I agree. I had the old style spring tensioner and re-used it. Bearing made no noise and had no play. But the water neck pulley was scratchy and had play so I replaced it.

In regards to the 5zfe versus 3vze crank bolts,

I was questioning if this applied to the 3VZE also, but, I had the Toyota parts desk look up the bolt P/N for the 5ZFE and the 3VZE, they are the same bolt.

The bottom ends on these engines are very similar, small differences. I went ahead an torqued it to the higher value and called it good.

Now, why couldn't they have used a torque to yield bolt, then I would know what they were doing (reference to my earlier post on torque to yield head bolts).

I have not had experience with Dayco, so, cannot offer an opinion on their quality.

My idler pulley was notchy, corroded, and looked like hell, so, that was an easy decision. The tensioner was much the same, so, that one got the toss.

My tensioner spring was 6 mm past maximum specification, so, I went to the dealer for a $5 spring, just to be sure.

The water pump, had to be replaced while I was in there, could not get up in the morning and look at myself in the mirror if I did not.

Yup, $125 bones is a bit of money. You will have to make the call on what you are comfortable with. I would play around with the pulley's a bit, preload them sideways, turn them very slow, feel for any "rumbling", notchy type feedback from the bearings. Any sign of that, out they go. Mine had at least 60k miles on them, so, easy decision to discard.

Mike

Dayco belts are terrible. I purchased a set from autozone about a year ago. They started cracking, fraying in no time <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/angry.gif" alt="" />. So i purchased another set from the dealership, they were of much better quality and fit the v grooves of the pulleys just right.

Can I remove the timing belt idler without removing the manifold...and if so how? Thanks again everyone! <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cheers.gif" alt="" />

Yes you can,

Assuming that you have torn it down all the way to get the belt out.... lot of steps to get to that point, the FSM covers them very well.

I believe that the air plenum/throttle body assembly will need to be removed also, or at least pulled out of the way. I had mine off anyway, so, not sure if you can get the water neck off with the air box in place. Pretty tight under the front of that thing.

The upper, sheetmetal timing cover, behind the cam pulleys, is actually two piece. The center section will unbolt from the main piece that is captured behind the cam pulleys. You can then remove that piece and then remove the four bolts that hold the upper water neck/idler pulley assembly onto the intake manifold. It might help to loosen the front fuel rail crossover pipe to get access for removal of the water neck/idler assembly.


Mike

There should be no need to remove the plenum. The bolts are usually quite easy to get to after the center of the backing plate is removed.

This pic in the FSM shows the plenum removed. That's why I asked...I wasn't sure if it could be done without removing it.


I removed the center plate but still couldn't get at the 4 idler bolts with the plenum on.

Oh, I wanted to thank Abnormaltoy for letting me download a copy of the 88 3.0 FSM. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cheers.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/kewl.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cheers.gif" alt="" />

I got the timing belt and water pump replaced on my 3.0 so I thought I'd post some photos.

The cover is off and I'm cleaning things up.


Here's the new water pump



and the work table with parts and the screws in different boxes.

The cover is back on and the radiator is going back in.


I love the sight of blue RTV.

Thanks everyone for all the help! <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cheers.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/kewl.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/patriot.gif" alt="" />