1mz timing belt, idler pulley change

[nikki1970]

Hey guys, hope I can get some swift and good advise. I have a 2000 v6 conquest which i purchased 6 months ago. I was glad that the timing belt was changed before I purchased vehicle and now appreciate that the previous owner did not consider fitting the full timing belt kit and opted for only the belt (what a tight *****). I now am pretty sure that the bearing in the idler pulley is getting noisy and wander what steps there is to just change out the timing belt idler pulley at the top. Can i just release the timing belt tensioner, compress it and reinstall it to release the belt tension and swap out the idler pulley?

HELP I have a 5k trip coming up in 2 weeks and are tossing up chancing it will last and change out later.

[Davo76]

Hi mate, it's quite an easy job to do if you have a little bit of mechanical know-how. I had to do it myself recently.

Firstly, you have to remove the upper timing belt cover(some of the lower bolts can be difficult to get at, go through the driver's side wheel arch and remove the splash-guard at the front thats held on with 2 small bolts, you'll need to do this for later anyway)which requires removing the dog-bone upper engine mount.

Once you've got the timing belt cover off, immediately put a small paint mark on the cam gears and belt, just in case the belt slips while your working, so you'll know exactly what tooth goes where.

The upper idler pulley is right in the middle of the cylinder Vee and can come out now with a 14mm socket.

To get the new one on you'll have to remove the hydraulic tensioner located at the rear of the engine, just above the sump, it's a small silver tube-like device pointing straight down, about 10cm long and attached with 2 12mm bolts. Before removing it, place a small nail or allen key into the hole in the rubber grommet on the tensioner to lock the piston in place. This will make re-installation much easier.

Now you can put a long spanner or socket wrench onto the rear cylinder bank cam gear and turn it clockwise just enough to get enough slack in the belt to re-install the idler pulley.

Re-assembly is the opposite, do the tensioner(slowly "walk" the tensioner in by alternating between the 2 bolts), pull out the nail or allen key(may need pliers), re-install the timing belt cover, dog-bone mount, and inner wheel-arch splash guard and you're done.

Oh, and get the pulley from a bearing place like CBC, same pulley just half the price Toyota will try to charge!

All the best, any problems PM me.

[nikki1970]

Thanks for the reply Davo and good tips. I have chosen to not just swap out the pulley tho and are getting the job done complete (unlike the previous owner.) so wont be doing myself and am lucky to have a realy good workshop doing it for me. they are going to do the full job this time, water pump, belt, pulleys, tensioner and the cam & crank seals. should be good for another 100k now and nothing else to go wrong in that area.

A question tho, how did you get the crank bolt tightened up?

Thanks again.

[Davo76]

Good idea to get it all done, let me know how much it all costs.

To do the idler pulley job there's no need to undo the crank pulley bolt. Takes a big rattle gun to get it off and on.

[Ozzcaddy]

I have a 1999 Camry V6 same engine and the timing belt interval is 150k. Spark plugs are 100k.