spot19

I did the timming belt and water pump in my 1997 lexus es 300 myslef and it took me something like 12 hours to do. the problems i ran into was i could not get the cam sprockets off to remove the plate behind them which also covers part of the water pump. I tried eveything to get the sprockets off with no luck. i ended up cutting the cover with a dremel tool so i could get the water pump out. but the studs were so long it hit the frame rail. i had to disconect the motor mounts so i could jack the engine up just enought to slip the water pump out. But i did get it done and it was my first time. just make sure you have a service manual when you did it. If you do not i can email you the info you need to get it done Matt Thanks for the reply Matt. I have the factory service manual, so I think I am good there. Also, I have changed timing belts in the past, just not on this car...in fact, I have not done much of anything on this car. When you did this, did you replace the cam and crank seals too? While I have everything open down there, I want to try and do as much of the little things that I can to avoid any issues in the future. I also planned on the whole weekend to get this done...so I should be good there. Thanks again for the reply.

I plan to change my timing belt in the next month or so. In addition to changing the timing belt, I plan to change the water pump, #1 and #2 idler pully, timing belt tensioner, crankshaft and cam seals. My question is on the crankshaft and cam seals, do I access those by taking off the timing belt cover 3? How hard is it to change these? Thanks!