Setting the piston of the first cylinder to the TDC position of the compression stroke Toyota RAV4

Tool:

• Jack
• balloon wrench
• Collar for end nozzle
• Extension for the end nozzle on the crank
• Nozzle on the collar 10 mm
• Nozzle on the collar 12 mm
• Nozzle on the collar 14 mm
• Nozzle on the collar 17 mm
• Screwdriver flat medium

Notes:

The piston of the 1st cylinder is set to the TDC (top dead center) position of the compression stroke so that when carrying out work related to the removal of the camshaft drive belt, the valve timing is not disturbed. If the valve timing is disturbed, the engine will not work normally. 

Set the TDC according to the marks on the exhaust camshaft sprocket and on the variable valve timing mechanism (WT-i) (when setting according to the marks on the crankshaft pulley, either the 1st or 4th cylinder piston can be in this position). After that, be sure to check that the marks on the crankshaft pulley match. If the marks on the crankshaft pulley do not match, then the installation of the gas distribution phases is violated (the piston of the 1st cylinder is not set to the TDC position). In this case, it is necessary to remove the timing chain (belt) and turn the crankshaft until the marks match.

1.  First you need to jack up the right front side (the jacking point is shown in the photo) of the Toyota RAV4 and remove the right front wheel with a balloon wrench.

2. Remove the right side engine mudguard as described in  this article .

3. Remove the decorative engine cover as described  here .

4. Remove the cylinder head cover as described in this article . 

5. Turn the engine crankshaft with a wrench on the pulley mounting bolt until the mark (groove) on the crankshaft pulley matches the mark on the lug of the timing chain cover.

6. Check that the marks on the exhaust camshaft sprocket and on the variable valve timing mechanism (WT-i) match the marks (arrows) on the camshaft bearing caps. If the boundaries do not match, turn the crankshaft one turn.

The article is missing:

• Tool photo

Source:  Instructions (manual) for the repair and operation of Toyota RAV4 since 2005. PDF.