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Don't fret too much on not having Bluetooth on an '02. Plenty of options. I went cheap and went with a smart phone holder with a built in FM transmitter that uses the head phone jack; crude but works well and these stands for around $20 or so...
Glad you found a good independent shop. If you have issues and if you are in Nor Cal PM me and can I recommend a couple of places that have done well for us.....
Just wanted to show some pics of the black cake that I mentioned. The cleanup and the flush took all day. Note this isn't sludge - this is beyond that. Ironically, I think the dried/caked oil stopped the valve cover gasket from leaking more. A good bit was already cleaned up when the photos were taken - there was a lot more before.
So the lesson here is...if you're buying a used car, and it has no maintenance records, be extremely skeptical, or negotiate a significant discount so you can rebuild it.
Wow, that is a mess. It probably started as sludge, but progressed into whatever petroleum based byproduct you've ended up with. Cam surfaces and cam cover interior have a lot of varnish on them as well. Probably is from infrequent oil changes using Dino oil. The PCV valve may be clogged as well, which will inhibit much needed breathing to evacuate the cam covers.
cool pics, thanks for sharing. The underside of the valve cover is no worse than what I've seen on the intake valves of direct injected motors (I'm actually glad our LS' don't have it, imho another thing to worry about and maintain). But the caking is troubling, was it only around the outer edges....
Thanks for mentioning the PCV. I totally forgot about it. Will probably replace it when I get my car back.
Originally Posted by Johnhav430
cool pics, thanks for sharing. The underside of the valve cover is no worse than what I've seen on the intake valves of direct injected motors (I'm actually glad our LS' don't have it, imho another thing to worry about and maintain). But the caking is troubling, was it only around the outer edges....
The black oil cake was all over mostly every space there was - outer edges, inside the cam gear housing, basically it occupied most of the space that didn't have moving parts. I didn't notice any misfires, detonation, or timing-related issues when I was still able to drive it, so fingers crossed the cylinder walls and the block is still in relatively working order.
The shop finished the cleanup and flushed the engine several times, along with the transmission, so it should be ready to roll when I go pick it up. Next up is burning the fuel tank so the fuel sensor can be replaced, if needed, and probably replace the diff fluid too.
It is quickly burning a hole in my wallet, when my goal is to penny pinch this thing as it is supposed to be a daily/beater, but I'll be damned if I don't whip it back into shape first.
Yep, I didn't plan on doing the timing belt/water pump last month at 87k, I was planning on fudging it to 100k, which I'm sure would have been no problem....but since the indie was doing the output shaft seal and would have my car anyway, wth let's get it over with was my thinking. When I got my credit card bill with everything else, it topped $4k and I pay in full every month (I send all our expenses through it to collect the 2% cash reward). Not good. Just paid it on Sunday as it was killing me, literally felt like a monkey on my back. So I paid early and calculated it cost me 78 cents in lost interest lol, but feels better that it's paid.
In my case, the $775 was with an Aisin TKT kit, not Toyota parts (they gave me the Aisin box back, which has my name, and their shop name and address, on the delivery label). My hunch is the $800 job is not with OEM, it's with Aisin.
I like safety in numbers. If every DIY'er uses Aisin, it has to be pretty good. Aisin is said to make the pump for Toyota. The belt in the kit is made by Mitsoboshi, the original says Toyota but I thought it was made by Mitsoboshi. Aisin gives you a Koyo idler and tensioner pulley --my factory idler was a Koyo, but the tensioner was made by NSK. I don't know who makes the Aisin tensioner in the kit, but the factory was NTN. I thought Toyota is double the price, so that should be reflected in the job price if that's what you want....my .02
ALWAYS ASK FOR THE OLD PARTS BACK, I'm not too proud to do that. It shows that a) you probably did the work b) I can see what condition the old parts are in If this is not possible, bye bye. If you cheat and give me someone else's parts back, well, what can I do, I tried....
edit p.s. it's my understanding that the Aisin kit is from the USA. The Toyota parts are from Japan. Ditto with Bando serpentine belts. The USA made is like $19. The Toyota is like $95? I will check that number...
pps think there are two OEMs available, $85.59 list, or $56.34 list, even at 31% off, way more than $19...
Hello John.. May I ask how many miles you had on the car when you changed the timing belt and what the original belt looked like when it was taken out?
r0cketm0nk make sure you check your VVTI solenoids after dealing with sludge like that. The have small oil passages and are susceptible to clogging from debris. You could be missing out on some horsepower!
03-04-17, 03:43 PM
