Remotely thinking about doing the timing belt myself...

Yea, im thinking about doing it myself. Ive talked to the dealerships and gotten quotes, they wanted to charge me 800$ CAD for a gates kit, which is 400$ on Amazon, and like 254$ on rock auto... pretty ridiculous. Then theres the labour... yea.

Ive got a buddy whos head mechanic at alfa romeo whos willing to come help out once ive got it all opened up, for the actual timing components part.

Issue is im working outside, no garage. probably would get a little popup tent shelter or something as its very rainy here. Anyways...

My question is, with what I have to take off to get to it, whats the chance of breaking bolts and getting them stuck? I dont know how I would be able to get some bolts out if they break inside the block... and lets assume the worst that theyve never been taken off, ever. 290k km on the truck

Thoughts?

 

You can do it yourself if you have the time, tools, and mechanical aptitude.

• Time: Flag/book time for this job is like...7 hours if I'm not mistaken? That's how long it should take a Toyota mechanic to do the job. This job would easily take me three days because I'm an idiot.
• Tools: I think the full service manual (see shifty's long "stickied" post for all the links, hopefully there's a 2005 manual by now) indicates a couple of special service tools.
• Mechanical aptitude: only you can know this; if you do break a bolt or something, can you get it out? Do you have backup wheels to get you to the store if you need something? Is your truck rusted to where taking stuff off is going to be a nightmare?

The good news is there are probably 10-12 videos online of dudes doing this, and then you have this site where you can periodically post pics or videos and ask for help. Also, not sure what that Gates kit is. Buy the Aisin timing belt/water pump kit from a reputable dealer.

 

Go for it. Watch the YouTube vids and read Shifty’s posts. You’ll need a tool to hold the crank but otherwise regular mechanics tool set. Bag and tag everything you remove. Take your time with electrical connectors as they get brittle with age. Get a good torque wrench and tighten critical components to specs. If your friend is an Alfa mechanic he should have sufficient expertise to keep you on track. Only buy AISIN and OEM. Replace the tensioner and idlers.

 

Don't read my posts, I don't have anything on timing belt stuff.

@Baller has a solid post on the process though. I've linked my personal favorite informative video elsewhere, but there's a few good ones floating around.

 

I could probably do it myself if i had an acetylene torch for the stuck bolts I’d inevitably run into doing it.

 

Ever worked on anything before?

 

Link to said post.
https://www.tundras.com/threads/timing-belt-master-thread-sticky.107240/

Here's a link to the job on my own Tundra. Not a real tutorial or full of pictures but, the videos in my timing belt thread do a better job than I ever could.
https://www.tundras.com/threads/2005-everyday-american-build.74663/page-2#post-2964488

It's really not that bad of a job. An earlier post mentions needing mechanical aptitude but, I'm not so sure there's much to that. I'd say the biggest requirement is following a process. Watch the videos and know what you're going to do next throughout the process. Baggie and label all fasteners and parts as you take them off and note the order in which they were removed. I'm certainly no seasoned mechanic, I'm more of a curious shade tree guy with minimal tools, and I was able to get it done with little problem.

 

Only thing stopping me from doing it myself is that I don't fully understand engine timing. I'm guessing with the right YouTube video I could figure it out.

 

With this in mind, if you've ever changed your oil, brake pads, serpentine belt and alternator, there's no reason you wouldn't be able to do your timing belt.

 

I don't know much about the timing either. All you need to know is how to line up the cams and crank (watch the videos!). Follow the process and there's no need to know the intricacies of the engine.

 

Do it. Not that hard, just removing a lot of bolts.