My grandson recently bought a 99 camry w the 3000 V6 engine w a bad water pump. Being short on funds, he enlisted his Papa to help. We have removed all the old parts and are currently trying to reinstall the new timing belt. I removed the spark plug at the front of the engine on the passenger side assuming this is the #1 cylinder and raised the piston to its highest point. But when I go to align the mark (very hard to find) on the crankcase pulley with the keyway, the mark on the pulley points no where near the 0 on the lower belt cover which I just assumed was TDC. Is there another mark I should be aligning to? Also as I try bring the cams to TDC, because of internal springs, only the most forward cam will stop anywhere near the top (again I am assuming that 12 o'clock would be TDC. Can anyone help me with this? I am an old hotrodder but am baffled by new technology.

 

The No 1 cylinder is located on the rear cylinder bank (closest to firewall) and on the far passengers side.

No need to use cylinder height but can use as a check. The crank timing belt pulley has a dimple under one tooth. Rotate crank until the dimple is at the top and under the mark on the oil pump body.

If unsure, side lower timing belt cover and crank pulley on to check for TDC based on timing cover marks.

The No 1 cylinder bank cam pulley has a line under one tooth.
Rotate pulley until the line is at the top and under a dot/dimple on the engine. Ditto for the other pulley but look for a notch on the engine.

At engine TDC compression stroke, the valves should be closed and as such no cam/valve spring force on the cam.

The link below might help.

DIY: How to replace a timing belt on 1MZ-FE

Disregard any references to index lines on the belt. Toyota brand belts come with these lines while after market may not.

Once the belt is fully installed. Rotate engine 2 times CW and recheck timing marks! Its possible with the release of the tensioner, a pulley can rotate and change the timing.