Before starting any form of major maintenance on your supra remember to budget properly and double check all the parts that you need.
In this case for doing the timing belt the only part you really need is the timing belt. Though budget at least another extra $100 for un-expected parts that need to be replaced due to breakage, neglect, or things that are broken that you did not take into consideration. Remember to give yourself more than enough time to do the work as well. For me taking my time and enjoying myself it takes about 4 hours to do a timing belt. I allocated 8 hours to myself to do it in the case that anything went wrong and that way I wouldn’t be worried because I wouldn’t be in a panic or a rush. Remember that working on your supra is supposed to be fun and enjoyable. If you run into a problem that you can’t get right away move onto something else for a couple minutes to clear your head.
To do the timing belt right you should purchase the following items (please forgive me for anything I’ve forgotten or neglected to mention in this write up as this is based off memory):
-Timing belt
-Accessory belts (3 of them)
-Can of brake clean
-Gallon of varsol
-Shop towels or rags
Tools that you will need:
-Jack and jack stands that are rated to at least 2 tons each.
-Air impact ½” drive
-Oxy Acetylene (or Oxy/Propane) torch
-10,12 and 14mm wrenches and sockets(shallow/deep 3/8” drive)
-½” to 3/8” drive converter
-3/8” drive extensions (3 inch is the one I used the most)
-Ratchet in 3/8” drive. (I have an air ratchet
)
-Appropriate socket for harmonic balancer bolt (I used a ¾” because I do not have any large metric sockets in ½”)
-medium and large flathead screwdrivers.
-2 foot handled pry bar.
-A puller for removing the harmonic balancer
-plastic “dish pans” for putting parts, nuts and bolts into.
-catch can for draining the radiator
-Wash bin for washing parts in varsol
-Blow gun for compressed air
-Funnel
-Ball peen hammer
-1/2” drive 2ft flex-bar (aka breaker bar)
-1/2” drive torque wrench
There may be some other tools or things that you need to do this job that are evading me at the time but the best thing is to have a fair amount of tools handy to you in the case that you need others.
First things first. Find yourself a nice work area with lots of space around the car. Set yourself up a table or tool cart. Lay all the tools that you need out nice and neat. Organize your parts and work area.
Helpful tips to help make working on your supra a nice experience:
-Keep your hands and workspace clean
-When you are done with a tool put it back on the tool cart/table where you originally set it up. This will help prevent you from wondering if you lost a tool or where you put it under the hood. This alone will help eliminate a lot of the frustration with working on a supra.
-Have a good breakfast or lunch and make sure that you have beverages handy
-WORK SAFE!!! I cannot over emphasize this. If and when you use the torch make sure that you have at least a hose close by in the case of a fire. Wear adequate safety gear.
-Disconnect the battery.
-Allow your engine adequate time to cool down before beginning any work on it.
-Remember to check the torque guide on the online TRSM if you don’t have one for yourself.
The nitty gritty!
Park your supra on level ground, concrete is ideal. Block your rear wheels. Jack your supra up so that the front wheels are off the ground. Place your jack stands under the flat part of the frame that is exposed under the floorboards. Set your supra down gently onto the jack stands and ensure that the car is stable and is not going to fall off the jack stands before removing the jack. This can be accomplished by giving your car a couple of firm pushes from each axis. Remove the jack. Pop the hood.
Remove the rad cap and then place your catch can under the drain spout on the radiator. Open the drain spout, and while the rad is draining remove the top rad hose. Disconnect the wiring harness from the A/C fans. Undo the retaining nuts for the clutch fan and slip it inside of the shroud. At this point your rad should be completely drained. Go underneath the car and disconnect the lower rad hose, while you’re there close the drain spout.. Go back up top and remove the mounting brackets on the rad and then remove the rad, shroud, fan, and a/c fans together as a group. Remember to put the bolts and brackets in your bolt bin! Take your catch can out from under the car and put it somewhere safe so that it does not get contaminated.
Remove the accessory belts. This is pretty straight forward. Release the tension from the belts by using the factory pivots on the alternator and the P/S pump. Also back the A/C tensioner off. Sometimes it doesn’t move so if you take your socket and an extension you can get a bit better angle on it and gently tap it with your ball peen hammer to get it to back off like it is supposed to.
Remove the Cam gear cover.
Are all your bolts and parts in the bolts bin? Are your tools still organized? Take this opportunity to make sure everything is organized again. Also if you are unable to memorize where the parts came from and what bolts goes where, take the time to organize them in a fashion that will allow you to remember where they go.
Next you need to remove the A/C compressor off of the block. Just set it out of the way. Remove the A/C tensioner.
Use the flex-bar to turn the engine over via the harmonic balancer retainer bolt. Turn the engine over until the cam shaft timing marks are lined up with the marks on the black housing plate.
This is one of the places you’ll need the impact and you might also need to use the torch to remove the retaining bolt on the harmonic balancer. If you have to use the torch just heat the base of the bolt. Then use the impact to remove the retainer bolt. Use your puller to remove the harmonic balancer. Usually the key will not fall out of the keyway, but check to make sure that it doesn’t move freely. If it does remove it and place it in the bolt bin so that you don’t loose it.
Remove the lower aluminum timing belt cover.
Remove the spring from the timing belt tensioner then back off the tensioner and remove the old timing belt. Place the new timing belt on following the same fashion as the old belt was placed in. Replace the tensioner and ensure that it is seated properly and screw its retaining bolt down finger tight then back it off a little bit so that it is still loose. Reconnect the spring and it will add the correct tension to the belt. Tighten down the tensioner retaining bolt.
Reverse the disassembly process.
Remember to always double check your work. Double check to make sure that you got the mechanical timing of the engine correct. Make sure that you closed the drain spout on the radiator. You may need the pry bar for replacing the tension on the P/S pump. Remember that after adjusting the tensioner on the Alternator you need to secure it with the larger retaining bolt. When putting the harmonic balancer back on make sure that the key is in place and that the keyway is properly lined up. Gentally tap around the face of the harmonic balancer to get it most of the way down on the crankshaft. Use the impact to suck it the rest of the way down with the retainer bolt. Make sure that you did not over torque the retainer bolt with the impact.
Use a funnel to replace the coolant back into the radiator. Once you feel you’ve completely reassembled your car make sure that you have no nuts or bolts left over in your bolt bins. I hope your work area is still clean and organized and that you enjoyed yourself! Test fire the car, make sure that it runs! Let the car warm up on the jack stands. Once the car is up to temp turn the heater on full bore (max temp, max fan) and continue to fill the rad until the system is burped. Take the car for a quick test drive to ensure everything is working correctly. Enjoy!
-Shane
In this case for doing the timing belt the only part you really need is the timing belt. Though budget at least another extra $100 for un-expected parts that need to be replaced due to breakage, neglect, or things that are broken that you did not take into consideration. Remember to give yourself more than enough time to do the work as well. For me taking my time and enjoying myself it takes about 4 hours to do a timing belt. I allocated 8 hours to myself to do it in the case that anything went wrong and that way I wouldn’t be worried because I wouldn’t be in a panic or a rush. Remember that working on your supra is supposed to be fun and enjoyable. If you run into a problem that you can’t get right away move onto something else for a couple minutes to clear your head.
To do the timing belt right you should purchase the following items (please forgive me for anything I’ve forgotten or neglected to mention in this write up as this is based off memory):
-Timing belt
-Accessory belts (3 of them)
-Can of brake clean
-Gallon of varsol
-Shop towels or rags
Tools that you will need:
-Jack and jack stands that are rated to at least 2 tons each.
-Air impact ½” drive
-Oxy Acetylene (or Oxy/Propane) torch
-10,12 and 14mm wrenches and sockets(shallow/deep 3/8” drive)
-½” to 3/8” drive converter
-3/8” drive extensions (3 inch is the one I used the most)
-Ratchet in 3/8” drive. (I have an air ratchet
)-Appropriate socket for harmonic balancer bolt (I used a ¾” because I do not have any large metric sockets in ½”)
-medium and large flathead screwdrivers.
-2 foot handled pry bar.
-A puller for removing the harmonic balancer
-plastic “dish pans” for putting parts, nuts and bolts into.
-catch can for draining the radiator
-Wash bin for washing parts in varsol
-Blow gun for compressed air
-Funnel
-Ball peen hammer
-1/2” drive 2ft flex-bar (aka breaker bar)
-1/2” drive torque wrench
There may be some other tools or things that you need to do this job that are evading me at the time but the best thing is to have a fair amount of tools handy to you in the case that you need others.
First things first. Find yourself a nice work area with lots of space around the car. Set yourself up a table or tool cart. Lay all the tools that you need out nice and neat. Organize your parts and work area.
Helpful tips to help make working on your supra a nice experience:
-Keep your hands and workspace clean
-When you are done with a tool put it back on the tool cart/table where you originally set it up. This will help prevent you from wondering if you lost a tool or where you put it under the hood. This alone will help eliminate a lot of the frustration with working on a supra.
-Have a good breakfast or lunch and make sure that you have beverages handy
-WORK SAFE!!! I cannot over emphasize this. If and when you use the torch make sure that you have at least a hose close by in the case of a fire. Wear adequate safety gear.
-Disconnect the battery.
-Allow your engine adequate time to cool down before beginning any work on it.
-Remember to check the torque guide on the online TRSM if you don’t have one for yourself.
The nitty gritty!
Park your supra on level ground, concrete is ideal. Block your rear wheels. Jack your supra up so that the front wheels are off the ground. Place your jack stands under the flat part of the frame that is exposed under the floorboards. Set your supra down gently onto the jack stands and ensure that the car is stable and is not going to fall off the jack stands before removing the jack. This can be accomplished by giving your car a couple of firm pushes from each axis. Remove the jack. Pop the hood.
Remove the rad cap and then place your catch can under the drain spout on the radiator. Open the drain spout, and while the rad is draining remove the top rad hose. Disconnect the wiring harness from the A/C fans. Undo the retaining nuts for the clutch fan and slip it inside of the shroud. At this point your rad should be completely drained. Go underneath the car and disconnect the lower rad hose, while you’re there close the drain spout.. Go back up top and remove the mounting brackets on the rad and then remove the rad, shroud, fan, and a/c fans together as a group. Remember to put the bolts and brackets in your bolt bin! Take your catch can out from under the car and put it somewhere safe so that it does not get contaminated.
Remove the accessory belts. This is pretty straight forward. Release the tension from the belts by using the factory pivots on the alternator and the P/S pump. Also back the A/C tensioner off. Sometimes it doesn’t move so if you take your socket and an extension you can get a bit better angle on it and gently tap it with your ball peen hammer to get it to back off like it is supposed to.
Remove the Cam gear cover.
Are all your bolts and parts in the bolts bin? Are your tools still organized? Take this opportunity to make sure everything is organized again. Also if you are unable to memorize where the parts came from and what bolts goes where, take the time to organize them in a fashion that will allow you to remember where they go.
Next you need to remove the A/C compressor off of the block. Just set it out of the way. Remove the A/C tensioner.
Use the flex-bar to turn the engine over via the harmonic balancer retainer bolt. Turn the engine over until the cam shaft timing marks are lined up with the marks on the black housing plate.
This is one of the places you’ll need the impact and you might also need to use the torch to remove the retaining bolt on the harmonic balancer. If you have to use the torch just heat the base of the bolt. Then use the impact to remove the retainer bolt. Use your puller to remove the harmonic balancer. Usually the key will not fall out of the keyway, but check to make sure that it doesn’t move freely. If it does remove it and place it in the bolt bin so that you don’t loose it.
Remove the lower aluminum timing belt cover.
Remove the spring from the timing belt tensioner then back off the tensioner and remove the old timing belt. Place the new timing belt on following the same fashion as the old belt was placed in. Replace the tensioner and ensure that it is seated properly and screw its retaining bolt down finger tight then back it off a little bit so that it is still loose. Reconnect the spring and it will add the correct tension to the belt. Tighten down the tensioner retaining bolt.
Reverse the disassembly process.
Remember to always double check your work. Double check to make sure that you got the mechanical timing of the engine correct. Make sure that you closed the drain spout on the radiator. You may need the pry bar for replacing the tension on the P/S pump. Remember that after adjusting the tensioner on the Alternator you need to secure it with the larger retaining bolt. When putting the harmonic balancer back on make sure that the key is in place and that the keyway is properly lined up. Gentally tap around the face of the harmonic balancer to get it most of the way down on the crankshaft. Use the impact to suck it the rest of the way down with the retainer bolt. Make sure that you did not over torque the retainer bolt with the impact.
Use a funnel to replace the coolant back into the radiator. Once you feel you’ve completely reassembled your car make sure that you have no nuts or bolts left over in your bolt bins. I hope your work area is still clean and organized and that you enjoyed yourself! Test fire the car, make sure that it runs! Let the car warm up on the jack stands. Once the car is up to temp turn the heater on full bore (max temp, max fan) and continue to fill the rad until the system is burped. Take the car for a quick test drive to ensure everything is working correctly. Enjoy!
-Shane
