Q: Changing timing belt on a 2000 Lexus ES 300

You’ve said the camshaft pulley but those are the ones on the top inside. I’m assuming that you meant the crankshaft pulley. Those Lexus crankshaft pulleys often will not come off because they are kind of tight and they are made of different metals in the crank. Metals get hot and cold. They kind of almost weld themselves together.

I had one and here is how I did it (this is often the only way you can do it): get yourself a torch and you heat that crank bolt up, red hot. Then, you can get it out with your air gun. Because I’ve got an air gun that does 750 foot-pounds of reversed torque and that did not take it off, I had to heat it until it is red hot to get it off. If you want to have a professional take care of this task for you, a technician from YourMechanic can visit your car’s location to replace your timing belt for you.