serpentine tensioner tips?

[Tim, Ohio]

Well, I've come to the conclusion I need to put a new
serpentine tensioner on my daughters 2001 LE.

I am planning to use a Dayco brand from Advanced
Auto since it is about 30.00 cheaper then others,
including the OEM. If you see a problem with this
part from this manufacturer, I would appreciate
the constructive criticism.

Anyway, if any of you have replaced one, I would
appreciate any tips. I, myself, have never done
this, but am assuming there are two bolts that simply
have to be removed to take the old one off and then
reuse them for the new one. If there is anything more
to it then this, please let me know. A little extra insight
into this stuff never hurts when you are a weekend,
semi amateur garage mechanic trying to stretch the
budget.

Pre-thanking whoever responds,

Tim

[huangxin]

as far as the brand goes i've never used dayco, so i don't know much about the quality.

it's pretty easy to replace the tensioner, takes less than 5 minutes if you work fast. you need a 19mm wrench to loose the tensioner and remove the belt, other than that is just that 1 bolt and 1 nut holding the tensioner to the block. the nut is easy (10 or 12mm i think), i forgot the bolt's size, but it's kinda long, so it takes a bit of wiggling around to get the tensioner and the bolt off, but it can be done.

good luck

[Tim, Ohio]

Just finished replacing the serpentine tensioner. Yes, it was the problem
and was causing the vibrating/grumbling noise when the car was put into
drive and first accelerated. The part was purchased from Advance Auto
for 115.00 and appeared to be exactly the same as the original. Note,
the rubber boot covering the spring area retains oil to keep it lubricated.
Anyway, thought I would let all the diyers out there know about the fix.

Best of luck if you do it yourself too.

Tim

[boredstudent3]

yes, the bottom bolt is long and has to be wiggled to be removed...when i replaced the tensioner and belt i noticed that the rubber boot on the tensioner had cracked at the top and some oil was evident on the sides...the new redesigned tensioner has a larger oil reservoir...

[hokie_sti]

I just spent an hour trying to get the pivoting bolt to break and had no luck.

My breaker bar is too wide to fit over the bolt. Wrenches and a hammer didn't yield any success either. I sprayed the pivoting bolt with PB blaster.

How did everyone else get this bolt to break?

[huangxin]

PB Blaster soak it over night, then i just used a regular wrench. put the 12 pt end on the bolt and connected a 2 ft pipe to the other end.

after that i just put on some anti-seize or a tiny dab of all purpose grease to prevent it from seizing in the future.

[hokie_sti]

Originally Posted by huangxin

PB Blaster soak it over night, then i just used a regular wrench. put the 12 pt end on the bolt and connected a 2 ft pipe to the other end.

after that i just put on some anti-seize or a tiny dab of all purpose grease to prevent it from seizing in the future.

Did you spray it on the head of the bolt or behind the tensioner (closer to the block)?

[hokie_sti]

I used the interlocking wrench trick and still couldn't get the bolt to budge.

I let PB blaster soak in for about 5 hours.

Would it be easier to break the bolt loose on a cold or hot engine?

[huangxin]

since it's screwed in horizontally, it's very hard for PB Blaster to soak in to where it needs to be, but do spray close to the block, inside the block is where the bolt gets stuck.

guess you can try it with a hot engine. mine came out before i used PB blaster. took some strength, but it gave out.

[hokie_sti]

Originally Posted by huangxin

since it's screwed in horizontally, it's very hard for PB Blaster to soak in to where it needs to be, but do spray close to the block, inside the block is where the bolt gets stuck.

guess you can try it with a hot engine. mine came out before i used PB blaster. took some strength, but it gave out.

I've never had this much trouble with a bolt before. I spent another 30 minutes trying to break it and still no luck. The torque spec for the bolt is only 51 ft lbs and I'm probably applying many times that much torque to break it.

This is just a standard bolt, correct? Right tighty, lefty loosey applies here?

[huangxin]

yeah, it's a standard bolt, clockwise tightens, counter loosens. just take your time, i've stripped too many bolts because of frustration.

soak it over night, try it the next morning. if it doesn't work, repeat and try again the next day. eventually it'll come loose.

i know it's hard to get a good leverage in there, you can try using a long metal pipe to get a better leverage, but be careful, if the wrench slips on the bolt while you yanking with the pipe, the bolt can get stripped very easily.

[Tim, Ohio]

Originally Posted by hokie_sti

I've never had this much trouble with a bolt before. I spent another 30 minutes trying to break it and still no luck. The torque spec for the bolt is only 51 ft lbs and I'm probably applying many times that much torque to break it.

This is just a standard bolt, correct? Right tighty, lefty loosey applies here?

If you still have trouble, you might consider buying a breaker bar intended for
this application. A few years back, I purchased one from CarQuest. It is a
bar made of a strip of steel, not round stock, but rather flat stock about a
quarter inch thick. It is about 2.5 ft long, has a square 1/2" socket head on
it and came with both sockets and box end wrench fittings that could be
attached. I had to place the socket on the bolt head, then press the
end of the breaker bar into the socket. The leverage you get with this
is much better then trying to hold a wrench on the bolt head with a
pipe.

Tim

[hokie_sti]

Originally Posted by Tim, Ohio

If you still have trouble, you might consider buying a breaker bar intended for
this application. A few years back, I purchased one from CarQuest. It is a
bar made of a strip of steel, not round stock, but rather flat stock about a
quarter inch thick. It is about 2.5 ft long, has a square 1/2" socket head on
it and came with both sockets and box end wrench fittings that could be
attached. I had to place the socket on the bolt head, then press the
end of the breaker bar into the socket. The leverage you get with this
is much better then trying to hold a wrench on the bolt head with a
pipe.

Tim

Thanks for the suggestion. I do have a 1/2" drive breaker bar that is a little over 2 feet long. I couldn't get it to fit witih any of my sockets, which is why I reverted to using wrenches. I'm going to pick up a 17mm crowfoot (box end wrench fitting) to attach to the break bar sometime this week and attack it again.

The funny part is the tensioner actually applies good/firm tension to the belt. It's just the annoying sound that bugs me. Maybe I should just return the part and live with the sound. I don't even drive the car more than twice a month as it's my wife's car.

[JeffG]

I have the same problem, there is a TSB for this issue and toyota has redesigned the part several times,
Part numbers: 16620–22010 --> 16620–22011 --> 16620-22012--> 16620-22013-->16620-0W101

So now Im wondering which of the after market tensioners match the newest toyota part. Does any one have a photo of 16620-22013 or 16620-0W101 tensioner?


Any one have any thoughts as to just replacing the piston? They sell on ebay for like $25.

I noticed my piston has a lower bolt and appears as if it could be removed...

[hokie_sti]

I borrowed a 17mm crowfoot from a friend and attached it to my huge-ass breaker bar. The bolt is now slightly rounded. Looks like I'll need a flare crowfoot because I don't want to completely round off the head of the bolt.

The bolt is 17mm (metric) correct? Or is it a standard size?