That timing belt question again!!!!

[DENNIS]

Yes, I still need to do my timing belt before the next season.  Are the parts needed to do the timing belt marine specific?  I know I can get all the parts through Capt. Rick, but I'm on a strick budget since my divorce, she took all my money but left me the boat, which is all I really wanted!!!   I can get a discount through my Toyota dealership and have them do the labor, since I worked there for 15 years and know all the master techs. 
Any feedback would be appreciated.

Dennis

[wakejunky]

your good. the timing belt components are not marine specific. talk to your parts guys they probably have a vendor that can get you factory parts for less than your discount at the dealer. we do it all the time at my dealer. most of the parts have the exact factory markings and numbers on them. especially timing belt tensioner and idler pulleys 

[DENNIS]

Thanks wavejunky,  good info.

Dennis

[DENNIS]

One more thing.  I have an S22, so access may be a problem.  What has anyone done to gain the best access to get to the timing belt.  I'm assuming taking out all the panels. 

Thanks for the advise,

Dennis

[wakejunky]

that's it exactly. the side panels help but the rear panel directly in front of the belt is the one that you have to get out of the way. not gonna lie its kind of a pain to pull it out of there but i think its necessary to do the job. if i remember correctly there is a least 1 screw on each side near the bottom going through a small aluminum bracket and into the floor. once there removed pull it out from the bottom to get past the lip holding it in on the top. you may want to put a prop rod or a couple 2x4's to support the upper panel, both the engine cover and trunk cover are pretty heavy and you could damage some gel coat if its not supported

[neilryp]

I just put my 1999 Epic 22 in the water today for the season in NY State.  The timing belt is original with 400 hrs on the boat.  Timing belt failures can be catastrophic I assume on this engine?  Can the belt be checked?  Is changing the belt a project a handy person can do?  Does anyone know how many hours the job should take?

[wakejunky]

yes if the belt breaks the valves bend. you can pull the drivers side cam cap off, 4 or so small 10mm head bolts and its off you can get a glimpse and you could turn the crank to view the whole belt. some times its obvious your belt is worn and other times its not. if its brittle at all it needs to be replaced. if your "handy" yes you may be able to do it . do a search someone did a write up with pics and all. if you have never done one it could easily take 8 hours. experienced techs can do them in 2 1/2 hrs on the direct drives. replacement instructions are in the manual in the maintenance section. id suggest looking at the instructions and the write up and you decide if your capable of the repair. for some handy people its not bad for others it
a total nightmare. just saying the term handy gets thrown around alot.

[blindside]

How many hours do you have on your stock belt? I have +/-587 hours and counting.

[neilryp]

I have about 400 hours.  It reads a little less but my gauges were broken for one season.  It seems like the thing to do is to start with an inspection.  Not a project I want to tackle.

[westtx]

Of course everyone's boat is difference, but my belt was basically brand new when we changed it. Could have gone another 10 years probably.

[sxalberta]

my belt  on my epic 21 after 10 years looked as new  as well when it was changed where as the belt on my daughters lexus sc400  (also a 1UZ) was closer to twenty years old and 200,000 and it was starting to fray and would have likley failed

[toyotafreak]

Both our '03 Sequoia and '00 S22 are in need. Read into it a bit and it looks simple. Its outside the oil jacket so not messy. Capt Rick (or Rock Auto) will give you the parts needed.

[Wet-N-Frugal]

Replaced the Timing Belt, Water Pump, and Serpentine Belt, and SeaWater Impeller last weekend. I followed the writeup by DRSRSH, and it is excellently done. All in all it was very straightforward, and not that complicated.
My 2000 X22 has almost 900 hours on it. The wear on all the belts looked normal... I'd say the belts had at least a couple more years in them. And the plastic Water pump impeller was all there!

Things I did slightly different:
*  I chose not to do a compression check for Top-Dead-Center (TDC). But rather, after removing all the covers, just made sure all the timing marks lined up (at Crank, and both Cam pullies, before moving forward.
*  The Thermostat Housing removal was an absolute beeotch to get out. The problem is a rather large O-ring sealing the inner pipe, and provides abundant stiction to firmly hold it in place. Additionally there's relatively no means to apply an outward force to the housing to remove it; no place to pry or wedge, leaving one to try to pull and yank it free. Fortunately for me, I have a custom Tower, where the tower front cross member is on a direct line with the inner pipe travel. Anchoring a come-along to the tower, I ran a strap down and around the Thermo Housing. Applying a subtle even pull with the come-along, I simply rapped on the housing with the a mallet, and nudged the housing free.
* I was lucky and didn't require a puller to get the crank pulley free. I did use an air-ratchet to loosen the nut (this left the crank position unchanged. Yet with a couple of firm raps with the mallet,  the pulley popped free of the shaft key.
* IF you take the Sea Water pump off, remember the crank sensor/Oil sensor cable goes behind it... to keep it out of the serpentine belt. I overlooked it, and had to unplug both and re-thread them down the appropriate path.

Final note: I went to the Local Toyota Dealer to buy new O-rings for the Thermo housing. I first mention it was for my Toyota boat. Don't. The parts Guy immediately went on a rant about how he was just recently instructed not to sell parts for boats, under the guise the parts aren't marine grade. I restarted the conversation, indicating I needed a couple of O-rings for a 2000 GS-400, and got my parts with a smile.

-WNF

[neilryp]

Wow.  All great comments.  I think I'll risk another year as my boat is not used hard and I don't have time to tackle the project myself.  I also had a negative comment form a Toyota car dealer.  As soon as I mentioned the word boat they didn't want to have anything to do with me.  I was prepared to drop my boat off at the car dealer on my trailer.  I'm concerned about bringing it to a boat yard that isn't familiar with the engine.