Hey everyone, I have a 1988 Celica GT (2.0L EFI) and I'm told the timing belt needs to be 'timed', the belt is new. I have never really worked on cars and I know this is a hard thing to do, but I would like to try it myself. Could you guys give my a run though on what I need to do? -What should I take out to work on the belt? -How do I loosen the belt to work on it? -Sense the belt is not 'timed', how do I know what is 'timed'? -How do I go about changing the water pump when I'm there? When I'm done what do I look/listen for when I try to start the car so I'll know if I got it right or not? Also, there is gas in the tank that has been in there for about a year. What is the easiest way to get it out? Thanks, ~Jaran
Reading between the lines it sounds like the guy did the belt but it's not running correctly? It's not difficult to the timing belt at all, but you need to take a lot of stuff off to do it and have a degree of spanner ability. TBH I would pay a professional to do it in your shoes. You can pay for my flight if you like :mrgreen: If you're really set on it, google for 3sfe timing belt change and you'll get various guides up. The belt itself isn't 'timed', but does have to be fitted with all the timing marks correct, otherwise the motor will run very poorly. The ignition timing is then set by rotating the dizzy. The fuel will be fine, I wouldn't bother pulling it out. Again, if you are set on doing so, pull up the rear seat bench and access the fuel tank from the top - siphon it out. Alternatively you can remove the fuel rail return in the engine bay, short FP & B+ to run the fuel pump, and pump it all out. Will need a strong battery or starter pack to do so. Jon
Thanks for your reply Jon, Could you tell me step by step what I need to do to get the belt fitted right? I'm not sure what you mean by "The ignition timing is then set by rotating the dizzy." could you explain? Also, how do I change the water pump? I don't know much about working on cars, but I would like to learn. All your help is greatly appreciated Thanks, Jaran
grab a haynes service manual to point you in the right direction. i'm a noob and it's helped me many a time.
Yep the Haynes will be a good move in your case. The basics for the changing the cam belt are, remove timing belt end engine mount, plastic splash guards etc. Support the engine with a trolley jack and piece of wood under the sump - this allows you to raise and lower the engine giving you access to the various bits. Remove the engine mount support bracket (PITA), auxillary belts, main crank pulley (can be tricky), then the cam belt covers. You'll then see the belt assembly. Set the engine to TDC (notch on cam pulley lines up, see Haynes) and make sure the bottom end is set correctly at this point. If the motor is running like a bag of crap then I'm guessing it will be a notch out. This is easy to get wrong, and takes patience in re-assembly. The belt is tensioned by a spring and pulley, undo the bolt through this and you'll be able to remove the belt. If you want to do a 'proper job' I'd suggest replacing the belt, the tensioner pulley and the idler pulley, but it's your dollar. At this point you can replace the water pump which is just a few bolts and usually one screw which you have to be careful not to round. You'll have to drop at least some of the coolant to do this job, otherwise you'll get very wet. When re-assembling make sure the notches line up at the top & bottom ends after a couple of manual engine rotations (clockwise!). If it isn't, do it again. The ignition timing is what tells the plug when to fire. The ECU alters this on a whole bunch of different parameters, but it uses a mechanical base setting (10 deg Before Top Dead Centre) to work from. Easy to set with a timing gun (paint the timing marks on the crank pulley white, while you have it off), engine fully warm, timing gun on plug 1, diagnostics bridged, then undo the two distributor bolts and rotate it until you get 10 DBTDC.
