Thread: my poor hot smurf

That sounds Mickey Mouse.

Originally Posted by sheppard84

Yeah, ive sorted out lining up the timing points etc. Hadnt thought of removing battery though, thats a good idea.
A few people have recommended replacing water pump whilst I have radiator out. To replace the water pump housing I need to remove the timing belt.

Whoops shouldve finished that. I need to remove the timing belt and the cam pulley and rear plate of timing belt enclosure to get to the water pump housing

Originally Posted by sheppard84

Whoops shouldve finished that. I need to remove the timing belt and the cam pulley and rear plate of timing belt enclosure to get to the water pump housing

Toyota have really lost the plot on making serviceable vehicles. Particularly with what should be classed as a commercial type of vehicle.

If you don't remove remove the cambelt and that plate behind it I don't know how else you'd remove the water pump I've done heaps of them before you put it together study the tensioner if its the one with the little steel rod poking out of it let me know if you don't know how to get it back in

Another thing to think about is how many ks has it done since the last belt change nows the time to do it if you've got that far

Well, it was a monumental effort. Massive thanks to my friend Patrick (who isn't on the forum but deserves thanks nonetheless), @gadgetman and @longrange308 for all their help over the weekend and thanks for all the help/comments/assistance on the forum here.
This might get a bit long as I'm kinda quite proud of myself. Bear in mind that this is the first work I've done on my vehicle. Up to this point I have been content to just take it to the garage for work. It has helped that my wife is on maternity leave so the requirement for the truck to be ready in time for monday was .........errrr........ shall we call it negotiable.

So, as everyone knows so far it started with an over heating truck which led me to a rather poorly radiator.


So after posting to the knowledgeable and general good buggers on the forum here, having a chat with a few people (including @gadgetman and @longrange308) and an absolute bucket load of research on the net I made the conscious decision to have a crack at it myself.

The general consensus was to replace the radiator and so after a few prices I nearly settled on a solid price from A1 radiators at $320 + gst for an aftermarket auto radiator. Then a new water pump was suggested as was a quick install since the radiator was already out. So a reasonable price of $149 from Butler Auto Mart got me a new water pump.
A stop at Miles Toyota and $124 later got me a new 72 degree thermostat and gasket plus some toyota red coolant.
Then another chat to @longrange308 and the decision to put in a manual radiator and remove the automatic transmission fluid to a separate cooler was made. So back to A1 for another price and it turns out that the manual version of the radiator would be $420 + gst, however Paul at Burnside Radiators (good bugger!) kept his price at $340 + gst (same as the auto radiator price) and got me one within the hour.
A trip to BNT got me a automatic transmission cooler, some transmission fluid and engine oil etc.

So saturday comes around and after swimming with my daughter, Patrick and I start ripping into it.


Taking the radiator out actually was pretty straightforward in the end and didn't give me too much trouble. Then out came the fan and the belts etc.


Then the water pump................ the water pump..........!!!! Change the water pump they said. It'll be easy they said.
So changing the water pump turns out to be relatively easy........ if the housing is already replaced or in good condition. Since my new one had a different impeller and the inside of the pump looked pretty grotty we really had to change the housing as well. I had already paid for it after all and had a new gasket all ready to go behind it too.
So turns out to replace the housing I had to take off the alternator because the alternator bracket is hung off part of the water pump housing. To get at the alternator properly I had to remove and suspend the a/c pump out of the way. Then I had to get in behind the timing belt. So off comes the cover followed by a crash course in changing the timing belt from an excellent thread on another forum. Align all the notches, compress and remove the tensioner, followed by the pulley. Sat and looked forlornly at the cam pulley hoping it would fall off all by itself............. no joy. Another quick call to @gadgetman and @longrange308 wielded some great advice and a couple helpful tools. Needless to say 5 minutes time on sunday morning resulted in the cam pulley sitting in one hand with a big grin on my face. 10 minutes after that the offending water pump housing was sitting on the bench with the new one preparing to go in.


Turns out putting everything back in was actually reasonably straight forward, one snapped bolt which turned out to be easy to remove. Putting the alternator and a/c pump back in place before remembering to change out the thermostat was a mistake. Since I had the timing belt off already I shot back to Butler Auto Mart and grabbed a new one to replace it (80,000 since it was last changed). The new radiator dropped nicely into place (I probably should have replaced top and bottom hoses but didn't). Had to grab more hose for the ATF cooler and grabbed a new radiator cap and some cooling system flush too. Pulled off the light bar/bumper etc and the ATF cooler was a reasonably straightforward installation.


Add some water and coolant flush to radiator, drain and re-fill the auto trans fluid and good to go. Wife will give it a short drive tomorrow to drop kids off and will drain the fluid and flush again depending on colour. Then add the new coolant and check auto trans fluid level. Will change oil and a oil filter next weekend since we just plain ran out of time.

Kinda hooked now I think. Looks like a couple of CV boots to replace and possibly a leak of something somewhere else in the engine bay. Supposedly the front suspension may need replacing soonish............ the possibilities are endless.

Once again, big thanks to everyone.

Cheers, Rhys

Nice work. I won't tell you now the tricks to getting the water pump off without having to take alternator etc off... Lol don't be surprised if your water level drops first couple of times usin it, will be a bit of air in it, pay to check auto oil levels too after a drive around. Nice work though saved yourself a bit of coin doing it yourself

Originally Posted by distant stalker

Nice work. I won't tell you now the tricks to getting the water pump off without having to take alternator etc off... Lol don't be surprised if your water level drops first couple of times usin it, will be a bit of air in it, pay to check auto oil levels too after a drive around. Nice work though saved yourself a bit of coin doing it yourself

Dammit, there's always a trick. Well, if you don't mind sharing I wouldn't mind learning.

And a picture through the bottom hose of the factory radiator showing the location of the auto transmission cooler for those who haven't seen one. The reason why @longrange308 recommended I go with a separate transmission fluid cooler.
No wonder they have a reputation for overheating.

Dont mean to resurrect an old topic but saves making a new one.

So quick update. Turns out the truck most certainly has cracked something. Head/cylinder whatever, its using a fair amount of water and the colour came back blue (whatever that means, wife took the call).

So, advice please people. Get it repaired and keep it? Flog it on and buy a new one? Any other options?

Cheers

Just replaced a cracked head on my own smurf and it was not cheap if you have the time and the tools to do it yourself you could cut the cost down I think the replacement head which comes ready to bolt on was $1200


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Whatever you do DO NOT use an aftermarket cylinder head! They are nothing but trouble.
The genuine parts are generally the same price as most Toyota parts are line priced. Plus they carry a 2yr unlimited km's warranty.

We sell complete assembled heads through work (Toyota Dealership) if you are interested in repairing your truck. Head is sold on exchange basis. We reuse the valves and cam ( if reusable) everything else is brand new.

Whether you repair or flick comes down to how much you are prepared to spend and how much the vehicle is working for you. If you're not using it much and/or it isn't suitable for your lifestyle it may not be worth repairing even if the cost to repair is OK. If it fits with what you do and you want to keep it, it would be worth removing the head and checking exactly what is needed and going from there.
One thing to consider is if the head is removed and there is damage to the bores due to the coolant sitting in there, or if a glowplug tip had been broken off at some previous stage. Then it can get expensive. Bad enough to look at a new shortblock or a 2nd hand engine.

PM me if you need any advise

whats wrong with the after market stuff?
hard evidence or just a few duds? or backyard fit ups?

I'm just waiting on a rough quote to come through from the garage before thinking too hard about it, I don't think I'm prepared to tackle something like this. I do love the truck and it's done me well so far. The wife is pretty upset about the whole thing. Couldn't really have come at a worse time, was planning on doing eff all around the house this summer and going away with the fam for a bit but the trucks kinda shat on that idea. Wouldn't want to trust it out of town with 2 young kids.

I've had a nosy on tardme at similar trucks and it seems to me that I could either spend a few grand on repairing mine or sell/flog it on and put a few grand in to get a similar truck. So either way I have to come up with a few grand. Maybe the devil I know?

Ill keep ya's posted. Thanks for the advice so far.

Cheers, Rhys