So I changed my belts today in 2 hours and 25 minutes...but 2 hours of that was spent getting ready to do it.
5:00pm 72mph up the Camarillo Pass, watching the Scangauge water temp creep up and sit at 200º
5:02pm crested the pass, started coasting, and the temp shot up to 230º (well before the OEM temp gauge budged)
5:03pm exited freeway, Scangauge reads 260º
5:04pm radiator boils over and empties overflow bottle. I am pulled over in a lot across the street from a Mobil station, caddy-corner to a pizza joint and a liquor store
5:06pm 6-pack of Stella under the arm
5:12pm no spare belts in the truck or at Mobil, so AAA on the phone. Flatbed tow truck on the way
5:45pm tow truck arrives. 80 loaded onto flatbed. Rather than towing it 40 miles to my house through rush hour traffic, we opt to stop by Pep Boys and fix it now. As luck would have it the driver would rather hang out and wrench than drive 80 miles round trip.
6:15pm 3 new belts purchased from Pep Boys, $45, and we're on our way to the tow truck driver's house where his full set of tools are as all I have with me that are applicable are gear wrenches and vice grips.
6:45pm arguing over whether to pull the battery tray and belly pan for better access. I say "no, you can change these suckers in 25 minutes or less...look here" and I show him THIS THREAD on my smartphone.
6:46-7pm enjoy another #6 whilst reading ih8mud on a tiny screen in the blaring sun.
7-7:25 loosen up some bolts and install some new belts. Done.
8:10pm home. More #6's.
I met one of the coolest AAA tow truck drivers ever today. May karma be with him forever. He's a Chevy-head but says he understands the TLC lunacy and wanted to see a solid rig back on the road. Rad.
The biggest rub is that I brought my 80 into the local dealership for a power steering hose replacement and flush, and had them replace the belts while there. A day after service I noticed that the belts were running on the wrong side of the idler pulley (ie incorrectly routed to the inside of the pulley as if the idler is a tensioner), but I was on my way out of town and of course since then I'd forgotten about it. Funny thing is, I ran without that damn pulley for a year and only recently put a new one in...seems like an extra piece of metal to me anyway but Mr T says it should be there. I'm interested to see what the service guys at Toyota think of the shredded belts that look like spaghetti I'm going to bring them tomorrow.
I asked my 9 year old what he thought of this picture, and he said "Wow that's rare, Cruisers never get towed." Well, almost never. So, cheers to a rare moment, and thanks IdahoDoug for the 25 minute thread.
5:00pm 72mph up the Camarillo Pass, watching the Scangauge water temp creep up and sit at 200º
5:02pm crested the pass, started coasting, and the temp shot up to 230º (well before the OEM temp gauge budged)
5:03pm exited freeway, Scangauge reads 260º
5:04pm radiator boils over and empties overflow bottle. I am pulled over in a lot across the street from a Mobil station, caddy-corner to a pizza joint and a liquor store
5:06pm 6-pack of Stella under the arm
5:12pm no spare belts in the truck or at Mobil, so AAA on the phone. Flatbed tow truck on the way
5:45pm tow truck arrives. 80 loaded onto flatbed. Rather than towing it 40 miles to my house through rush hour traffic, we opt to stop by Pep Boys and fix it now. As luck would have it the driver would rather hang out and wrench than drive 80 miles round trip.
6:15pm 3 new belts purchased from Pep Boys, $45, and we're on our way to the tow truck driver's house where his full set of tools are as all I have with me that are applicable are gear wrenches and vice grips.
6:45pm arguing over whether to pull the battery tray and belly pan for better access. I say "no, you can change these suckers in 25 minutes or less...look here" and I show him THIS THREAD on my smartphone.
6:46-7pm enjoy another #6 whilst reading ih8mud on a tiny screen in the blaring sun.
7-7:25 loosen up some bolts and install some new belts. Done.
8:10pm home. More #6's.
I met one of the coolest AAA tow truck drivers ever today. May karma be with him forever. He's a Chevy-head but says he understands the TLC lunacy and wanted to see a solid rig back on the road. Rad.
The biggest rub is that I brought my 80 into the local dealership for a power steering hose replacement and flush, and had them replace the belts while there. A day after service I noticed that the belts were running on the wrong side of the idler pulley (ie incorrectly routed to the inside of the pulley as if the idler is a tensioner), but I was on my way out of town and of course since then I'd forgotten about it. Funny thing is, I ran without that damn pulley for a year and only recently put a new one in...seems like an extra piece of metal to me anyway but Mr T says it should be there. I'm interested to see what the service guys at Toyota think of the shredded belts that look like spaghetti I'm going to bring them tomorrow.
I asked my 9 year old what he thought of this picture, and he said "Wow that's rare, Cruisers never get towed." Well, almost never. So, cheers to a rare moment, and thanks IdahoDoug for the 25 minute thread.
