leaks before putting the top cover and everything else back on. If there is anything wrong its better to find out before its all put back together. Plus its easier to hear any abnormal noises with the top cover being off.
Your video was the best of the twenty or 30 I watched. Very detailed and the perfect pace for someone to learn. Thank you for the time you spent. Excellent views of what you're working on. Thank you so much.
So this is the third video I'm watching before doing my 2000 Avalon. The other two were by Hardly Moving Productions and The Car Care Nut. I had a question. You used petroleum jelly to lubricate the seal and advised against using silicone grease. Hardly Moving used dielectric grease (which is silicone based) and advised against using a petroleum-based grease. The Car Care Nut didn't lubricate it at all. haha. So I was wondering who's right.
excellent video !!!! don't however use any air tools putting it back together (except harmonic balancer pulley) he over torqued almost every bolt punting everything back together by using air tools (electric or air ratchet will apply more torque than required) average 1/4 Ingersol Rand air ratchet can pull at least 25-35ft/lb - that is 4-6 times as much as the 6/10mm head W/P bolts - highest torque in that application is Alt/PS mounting bolts 28ft/lb outside of that it's a GREAT! DETAILED VIDEO!
Excellent video!! Thank you very much. From the video, I created a 2-page step-by-step checklist of detailed instructions that helped me immensely on my 2000 ES300, 139,400 miles on factory timing belt. NOTICE to DIYers: 1) If you look closely at 43:00 and 51:40, it shows the crankshaft sprocket actually has 2 timing marks (dots). Use the outer sprocket timing mark. The video does point out to use the outer timing mark. But by the time I started working on this project, I mistakenly used the inner sprocket timing mark. My bad. Needless to say, the engine did not start. 2) To remove the harmonic balancer bolt , using my 22-gallon air compressor, I first tried my Craftsman air gun with a 25ft air hose; didn't work. I then borrowed my friend's air gun (model unknown) and a shorter 10ft air hose (less line loss) and the bolt finally broke loose and came out. 3) I personally did not want to us the paper water pump gasket. I bought an OEM water pump gasket from the dealer, $13.50, which is a metal plate with a rubber seal.
Just a word about removing the bracket past the studs at 20:22. The bracket may be slightly too low to allow removal past the studs. Removal of the studs is next to impossible. The secret is to get the engine cradle slightly higher using a jack under the cradle below the crank shaft. A couple of pumps raised it high enough to allow the bracket to clear the fender. I also noticed that the stud in the video seeem to be missing the stud installation splines (cut off?). This is the absolute best video on the subject. Thank you for calling out the socket sizes as you went along. A+++
Excellent video! Yours was the second one i watched. No need for me to watch anymore. The step by step is very well put together. I especially liked added front crank seal as i will install as well. I'm repairing my 2001 lexus RX 300 AWD. My water pump started leaking. So i will be doing a full kit install. Thank for the upload. Keep up the great work! I Look forward to watching future videos on per lexus. This Rx300 has been a great car with 225+. The oil is still clean every 3k. Take care
+Floyd Murray Thank you! We love empowering our customers and showing how to perform DIY auto repairs with our high-quality auto parts. 1aau.to/m/Shop-TRQ
I came here because I have a 2001 lexus es 300 with 94k on the dash. I feel soon I will need the required maintenance, the timing belt and water pump replacement. I'm stoned and looked up how to change a timing belt, because I have done motor mounts, serpentine belts, thermostats myself.... after I seen one car part after the other get taken off, I continued to watch in disbelief at how much time goes into this repair.. I decided to call lexus in the morning for a quote 😂
Good job thank you very much it's a lot of work and it looks difficult you definitely need the right tools but your lighting was very good and educational and I got rid of a lot of fear and I believe I can do it I just got to prepare for it and take my time and don't stress thank you very much
THANKS ALOT I WATCHED MANY VIDEOS. I need to say that this was most informative. Better yet I'd like to say. It's because of your video. I'm gonna go ahead and complete this mission. I'll let you know how it goes.. I do want to say thanks once more. I know I'm gonna save dam near a 1000 dollar's or even more. Regards Mikey
A note of caution for most DIYers attempting to do this job: Toyota/Lexus timing belts come with white timing marks that should be lined up on the cams and crank. This video ignored those marks and used a mechanics professional "feel" to get the tension right. Well, most of us will never do this job enough to get that feel right and will risk jumping a tooth on the belt if we don't use those white line up marks. Please, for your own sake and the health of your engine, use those white timing marks!
@TRQ ... I have one question. I replaced my timing belt about 5 or 6 years ago, and at that time I replaced all the crank and cam seals. My purpose for going in this time is to replace the leaking water pump. (and timing belt) I don't intend to replace the seals again. (They didn't come in my kit, there are no leaks, and I'm selling the vehicle after this) My question is... Can the WATER PUMP be removed WITHOUT removing the cam gears and the top timing cover backing plate??? Thanks in advance.
I’m afraid I messed up Big time . This video could not have been any better in my opinion .. I sure do hope you can help me out…. I😢have a 98 Lexus es 300 … while changing the idler and tensioner pulleys. I turned the crank shaft to acquire top dead center and after turning it a couple of times I saw that the belt was slipping on the crank shaft gear and I don’t know how many teeth it slipped (5-6).. I set crank shaft alignment but cam gears don’t line up … so I went another revolution to see if they would line up then but they didn’t …I don’t know what to do ? Do I set top dead center with crank shaft and then move forward the cam shaft pulleys to top dead center so they all match up ???? I am 70 years old and I’m confused as to what I should do now. Please help me…
Cheers I'm planning to buy 1997 Lexus SE 300. ¿ Question; how much to replace, water pump, timing belt, and seals?? If I'll buy it. To replace it, how much money do I need?? I appreciate your video.
This is definitely “by the book”, done the right way. The other ways to get the crank bolt off include putting a 22mm impact socket with a 1/2in socket size large breaker bar attached to it, wedge the breaker bar against the lower control arm pretty snug, then (god forbid) turn the key to start the car and just tap the key very briefly towards start..just so the engine does a little turn...DO NOT START THE CAR. That small jerk of the engine going into start up is enough to break the crank bolt loose. Is it dangerous? Meh could be...can it damage the engine..ehh yes if you crank it to start too long instead of just a tap of the key into starting the car. but most of us don’t have a torch ...so like the man says...look for other vids on how to do this in a way u can take this chance. but he is definitely doing this the By the book right way. I however did it the bootleg “tap the key / breaker bar way”..lol. Worked tho. I would also suggest using some bungy cord to hold the power steering hose and wiring harness out of your way.
Worth mentioning in my Toyota Solara '99 the sprocket has two holes with threads, other holes don't have threads Couldn't figure out why the 6x1 bolt wouldn't fit! 😄Thanks for the video
Removing those seals was left out of this video. u will most likely need a cam seal removal kit...works best, don’t use screw drivers,etc. Also popping new ones in by hand may not work with just drowning it in Vaseline...get a cam seal install tool from amazon (around 60 bucks)...it will save u tons of time.
I got hung up with it too, but they're just marks in the end. The real test is when he rotates the engine several times to make sure the marks on all three pulleys line up.
I wanna give caution to the way he says to tension the alternator and the power steering serpentine belts. He’s not wrong on how to tell you’re at the right tension, but I would honestly just go until the belts are both reasonably tight. If they’re too loose, you will get a really terrible belt squeal.
lets also mention the fact that e f's you over i followed the video exactly and where he removes the camshaft bolts mine kept slipping on the timing belt because he had removed the tensioner prior which makes the timing belt slip. thanks now i have to call a mechanic very disappointed
57:10 when you’re torquing the cam gears, I noticed that even though you put the breaker bar on the bottom, the belt still moved forward a bit when you toques the rear cam gear. Does that movement not throw off the timing?
Why does this process have to be so tedious to replace couple rubber belts? A better question is why use something that wears out easily when it is essential to the vehicles operation? I thought engineers were intelligent...
