98 1uz-fe Timing Belt And Water Pump Replacement How_to

Burn'Nsensation · July 25, 2010

Thank you for the quick response and commitment to keeping this post alive!!! I feel like jumping in the deep end now (pool wise, not suicide wise haha) ...Any body have any thoughts on here in regards to OEM parts verses AutoZone Duralast parts? So I be okay or will be looking to open these covers back up in the near future? Thanks a million guys!!!

Burn'Nsensation · July 25, 2010

...oh yeah...btw...If there is a God out there and no pistons and valves were damaged, but the belt broke (just assuming, without actual inspection)...How do I know where to set the two cams in conjunction to the position of the crank? ...will this also involve removing the valve covers?

landar · July 26, 2010

Good news for you. There is a God out there! Have you been good, is the question! :o :D

To your first question: Stay away from auto store parts on these critical components. Go for Toyota parts. Cost a little bit more but worth it in the long run (IMO).

The cams vs crank position is pretty straightforward. However the cams turn once for every two revolutions of the crank. Therefore you can set the crank at TDC marks and have a 50/50 shot at being correct. Not good enough odds. So, you pull cylinder #1 spark plug and make sure the piston is at Top Dead Center(TDC). But wait, there's more. If the timing is really far off, you may have to "walk" the cams in sync with the crank (to mimic the belt) so that you don't clobber a valve along the way. It all depends upon how far off the timing is now. But you should be able to be certain that the proper timing is in place before cranking.

If you are not sure about engine operation and repair, you might want to contact a local independent mechanic for help and/or guidance. This job requires a reasonable amount of previous wrenching experience.

powerlinegs · September 16, 2010

Very nice tut....just completed the t/b and water pump r/r......could not have done it without it.........once again very nice and a lifesaver!!!!!!

landar · September 16, 2010

Good to hear you were successful. Welcome to the club! :cheers:

stevie boy · January 30, 2012

Fantastic tutorial, and I really appreciate all your effort landar. Just finished installing a new belt, tensioner/idler pulleys and WP. However, things were not exactly uneventful-- I had two problems that nearly gave me a heart attack, and maybe I can help someone else avoid these issues.

The first problem occured using the allen wrench technique to lock the flywheel in place so the crank bolt could be removed. Something terrible happened as I was attempting to break loose the bolt; the 9 mm allen wrench got sucked into the flywheel housing !!! OMG, I thought I would die, because even after trying to fish it out for two hours, there was no way I could pull or pry it out. I finally resorted to VERY CAREFULLY hooking it with a piece of wire, pulling as close to the opening as possible, and cutting it in two with an acetelyne torch, and pulling the pieces out individually. I then used a 6" long 1/2 " hex head bolt to jam/lock the flywheel, which worked very well. This is the approach I would recommend to others.

THEN, the second problem; after finishing the job and filling the engine with coolant, it started leaking after running fine for 15 minutes. It was coming from the lower weep hole below the crank pulley. I looked everwhere for signs of origin, but couldn't find anything, which led me to believe it was the new WP!! I was devastated, thinking I would have to tear it apart all over again. Instead, I did a partial teardown, so I could see most of the WP without removing the timing belt or fan bracket. There was no sign of water coming from the WP--so what was going on? Further inspection revealed that it was coming from the thermostat housing assembly, where you have to use FIPG. Took it apart, and sure enough, even though I was very careful to make sure the housing with the O-ring was lubricated and carefully mated, and the housing bolts were tight, the two mating surfaces must have been in a bind, and didn't mate properly, with a .030 gap at the top surface. Apparently, the gasket material blew out once the pressure came up with temperature. Strangely, the leaking fluid ran behind the assembly, where it couldn't be seen, and pooled up right above the weep hole. Needless to say, I was both mad and relieved that this was easy to fix., and I was ultra careful to ensure the housings were properly mated the second time. I guess we all have our horror stories to tell, but in the grand scheme of things, I guess I got off lucky. Now on to my engine mounts replacement; I'm afraid there be dragons there, too! Thanks again for your great tutorial, and all of you who contribute to this forum.

Steve

richardkwon · February 26, 2013

Well, my wife's 1998 LS400 with 118,000 miles is starting to give me the tell tale signs that at a minimum, the water pump is about to go out. If the car is running at slow speeds and I press the accelerator half way or so, sometimes I hear the marbles in a can sound. This happens very sporadically. I've also noticed that there is some dry coolant residue around the timing belt cover. Plus, the radiator is leaking at the top left (passenger) side where the small hose feeds into the radiator from the coolant expansion tank. I was hoping it was just the hose but it's definitely leaking from the radiator. At first, I thought the leaking coolant (which was running along the top left of the radiator and down to the drivers side) was getting blown by the wind and the cooling fan and splattering onto the timing cover area. But I don't think this is the case. I was hoping that I could just replace the radiator and be done with it but knowing that the timing belt has never been replaced, I've decided to just change out everything. So hell, let's get this thing done! I've bought all the parts including a new fan clutch and fan bracket and fan temperature sensor. I've noticed that the fan when running is a little wobbly looking and does'nt rotate "straight". So might as well replace it.

I've done a lot of reading on the internet and various other sites and have decided to do the timing belt and water pump myself. I'm no expert mechanic nor do I try to be one but I love working on cars. I can do the simple stuff and have changed shocks, brakes, valve cover gaskets, mufflers, etc. But I've never done a timing belt replacement. I've always been afraid to tackle this job. It's a mental hurdle for me and I can never get over the TDC and timing stuff. It's so confusing for me. I have literally gone over Landar's wonderful Flickr tutorial 25 times and each time I read it, it seems to make more sense to the point that now I feel like I can really do this.

There are a few things that I am worrying about:

FIrst, do you need to remove the spark plugs before starting this procedure? I've read manuals where they say the first thing to do is spark plug removal. I don't understand why this would be necessary.

Second, is getting the crank bolt off. Landar mentioned the allen key method and that is what I have decided to use. I think he also mentioned in a separate topic that the special crankshaft bolt removal tool would be recommended to be used? I'm concerned that due to the torque involved, the allen key might break? I know an 8mm was used but there are different lengths. Does it matter? In a previous post, a poster mentioned that the allen key fell into the flywheel housing. Maybe tie something to the end to fish it back out in case? And with the special tool, how does it work? Does'nt someone have to hold the special tool while I crank the bolt off? I don't see how I could hold the special tool with one hand and crank the bolt off with my other hand, especially if it's at 181ft/lbs. The picture in all the Toyota and Lexus factory manuals shows a really strong looking guy holding the SST with one hand and magically untorquing the crankshaft bolt with the other. Is it really that easy?

Third, I'm confused about the part where you have to turn the camshaft pulley's 50 degrees. When I slip the belt back on, I'm sure there will be movement. I guess as long as the pulley's do not turn more than 50 degrees, I will be ok? So it does not matter if they turn 4 degrees or 10 or 49 or anything between 0 and 50? And if they do turn after I get the belt slipped back on, do I need to turn back the pulley's to be back at 50 degrees? And can I use a socket to place on the camshaft bolt to turn the camshaft to slip on the belt instead of a camshaft tool?

Fourth, after I get the belt back on, it mentions to turn the engine over 2 revolutions. How much force is necessary to do this? If I feel any thing hitting like the valves, I assume I should stop immediately? If this happenes, how would I get it "unstuck" or back to normal? Would I reverse the direction ie. counterclockwise (CCW)? This may never happen but I'm trying to think of the worst case scenario.

Finally, does the car need to be jacked up? I'm thinking it's not.

I plan on starting this wonderful project this weekend and have been planning this for the past couple of months if you can believe it. Any help and comments would be appreciated.

landar · February 26, 2013

Well, first of all, welcome Richard. It sounds like you have really been thinking this through, which is good. Its not a trivial job but neither is it terribly difficult. You just need to take your time, be careful and hit all of the steps, in order. And you will be so rewarded with confidence (and save $$) when it is done.

So lets get started with your questions.

No need to remove the spark plugs that I know of. It would help to eleviate compression resistance when rotating the crankshaft but not really necessary. I did not remove them.

When it comes to the crank bolt, I would recommend buying the holding tool OR buying an impact wrench beefy enough to zip off that bolt. But if you do not have an air compressor, then that is not much of an option. Since doing mine, I have purchased a 1000 lb-ft air impact wrench at Harbor Freight for $90 which easily will undo the bolt. So, I would now use that method. With the holding tool, you can wedge the handle of the tool against the frame or floor and then use both arms (which you correctly deduce that you will need...it is not that easy) to break the bolt free.

On the subject of the 50 degree crank position...this is just to help with the "snap-roll" that you are likely to get when you rotate the cams when trying to wrestle the belt into the proper position. With the crank at approx. 50 degrees ATDC (After Top Dead Center), you are least likely to damage a valve should a cam(s) decide to take a sudden turn (snap). They may do this because they are spring loaded with the valve springs. But the 50 degree position decreases the likelihood of any damage to a valve. You want to get the crank close to 50 (not 4 or 10) but it is not critical. You will want to use the markings on the new belt to help you position the belt onto the crank and cam teeth. This will be the most difficult challenge you face. It is not always easy to get it just right. You may have to try a few times and thats ok. It is not ok to be off by even one tooth. It has to be dead nuts on. Not hard to do just takes a few tries. And yes, you can use a socket to manhandle the cam sprockets into place. I did. It takes a 19mm if I recall.

Once the belt is on, you want to make sure the cam timing marks on pointing to the marks on the block as well as the crank being at TDC. In the end, THAT is the only thing that matters. Then just rotate the crank by hand 2 to 4 revolutions making sure that the marks still align evey 2 revs. Do not pay any attention to the belt markings after rotating, they wont line up anymore. If you notice a stiff resistance, it could be compression. If the valve(s) were to hit a piston, you wont be able to rotate the crank unless you put a ridiculous amount of torque on the crank and before then, I think you would figure something is wrong. But IF the cams and crank marks align to begin with, your chances of that happening are NIL. You should really crank only clockwise but it would not hurt to go back CCW if you have a need.

In general, you do not have to jack the front end but it helps, at first, in draining the coolant. You really want to drain the coolant at the radiator and the two drain !Removed! in the block or else you will have a mess to clean up on the floor when you pull the pump. But once that is done, you want the car as low and level as possible when working from the top. At least I do.

Finally, when you reinstall the new timing belt, clean things up and keep your hands clean to ensure that the new belt does not get contaminated. If you were to accidentally drop the new belt into, say, a puddle of antifreeze (not that will happen ;-) you can throw that belt out and start anew. Just be careful and you will be fine. And take your time. Do this when you have a few days of downtime. Carefully bag all of the bolts and parts. Take pictures along the way.

Any questions, just ask. I admire your willingness to tackle this job!

richardkwon · February 26, 2013

When it comes to the crank bolt, I would recommend buying the holding tool OR buying an impact wrench beefy enough to zip off that bolt. But if you do not have an air compressor, then that is not much of an option. Since doing mine, I have purchased a 1000 lb-ft air impact wrench at Harbor Freight for $90 which easily will undo the bolt. So, I would now use that method. With the holding tool, you can wedge the handle of the tool against the frame or floor and then use both arms (which you correctly deduce that you will need...it is not that easy) to break the bolt free.

Landar, thanks for the response. Regarding the above, if I were to purchase an air impact wrench, I guess there would be no need for a holding tool or to wedge the allen key into the flywheel? I'm assuming the air impact wrench would have enough power to just zap the bolt off? But then as for properly torquing the bolt back on dilema, I would have to use the allen key in the flywheel approach as mentioned in your writeup?

And what happens if the air impact wrench does not have enough power to undo the bolt initially and turns the crank CCW. Then I assume the engine is no longer at TDC? I guess you would have to realign to TDC? I told you I was a dummy with this timing TDC crap.

As fo the special holding tool, the ones that I have seen look like a round key and there is no handle and is only held to the crankshaft pulley with a couple of bolts? And where could I buy this tool?

Again, thanks for your help!

landar · February 26, 2013

You are thinking this thru really well and I like your train of thought. You are exactly right about putting the bolt back on. How in the world are you going to torque it back to 181 ft-lb? I want to warn you that most air impact wrenches will not do the job. They exaggerate the torque in my opinion. Then there is a matter of your compressor. Does it have the ummph to drive the impact wrench? I have a Porter Cable "pancake" compressor that is good for 5.1 CFM @90PSI. That was enough to operate the 1000 ft-lb impact wrench. I tried other impact wrenches such as an Ingersol-Rand rated at 500 ft-lb and the crank bolt just laughed at it. The nature of the impact wrench is a burst of short, strong pulses. These pulse tend to quickly twist the bolt and leave the crankshaft pretty much in the same position. Oh, the crank may start to "walk" a little but you can stop and reposition without a problem. Having said all of this, if you do not have a good compressor, nor a good air impact wrench and you do not want to shell out the money, then you can go with the holding tool or the allen key in the flywheel method. The allen key is not a big deal. Just make sure you use a large allen key and wedge it in securely. If you want an excuse to buy some new tools, this is your chance. ^_^

Here is a link to the holding tool. The tool bolts to the crank and then you use a socket wrench in the square hole (1/2"?) to hold it.

http://www.denlorsto...ley_holder.html

richardkwon · March 30, 2013

I finally have some time this weekend for the timing belt change and just a couple of questions before I take the plunge:

1. When I remove the coolant from the engine block do I have to jack up the car?

2. In order to access the flywheel area does the car need to be jacked up?

3. If so when working on the timing belt do I jack the car back down so that it is on level ground? Maybe I'm over thinking this but I'm trying to decide whether to use jack stands or drive the car up onto ramps (much easier) To drain the coolant and access the flywheel but then without coolant in the car how would I drive it down off the ramps?

4. The service manual mentions removing the camshaft pulleys? I don't see why this would be necessary?

5. I noticed in a picture that when the crankshaft bolt is being removed there are two lung bolts threaded into the pulley. Where did you get the bolts and what size. If the bolts are used to hold the pulley then why would we need to lock the flywheel. Probably a stupid question but I'm a little confused on this one.

I have planned a good week to complete this job so that I can go nice and slow and not get physically too tired by trying to cram it all in in 2 days.

curiousB · March 30, 2013

1. When I remove the coolant from the engine block do I have to jack up the car?

- not to drain the coolant, but I found it easier removing the alternator, then loosening the PSPump. The procedure says the other way around but I found it much easier with Alt out of the way.

2. In order to access the flywheel area does the car need to be jacked up?

- No but I don't think you can do this easily without jacking car.Why the big hesitation? That is the least of your worries.

3. If so when working on the timing belt do I jack the car back down so that it is on level ground?

- I did the entire procedure on ramps. Had to stand on a small box for some things.

4. The service manual mentions removing the camshaft pulleys? I don't see why this would be necessary?

- This is to change the oil seals under pulleys. Since you are 95% of the way there many recommend doing it for good measure. I didn't do this and haven't had a problem.

You should seriously consider a new water pump while in there. Not too expensive and just a good idea. Be sure to get the gaskets, FIPG material and new WP o-rings for this before or you won't be able to finish.

One tip, be organized, bag parts and write on them where they go. For things with multiple bolts of various length draw a picture of which goes where. Saves time on assembly. Take pictures along the way as your digital bread crumbs.

I have 35,000 miles on my TB now so I guess I did it properly....

landar · March 30, 2013

Richard, jacking up the car at will and lowering at will are pretty simple things to do. And it will make the job much easier trying to access the block drain plugs with the car jacked up. I would not even begin to consider trying to slide under the car without jacking it up (or using ramps). If you prefer ramps, then use them and stand on a box as curiousB mentioned.

richardkwon · March 30, 2013

Thanks guys. Today I will be draining the coolant and removing the radiator.

richardkwon · March 31, 2013

OK, I got started this afternoon. My car is a 1998 LS 400 with 118,000 miles. The water pump, timing belt, hoses and radiator have never been changed. I'm going to try to document everything here and try to provide as much detail as possible. I will attach as many pictures as possible without making it too redundant as Landar's Flickr site has more than enough. Left and right orientation here is the person standing in front of the car so left is passenger side and right is driver side.

1. I jacked up the front of the car with jack stands

2. Remove the intake manifold cover (4 bolts total) and the air duct inlet located above the radiator (1 long screw on the right (driver) side of the radiator holds it into place)

3. Remove the engine undercover (multiple bolts). Once the main plastic undercover is undone, there is a semi circle type of plastic piece that is held underneath the bumper and is held on with a couple of screws. Undo these and the plastic little hose on the driver's side and remove it, otherwise it will hang down by the 2 screws and flap around and get in your way. You don't have to remove it but I like a clean and spacious area to work with.

One of my goals in this procedure is to not have any coolant or oil touch the driveway!

4. Undo the radiator drain !Removed! located at the bottom of the passenger side of the radiator and undo the radiator cap and let the coolant drain.

5. Undo the coolant bleeder screw (located in front of the intake manifold) with a 10mm hex allen key socket/bit. I bought one from Pep Boys for about $5 and it is used with a socket and works so much better than a regular allen key. I used a breaker bar to undo it because I'm such a wuss and it makes it so much easier. The bleeder screw has an aluminum washer on it. The washer looks ok but I'm going to replace it anyway. I noticed that there was quite a bit of dried caked on pink coolant on the threads so I used a small ice pick type of tool to carefully scrape the residue off. It is aluminum so be gentle.

6. Approximately 1 gallon of coolant will come out of the radiator. No need to completely undo the drain !Removed!. I noticed my radiator cap has some small cracks on the inside of the cap and so will be getting a new OEM cap.

7. Remove the upper radiator hose and undo the small coolant hose that is located on the left (passenger) side of the radiator (aka radiator reservoir outlet pipe). The upper radiator hose will come off easily at the radiator but to remove it from the water inlet, it will be much easier with the air intake assembly removed. The leak from the radiator was coming from the left (passenger side) side where there is a screw on type of coolant inlet pipe with a pliable gasket and it was a little loose and the gasket/washer was not in good condition. I guess I could have just replaced this part as this is where the leaking is coming from in regards to the radiator. I've already purchased a replacement radiator so I'm not going to worry about it. One thing about the OEM radiator vs. the replacement radiator is the replacement coolant inlet section is not a screw on type. Rather it is a whole assembly made out of plastic which I think is a good thing. Less moving parts means less things to go wrong. Of course, the downside is how long will the plastic last? My guess is 10-15 years.

8. I located the 2 engine coolant drain plugs which are located right above the steering rack boots. I'm guessing another gallon or so of coolant will come out here. I will do this tomorrow.

I've bagged all the screws and labeled everything. Like Landar said, it is mandatory to label everything and even right down the steps and take pictures. Use your voice memo to record if you don't want to write stuff down. It's hard to keep up with everything and believe me if you don't get organized, you will forget something. This process including the write up and taking pictures has taken me 2 frickin' hours! I'm tired already. There's no way I could do this thing in a day let alone 2 days. And good thing I have a third car, otherwise I'd be walking to work for weeks. But it feels good to have finally started. For the past few months the thought of having to do this has been nagging me.

landar · March 31, 2013

You are off to a good start, Richard. Just plod away methodically and you will be rewarded. I took three days to complete mine with picture taking, bagging and just generally being anal about everything. You have wisely taken the time pressure off of yourself so no need to rush it along. The only thing I wish you had was the car in a garage to shield you from the weather. Then again, you live in Texas and it is nice outside this time of year.

richardkwon · April 1, 2013

Worked on the car today for about an hour. Basically did not do too much as I spent most of the time cleaning the undercarriage of grease and dirt. I would have worked on it more but a 10mm fuel pressure regulator bolt on my 1991 Camry had caused me many hours of frustration in the morning and most of the afternoon.

8. Remove the oil pan protector which is located behind the engine undercover. There are 7 bolts/screws and 4 nuts that hold it in place. I took a picture of it so that I know exactly what bolts go where. The 4 nuts are obvious but the remaining 7 bolts/screws are actually a combination of 3 different types. Once you remove it you will have clear access to the flywheel housing, which is the holy grail as regards to assisting in removal of the crankshaft bolt. I noticed some oil on the flywheel housing cover and I'm pretty sure that this is coming from my leaky valve cover gaskets.

I also took a look at the engine drain !Removed! and had a difficult time placing a 3/8" clear plastic tubing over the drain !Removed! but a long set of 90 degree pliers will assist to get it on. The steering rack and wires make it very difficult to get your hands to where the drain !Removed! is. A long extension will get the drain bolt loosened. Not sure of the socket size but I'm thinking 8mm to undo the bolt. I will find out for sure tomorrow.

Attached is a pic of the oil pan protector and the air duct inlet from step 2

landar · April 1, 2013

I used two 8" long, 3/8" extensions with a swivel connector for maximum wiggle room to get the drain !Removed! bolts. Its either 8mm or 10mm (can't recall) ...Lexus is awfully fond of 10mm.

richardkwon · April 1, 2013

Yes I'm thinking it's an 8mm bolt.

Also regarding step 3:

3. Remove the engine undercover (multiple bolts). Once the main plastic undercover is undone, there is a semi circle type of plastic piece that is held underneath the bumper and is held on with a couple of screws. Undo these and the plastic little hose on the driver's side and remove it, otherwise it will hang down by the 2 screws and flap around and get in your way. You don't have to remove it but I like a clean and spacious area to work with.

The "semi circle" plastic piece is actually the length of the bumper and is held on by 4 10mm bolts. The hose that attaches to it is the charcoal canister vent hose. It's pretty easy to remove and I would recommend it as I kept hitting it when I would get underneath the car. Again not mandatory but makes working underneath (which I detest the most in automotive repair) easier.

richardkwon · April 1, 2013

When removing the air intake assembly from the throttle body, did you undo the electrical connector to completely remove it from the engine or did you just move the air intake assembly to the side?

landar · April 1, 2013

When removing the air intake assembly from the throttle body, did you undo the electrical connector to completely remove it from the engine or did you just move the air intake assembly to the side?

I believe I completely removed the air intake unit but that might have been overkill. As long as you can get to the cam covers it would be ok to leave it but I think that is why I completely removed. I left half of the air filter housing in place as you can see in one of the pics. BTW, I have more pics than are posted on Flickr so if you run into any questions, I might be able to pull up more detail. This pic shows the intake box removed and sitting on the plenum (but I moved it off the engine later).

richardkwon · April 2, 2013

I figured out the electrical connector to the air inlet assembly. Just push the 2 clips and it slides right out.

9. So today I took off the air inlet housing which is held on by 4 10mm bolts. Undo the 2 small EVAP hoses towards the rear and the front and undo the larger air hose which is on the inner side of the assembly right where spark plug 2 is located. I can't figure out what this hose is but when I took it off, it cracked at the opening. I think it may be the PS air hose or PVC hose? Picture is attached. Looking at some of the hoses, I think I'm going to replace a few of them. That heat in the engine bay really cooks those things. Loosen the hose clamp that attaches the hose to the throttle body and wiggle it out. I had a difficult time taking this end off and I had to use a large screw driver to wedge/push it out. The throttle body has some black gunk so I pretty much cleaned out the whole area with some throttle body cleaner.

10. After the air inlet housing is removed it is much easier to remove the upper radiator hose. After I took off the hose, I noticed a bunch of crusty residue on the water outlet pipe so I took a scraper and took all the gunk off and lightly sanded it for a smooth finish. After time, the residue builds up causing an uneven seal and ever so slowly the coolant escapes.

11. I also drained the remaining engine coolant. Placing the plastic tubing onto the drain is really easy on the passenger side. The driver side was not too bad but if you have overly large hands, you can use a long 90 degree plier to get the hose on. Then using a socket wrench with a long extension and a 10mm socket, it was a cinch. Don't forget to tighten the drain !Removed! when all the coolant is drained. I only spilled a couple of drops. Amazing. The coolant condition was excellent as it has been changed a couple of times already. I'm sure if one wants to save money you could reuse it but I like things fresh. The total coolant that I drained came out to about 2.5 gallons.

I heard a lot about the ECT sensor and so I'm going to replace it. I can' locate it. The manual it says it's on the passenger side of the engine near the throttle body?

All in all, it took about 1.5 hours for me to do this. This includes putting the used coolant into jugs, cleaning up the radiator outlet pipe and the throttle body cleaning. Now that all the messy fluid stuff is done and out of the way, the fun part of dismantling begins!

richardkwon · April 3, 2013

12. Today I removed the fan housing, fan and radiator. Undo the 4 bolts that hold the fan housing to loosen it up. My top right clip that holds the fan housing to the radiator broke into 2 pieces so I will either gorilla glue it back and hope it stays in place or get a new housing. I think with 3 bolts it's on there fairly securely but without the top right bolt it can shake and make noises. Getting the fan blades off of the fan clutch is a tight squeeze. I found it easiest by standing with my left side facing the passenger seat and using my right arm to wriggle a 10mm socket wrench (no extensions necessary) onto the nut, hold the fan clutch with your left hand so it doesn't move and then undoing all 4 nuts. The fan comes out first and then wriggle the fan housing out or you can take them all out together. Then undo the bottom radiator hose but first place a pan underneath the hose as there will be some coolant that spills out. Undo the 2 automatic transmission cooler hoses (again place a pan underneath to catch the fluid). Disconnect the white fan switch connector. The electrical socket/connector piece that has to be undone was facing the outside and hard to get a grasp of to push in to unhook so I took a wrench and turned it around and then popped it off. Then remove the two top radiator stay bolts (12mm) and pop them off. The left (passenger) side is shorter than the right (driver) side. They should pop off with a little force as the rubber will have stuck to the metal after all these years. If the rubber has deteriorated and or collapsed, you may want to get new ones or use the radiator hose cut out trick and use that as the cushion. It's really important since excessive vibration could cause leaks later on. There was also a bunch of cakey coolant residue on the thermostat housing. I think the prior coolant change must not have used distilled water? It took me another hour to do this today.

I spilled coolant and transmission fluid onto the driveway so my winning streak is gone. But it wasn't too bad.

I found out the location of the ECT sensor. It is underneath the accelerator cable and has a black connector.

I've now got a clean view and access to everything now. It feels good and I can honestly say I would not have been able to make it this far without Landar and others help on this site.

richardkwon · April 3, 2013

13. I took off the 4 fan clutch nuts using two 12mm wrenches. When you are at the last nut and the rubber mallet smack trick does not work, then just retighten an already removed nut to obtain leverage to remove the last nut. Then both will come off very easily. I also removed the serpentine belt by using a 14mm socket on the pulley located right of the PS pulley.

To remove the fan clutch off the fan bracket pulley just smack it off with a rubber mallet evenly around the clutch. I tried pulling it off by hand at first but it's on there pretty tight.