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Toyota Camry Timing Belt/Chain Questions

240 messages,  Last post on Sep 27, 2012 at 8:05 PM

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What is this discussion about? Toyota Camry, Engine, Sedan

Messages Page 13 of 24

#121 of 240 belts by caaz

Aug 06, 2008 (8:16 pm)

Let me make it easy for you, lol. 2002-2009 4 cyl. all have timing chains.
2007-2009 v6 engines have timing chains.
2006and older v6's have timing belts and should be replaced about every 90,000 miles or a bit less.
$240.00 is about right for a timing belt., it is Not high.
Last week i purchased a serpentine belt, for my 03 camry, directly from my toyota dealer, .cost.... $26.00 Labor 30 mins.
I hope this helps, i made it nice and simple.
 
Later
Caaz

#123 of 240 1997 toyota camry timing belt by dntlss

Aug 28, 2008 (9:29 pm)

hello there, my sister has a toyota camry(1997) and saturday she was going somewhere and the car just died while on the road so she pulled over and i came to check it out, well i pulled the starter out and checked it,i know it has nothing to do with the car dying,its just something i like to check, well it worked fine but when i put it back in it will not turn the engine, in other words the engine is locked, i got underneath and tried to turn the crank at least a little and it will not budge, im guessing timing belt failure, am i correct in this assumption? i dont see what could make an engine lock up like that, car has oil, it does not smoke but shes not into preventive maintenance at all so ballpark is the car never had the belt replaced at the recommended interval so besides bent valves what else am i gonna have to fix?, thank you for any suggestions

#124 of 240 Re: 1997 toyota camry timing belt [dntlss] by Mr_Shiftright HOST

Aug 29, 2008 (8:37 am)

Replying to: dntlss (Aug 28, 2008 9:29 pm)
to the contrary. A broken timing belt should make the engine turn over easier than normal, so I do not see this as your problem if indeed the engine is seized.
 
Did you check the oil level?
 
Did this happen in a rainstorm or when driving through a deep puddle?
 
Have you tried turning the engine over with the starter motor out?

#125 of 240 Re: 1997 toyota camry timing belt [Mr_Shiftright] by dntlss

Aug 29, 2008 (10:25 am)

Replying to: Mr_Shiftright (Aug 29, 2008 8:37 am)
hey there, thank you for your reply, yes it has oil in it and she just said she was driving it and the engine suddenly quit so she coasted to the next stop, i will be looking at this car tomorrow and i will definately try to turn it with out the starter, something to mention is that when i pulled the starter out i had my sister turn the key and the starter performed flawlesly, well i put the starter back in and had her try it this time and nothing happened, let me point that you can actually see the starter move a hair while is cycling and it looks like it wants to jump out of that hole cause is under such strain, i cannot understand what could make an engine lock like that, the day when it happen it was sunny and it was on a mild hill so i believe there was no puddles but i will ask her,the reason i stated the timing belt was because i figure that if the belt brakes and the valves fall and the piston comes up and hits one real good and bends it and that valve cannot return to its original positon it could stop the travel of the piston,hence the locking feeling, could this be possible or not? again thank you for your input , let me know what else you think it might be

#126 of 240 Re: 1997 toyota camry timing belt [dntlss] by Mr_Shiftright HOST

Aug 29, 2008 (10:33 am)

Replying to: dntlss (Aug 29, 2008 10:25 am)
If the belt brakes the valves are no longer connected to the pistons through the camshaft, so the bottom crankshaft should spin freely even if the valves were jammed tight or the camshaft was seized.
 
You may need to get a socket and cheater bar on the front crankshaft pulley to see if this engine is actually seized.
 
Aside from oil starvation, hydro-lock or a jammed timing chain tensioner (which you don't have) I can't think right off of any other reason for an engine to seize while running down the road.
 
I suppose it could have eaten a valve but even that usually wouldn't cause seizure.
 
I'm just not sure you have in fact an engine seizure issue here. More investigation in that area!
 
I

#127 of 240 Re: 1997 toyota camry timing belt [dntlss] by kiawah

Aug 29, 2008 (10:59 am)

Replying to: dntlss (Aug 29, 2008 10:25 am)
Take the plugs out, when you are trying to turn the engine over with a cheater bar...that will make it easier to turn. Might also want to just take the accessory belt off as well, that would eliminate any frozen accessory from impacting your ability to turn the engine.
 
You also don't need to take the starter out, it wouldn't be engaged with the flywheel.

#128 of 240 Re: 1997 toyota camry timing belt [kiawah] by Mr_Shiftright HOST

Aug 29, 2008 (11:39 am)

Replying to: kiawah (Aug 29, 2008 10:59 am)
I was thinking it might be getting hung up when he tries to start it and it jams in the flywheel. Just groping for ideas here.

#129 of 240 Re: 1997 toyota camry timing belt [Mr_Shiftright] by rearwheeldrive

Aug 29, 2008 (3:02 pm)

Replying to: Mr_Shiftright (Aug 29, 2008 11:39 am)
Wow tore right into it, starter removed, and then installed again.
 
Seems you could do the next step and remove plugs like the last post suggest.The symptoms like starter does not spin sounds like your on the right track Again a broken belt will let it turn over easily unless its so twisted around something at the crankshaft.You should be able to turn it backwards too, easily without cheater bar if you follow the above advice
 
. The plastic cover on top of the engine covering the camshaft pulley you could pryed it back to see if belt is still on the cam. Remove three of the five or six 10mm cover bolts and pry it back.

#130 of 240 camry with locked engine by dntlss

Aug 30, 2008 (12:01 am)

thanks everybody so much for all the points, i will investigate every single one tomorrow and post what i found out so far, i want to point out that i did take one of the belts off(the airconditioned one ) but there is a smaller one behind it so ill take that one out tomorrow as well, i also wanted to add that my sister boyfriend was with me and i had him get under with a socket and a ratchet and thats when we tried to move the crank, actually he even got his foot on the ratchet for leverage but no dice, didnt move an inch, hes not too bright at times so maybe he was hitting something with the ratchet, so tomorrow ill get under it, the spark plug removal is also a good idea(thank you) i forgot about that and i thought of it later, this was all last saturday so tomorrow i will work on it in earnest,i did do also what the gentleman said about removing part of the timing belt cover and i did see it and push it lightly to see if it had a lot of slack but the test was inconclusive cause it was hard to see, again i will take more of it off and check, again thanks everybody!!!!

Messages Page 13 of 24

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