bout to change timing belt. what else should i do while i have that open?

hello
i guess the title of this thread says it all.
any tips are appreciated

 

Replace the water pump, tensioner, and idler. And all the regular drive belts. Another bonus from buying a new tensioner is you won't have to buy a tool to compress the old one. It comes with a pin in it. Once all is in place, pull the pin and you're good to go. The last time I did this job I also replaced the upper/lower radiator hoses, front crankshaft seal, thermostat, and spark plugs at the same time. Once the radiator is out this is a surprisingly easy job.

 

^^^ X2

 

Is this a good time to also inspect and replace the power steering pump and reservoir, if necessary?

 

The 2.7L 4 bangers have chains not belts!

 

timing chain. that changes alot. what are the maintenence specs on replacing timing chains?

 

Replace the chain guides too

 

i'm getting some feedback saying timing chains don't necessarily need to be replaced and some are putting a replacement at 150k...

 

Yup. Timing chains last a long time. In most cases, its the guides that go first. So you might want to think about upgrading the guides to some better ones if they are original.

 

thread jacking for a moment but i dont know if the last owner replaced the timing belt on my 04 v6. i tried to see if the lot that i bought it off of could get in touch with the old owner but the old owner seems to have gotten a new number.

when do people normally do em? i dont want to blow the money if i dont have to.

im currently around 135,000 miles. put 5000 on since i got it in january. the guy was the only owner and seemed to take care of the truck but i dont know what to do

 

If it is original, I would replace it now.

 

If a shop did it, they usually write the mileage by the radiator in paint marker. I think it's about 90k-100k miles.

 

Well the good thing is it's a non-interference engine so if it snaps on you the truck won't run but at least you won't have damaged the engine. I believe the factory interval is every 90k miles. I didn't change the belt on our old 4 Runner until 146k though so you'll probably be fine. On my BMW if you don't change the belt every 5 yrs/50k miles they can and do break and it's ugly when it happens.

 

thanks for all the help. is my 95 taco 2.7L 3RZ an interference or not?

 

Most chain engines are interference designs. Chains do often stretch but typically the tensioner and guides make up for it and you usually can't tell. Unless you beat the tar out of your truck on a regular basis I wouldn't worry about it. Typically timing chains will get fairly noisy long before they let go.