crankshaft pulley removal previa mk2

[spannerwielder]

Hello all , I am in the process of replacing my timing belt and water pump on my 2.0 d4d mk 2 Previa.  I have a problem withdrawing the crankshaft pulley . I have got it nearly off but then it fouls the chassis leg . It appears that the only way to get it off is by lowering the engine so that it clears the chassis leg . After having looked at the lower engine mounting , it looks as though the entire engine would have to be lifted about 50mm to free  the mount of its studs . The option of removing the mount to block bracket isn't possible as the rubber mount masks one of the bolts .

It would appear that the rear and front mounts may have to come off first in order to lift the engine high enough to clear the lower mounting .

I haven't investigated the three lower mount seating cup to chassis bolts as yet , as there are three plastic plugs to remove from the underside of the sub frame to access the nuts , but i am hoping that the studs on these are shorter than those on the rubber block unit , thereby allowing removal of the mount with less lift of the engine required .

After having a cursory look around under the offside wheel arch , I also noted that the rear wishbone bush seems to have collapsed and guess what ? the mounting bush masks the front wishbone bolts too .So the mount simply has to come off . When i removed the power steering pump , I undid the three bolts that secure its brackets to the water pump , but the top one couldn't be withdrawn as it fouled the pulley . The opposite side of the bracket has a captive nut , so why on earth did Toyota not put the captive nut on the pulley side so that the bolt could be simply withdrawn from the back side where there is plenty of room ?. I did manage to withdraw the bolt eventually by sawing the flange off the bolt head against one flat of the hexagon . This allowed it to clear ---JUST 

This is my first Toyota , but i am thinking that the designers have given very little consideration the the poor bugger that has to work on them , in fact its undoubtedly the worst car i have owned for maintenance 

Any words of wisdom would be greatly appreciated