Lots of build up behind water pump. 5vz-fe.

My timing belt and water pump were way over due. Like 60k overdue. I was shocked to find the belt in really good condition, and the water pump wasn’t leaking. Behind the water pump was a different story. Tons of build up. It doesn’t look like the build up goes much past the water pump housing. How big of a deal is this?

Also.... I don’t understand how it’s possible to get the cam pulleys off. I was pulling as hard as I could while someone else was holding on for sea life to stop the cam tool from moving. They still wouldn’t budge. If I wedge the cam tool against the frame, can I blast it with an impact gun? Or is that a no go?

 

wtf is that?

 

I was pretty surprised by it myself. I guess it could just be build up from old coolant and non distilled water. It’s odd to me that it seems to only be right at the housing though.

 

Could be from broken down coolant, incorrect coolant, and/or coolant overdilluted with water. Clean it as best you can, give it a good cooling system flush, and refill it with the proper 50/50 coolant/distilled water mix and you should be good.

 

Yeah I’ll clean it out and flush the system thoroughly.is there any concern of knocking any of that stuff loose into the system?

 

Could clog your radiator and heater core but if you remove the hoses and flush everything thoroughly both ways you should get most of it out.

 

I've done a bunch of water pump + timing belt jobs on 3.4 and 4.7 Toyota engines. I'd say that is excessive.

 

Yeah it looked pretty excessive to me as well. Unrelated, but I did the valve covers a few weeks ago, and those were in fantastic shape inside. So I was a little surprised by this. The coolant in there was old.

Another question? Have you removed the cam pulleys? I can’t get them to budge. Is it safe to use an impact wrench on them?

 

Removing the cam pulley bolt I use a 3/8ths electric impact as a last resort. For install, you should use a torque wrench and torque to spec.

Just curious, why are you removing cam pulleys? Are the cam seals leaking?

 

I believe the torque spec is 81 ft lbs. I’ll be torquing everything to spec. They are extremely locked on there. 2 people on the pulley tool and a breaker bar did nothing. Should I brace the pulley tool on the frame? Or do I not need to worry about the air impact turning the cam that much?

My kit has the seals in it. They are not leaking, but it is 20 year old rubber and figured I’d do it while I was in there.

 

If the seals are not leaking, I would leave them be.

If the Timing belt is off, I'd be worried about the cam moving around. Use whatever tool you have to hold it still. The 5VZ is a non interference engine, but I still wouldn't trust rotating the cam too much. I could be wrong.

 

Solid advice. Thanks for the help.

 

Just replaced my water pump. The built up sediment under the pulley area was the only thing keeping the coolant from draining out. The mechanic showed me the inside of the pulley wheel, and man, was it messed up. He cleaned it out ok. I dodged a bullet. Bought a rebuilt Aisin WP for around $109.Good brand. Surprised you can buy a no name rebuilt WP for $29.

 

I have a feeling that could have been the same case with mine. It was well past due hah... I picked up the kit from aircabinman all oem. For anything seals/engine related I only get oem.

 

Supposedly, Aisin brand water pump is OEM for our trucks. Bought a Denso reman starter too, also said to be OEM. The other brands are crap, heh. Lol...$29 for a reman WP, $60 for a reman starter. Okie Dokie. Ya, I bought remans, but at least ones from the company that made the originals for Toyota.

 

Removing the cam: if it is turning on you and you can’t figure out hot to stop it, the middle of the cam is hexagonal for a 16 mm open wrench. Not sure if it’s safe to use but impact seems harder on it and worse

 

Ended up leaving the cam seals alone. They weren’t leaking and I didn’t want to mess with it. Cleaned as much buildup as I could with a scotch pad. Everything is back on and running great.

 

Someone dumped headgasket in a can in that things. That's leak stop 100%

 

I don’t think so. I’ve had the truck for 16 years since there was 52k on it. I’ve never put it in. It also came off very easily and was mostly white and chalky. I’m pretty sure it was calcium build up. I ran coolant and tap water for a few years.

 

Well if it came off easily that's good. The zinc deposits from the leak stop in a can don't come off willingly.