Well, I've read a few posts about changing the timing belt on the J30, I've ordered a replacement belt which should be arriving tomorrow. Today I'm going to be taking the front end apart. now my question, will i be needing any specialized tools? I've never changed a timing belt before, is there anything that i should be careful of. Also will i be able to turn the crank with just a wrench and socket?

thx in advance.

You dont need any special tools, just make sure you get the timing marks lined up, AND DO NOT MORE THE cRANK OR CAM SPROCKETS AT ALL.

thx for the heads up, so How do i go about getting cylinder no 1 to TDC? is there any visible marking that will show when its at TDC?

thx again

ARE YOU SURE you want to do your first timing belt job on a J w/interference Engine DOHC V6, if you don't get it right before you fire it up, you WILL Fxxk up your motor and look at a very expensive repair bill. Good luckJust my 2 cents

hehehe i know nismochi, i thought about that one, but honestly i dont have the 700 to shell out to a mechanic to do it. If i did i wouldn't think twice. I mean I'm really good at following instructions. If you, or anyone can provide an overview of what to do or what not to do, I'm confident I wouldn't foul it up. I know if I'm off by by 2 teeth I'm Fxxxed. So I'm really doing a lot of research and getting input so I do it perfectly. I'm having a hard time understanding the whole "initial" setup before the old belt comes off and the new one goes on. As I mentioned in my above post, the whole cyln No 1 being @ TDC, how to get it there, and once its there, what to do next.

Your help and anyone else's is greatly appreciated, as I love this car, and i really wouldn't want to damage it in anyway.

Herehttp://www.ttzd.com/tech/timingbelttech.htmlread it as many timing as you feel comfortable before you do it.have fun.

j30WAY wrote:hehehe i know nismochi, i thought about that one, but honestly i dont have the 700 to shell out to a mechanic to do it. If i did i wouldn't think twice. I mean I'm really good at following instructions. If you, or anyone can provide an overview of what to do or what not to do, I'm confident I wouldn't foul it up. I know if I'm off by by 2 teeth I'm Fxxxed. So I'm really doing a lot of research and getting input so I do it perfectly. I'm having a hard time understanding the whole "initial" setup before the old belt comes off and the new one goes on. As I mentioned in my above post, the whole cyln No 1 being @ TDC, how to get it there, and once its there, what to do next.

Your help and anyone else's is greatly appreciated, as I love this car, and i really wouldn't want to damage it in anyway.

Find a cheaper shop. I found a shop that deals with Lexus and Infiniti only and got the whole job done including timing belt, water pump, and acc belt for $390.

The Local dealership quoted over $900!!!

I did the timing belt on my other car myself but after looking at the J30 I just really didn't feel like tackling it myself.

Question about timing belts on these engines: How long do they typically last. We bought the car at 175,000 miles and I don't think it had ever been done. (Didn't see anything about the belt in all the service records that I got.)

The cheapest I found after calling like 20 places was 600 just for belt.

Did they do all the camshaft seals, tensioner, etc? or taking off the old belt and putting a new one on?

No seals, I told him I wanted new tensioners and he recommended against it. He checked them when it was apart and didn't think that they needed replacing. He did do water pump, timing belt, and drive belts. $390 parts and labor and I have a tax ID number so I didn't have to pay tax.