hi as a recent buyer of a town ace 4wd td can anyone tell us of a garage that will fit a cam belt at a reasonable price or how hard is it to purchase and fit for a person with limited mechanical knowhow in romford area please - (#4010) gary, 17 Apr 02
Neil
You either have to take on the mechanics yourself - Start with ordering an engine manual from your Toyota dealer part # RM025E for about £8.75. Or if you find this too daunting, hunt down a smaller garage that specialise in diesels. Ask around neighbours and friends. If you can find a smaller, one-man and his dog enterprise who is an old salt with diesels, being an import shouldn't be a problem. Best to go on reputation though, there are plenty of cowboys around as I have found to my cost!
Good luck
Ian - (#4014) Ian Dunse, 18 Apr 02
Gary, just be warned about the bolt holding the Crank end pulley - we are apparently not the only owners to have "lost" this bolt (and pulleys) with resultant expensive engine damage! See the "knocking" section under faults for further info and ensure whoever does the job understands the need to torque and loctite this bolt and replace the woodruf key! Good Luck. - (#4020) Neil Midgley, 18 Apr 02
Gary. In my opinion, this engine/cambelt arrangement is one of the easier ones to work on but, what is a bit daunting (and puts the garage price up) is that you have to take quite a lot of components out in order to get to the belt. I agree with Ian, the manual is a must and is very good value. If you do have a go, take plenty of time and ignore the comments of the people who say "I can change a cambelt in 2 hours etc ". If you have not done this job before, you will need a full day and, possibly, part of the next day. The drivers seat and the surrounding floor pan, has to come out and, some gear linkages, electrical connectors etc have to be uncoupled. This might seem a big task but, it's quite straightforward and you will learn a lot about your vehicle in the process. Also, there are other jobs which can be attended to when you are working in the engine bay. The radiator/s, hoses, fan, various belts etc can also be checked during this job. Once you have the floor pan etc out, the job is like any other cambelt change and, a lot less complex than most but, if you do try the job yourself, don't hestitate to contact this forum on any query or difficulty you might have. However, the small local garage, who has experience of many makes, might have done cambelts on, say, Hi-Ace's etc and will be familiar with the procedures. If you do put the job into the hands of the local garage, the engine manual, RMO24E, would still be of enormous help if they do not have the appropriate data to hand. - (#4025) John Davis, 19 Apr 02