The Toyota corolla engine is a freewheeling engine. Freewheeling engines and interference engines both have timing belts, but it is unlikely that any damage would occur to the freewheeling engine should the timing belt come off during operation. Through a study of the service history of this engine, it has been determined that the timing belt on a Toyota Corolla should be replaced every 60,000 miles.
You will need a set if ¼-inch drive sockets, ¼-inch drive ratchet, common screwdriver, set of ½-inch drive sockets, ½-inch drive air gun, set of metric wrenches, floor jack and a set of jack stands in order to complete this job. Always use caution when working on a vehicle that is jacked up. Be sure to block the wheels so the vehicle cannot roll off the jack stands.
Jack up the vehicle and support on jack stands. Remove the right front wheel and the inner splash shield. Remove the top radiator hose and the accessory drive belts. Remove the water pump pulley and the upper and center timing belt covers.
Turn the crankshaft clockwise until the timing mark on the crank pulley lines up with the "0" timing mark on the lower timing belt cover. Remove the crankshaft pulley bolt and the pulley. Remove the lower timing belt cover and the timing belt guide.
Make sure the small hole in the camshaft sprocket is straight up and the pointer on the rear timing cover is in the middle of the hole. The crankshaft sprocket mark should be lined up with the mark on the block at the 1 o'clock position.
Loosen the tensioner bolt and push it away from the timing belt and lightly tighten the bolt to hold it out of the way. Remove the timing belt.
Install the new timing belt starting on the right side or the non-tensioned side. Keep the belt tight on the right side so that the tensioner on the left side can take up all the tension. Loosen the belt tensioner an allow it to apply tension on the belt. Install the belt guide washer on the crankshaft.
Turn the crankshaft two turns and realign the timing marks. Tighten the belt tensioner bolt to 27 foot pounds of torque. Install all components in reverse order of removal and finally tighten the crankshaft bolt to 87 foot pounds of torque.
