Just as the title indicates, I replaced the timing belt on my 1mz-fe Solara after 7-8 years of use and 96k miles. The belt and pulleys appeared to be in good condition. I reused the pulleys and opted to replace the belt alone.

There was one tough part of the operation and it was getting the crankshaft pulley bolt out. I read articles about how 600 ft/lb impact guns would not remove the bolt. I found this to be true. I received other advise such as using a chain wrench (Which could damage the harmonic balancer) or locking up the flywheel. I do not care for this approach either. What I wound up doing to get this bolt out was pretty simple. I had already purchased the camshaft holding tool from Snap On. I wound up using this tool on the crank pulley to hold it still. I first purchased two 8mmx1.25 bolt. They were about 3/4 to 1 inch long. I purchase flanged nuts for these bolts. I put the nuts on the bolts upside down so the flange from the nut and the flange from the bolt DID NOT MATCH UP. I then put the bolt in the holes of the harmonic balancer. I then used the cam holding tool and put the lugs against the bolt/nuts. The bolt and nut combo helped keep the tool in place. I then rested the tool at 9 o'clock near the frame. I put a piece of wood beneath it to protect any a/c lines. Then I used a 3/4 breaker bar with a 3/4 to 1/2 reducer to turn a 22mm socket. I pulled against the breaker bar with both hands while pushing the car with my foot against the rear of the suspension where it meets the frame at the isolator. This removed the bolt with no problem. Then remove the bolt and pull off the pulley/harmonic balancer.

I hope this helps future users get past this problem. It took me over 5 hrs to come up with this plan so maybe it will save someone some serious time.


Scot

 

Thanks for posting this method. the question is, which snap-on tool specifically did you use? thanks