New Your Opinions - Alternator went 56K miles & back again with the damn squeeling!

[prophase]

PPL,

I need your opinions on both issues below

#1 My wife and I just spent $450 today to have a new alternator put in, new battery, this also includes to tow truck. She met me for lunch yesterday, went to start her car, dead. Jumped it, ran a minute and died, did that twice until I knew what the problem was. Had it towed to my local mechanic and got it back today. (see issue #2 which might be related or just bad luck)

Anyway, the shocker, her 05 corolla LE only has 56K miles and is well maintained. She had advised me of some problems a few days earlier with sputtering and start issues but the alt went before I had a chance to check things due to the snow storms and such.

So, with such low mileage, should I contact Toyota Customer Care and discuss a partial reimbursement for this work, which was way to early if you ask me. A service manager at our local Toyota dealership via phone suggested the mileage was very low to have an alternator crap out.

#2 We had her belt tensioner replaced under warranty at about 25K. We had a new serp belt put on the car maybe less than a year ago as the belt that was one was getting real crappy and some slight squealing had started at startup and idle.

So when we get the car back today from the alternator and battery replacement, her car is squealing so loud you can her it 2 blocks away. At 50+mph I was behind her and heard it like I was in her car.

So, is it just coincidence that this started today or do you think it had to do with the new alt going on and the belt being tight or the tensioner yet again going to shit.

The mechanic feels it needs a new belt yet again, he's the one that put it on a year ago. He says that the aftermarket belts aren't that great for her car and recommended me buy an OEM belt and let him put it on at no charge.

Feeling and thoughts on both issues above is greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

[omgLIFT]

On my 1zz 05 Corolla S my alternator crapped out on me I believe at 25k miles and I didn't have a huge sound system either. I had a pioneer avic n3 tv/navi, 35w HID's with a relay harness, and Hella Horns. So being at 50k+ doesn't surprise me since the alternator is relatively weak based on research i've done on 9thgencorolla ...

also what kind of serpentine belt did you replace the squeeling monster with? I had the oem belt taken out when I put my supercharger in and I wanna say less than a year later it was squeeling like crazy. We removed the supercharger before I sold it the 1zz and replaced the belt with a goodyear gatorback. Once you compare the Goodyear belt to the OEM or even a dayco belt or any other aftermarket serpentine belt you will clearly see that the ribbed Gatorback belt is def. superior. I believe it was $35 and installation was free because it's something you can do yourself. You would need one person just to lossen the "fake" nut that releases and increases tension and then it's just routing the belt which for some can be a pain in the balls so make sure you have a printed diagram of how to route the belt or else your pretty much S.O.L.

[bennor]

If the car is out of warranty than your probably out of luck on getting Toyota to reimburse the alternator replacement. On a previous car, non Toyota, I had an alternator go bad one day after the warranty expired. Never could get the dealer to pay even a portion on the repair (never used that dealer again).

Its real easy to swap out the OEM, or original, serpentine belt with the Goodyear Gatorback. I posted some comments about the process on an 05 LE, with around 33,000 miles on it, in this thread: 05 Corolla Serpentine Belt Question. In that thread there is also a picture of the belt routing. Its a pretty quick process (about 10 minutes) and the belt was around $34 at Autozone. Just be aware that there are two different belts for the 05 at Autozone, one for cars with AC and one for cars without. You can also rent the tensioner kit tools from Autozone to help with removing the old belt and putting the new one on. It can be done by one person but it helps to have two people (one to route the belt around all the pulleys and the other to push down on the tensioner bolt with the tools).

[prophase]

#1 with regards to the reimbursement, I pretty much had a feeling it wouldn't happen but thought it would be worth a try.

#2 With regards to the belt issues, YES, it's the belt, gave it a quick spray of WD40 carefully this morning on the inside of the belt and the squealing went away immediately, so I will get the new Goodyear belt as suggested and have my mechanic put it in for me since its like 30 degrees here. He said he would do it at no charge since the belt he put in about 6 months ago obviously didn't last to long.

Will report back once done but we know the new belt should do the trick

Sincerely appreciate all the help

[mikered30]

FYI, never spray a belt with WD 40.

[prophase]

Originally Posted by mikered30

FYI, never spray a belt with WD 40.

What else can I use, that belt dressing shit always made the car louder and it took weeks to wear off after I used it in the past.

Is there an alternative to wd40 that will keep it quiet until I get the new goodyear belt?

[bennor]

Originally Posted by prophase

Is there an alternative to wd40 that will keep it quiet until I get the new goodyear belt?

Old school way to quite a noisy belt was to put some dish soap on the underside of it. Here are the steps (from this link: http://www.ehow.com/how_5723375_fix-noisy-fan-belt.html) to do so (starting at Step 3).

How to quiet a noisy fan belt

Step 1
Locate and inspect the noisy belt.
Step 2
Start the vehicle. With the engine running, spray the noisy belt with silicone-based spray or automotive-specific belt dressing. If the noise persists, then proceed to the next step.
Step 3
Turn the vehicle off.
Step 4
Pour a nickel- or quarter-sized amount of dish soap on your hand.
Step 5
With your fingers, spread the dish soap on the underside of the belt, coating as much surface as you can reach.
Step 6
Start the vehicle and listen for noise. It should be quiet now.

Tips & Warnings

• Upon initial inspection, if the belt is cracked or chipped, then it requires replacement by a mechanic.
• If the belt is extremely loose, meaning it can be turned more than a half-turn, then it needs to be tightened, which is best done by a professional. A very loose belt won't be helped by any attempts to quiet it.
• If noise persists, then take it to a mechanic right away. There are many components involved in a belt-drive system, and other problems could exist.
• Make sure that the vehicle is turned off before touching anything in the engine compartment. Never grab or touch a moving belt or pulley.

[prophase]

Update, so I took the car out this morning on our day off and withing 3 minutes the wd40 stopped working and the car got so loud we dropped it off and took mine instead.

It did work though, but for a very very short time period. I have a feeling that dbag mechanic put to much belt dressing on it when I advised him the belt was squeeling like crazy the day we picked it up. I once in the very past used belt dressing and if I remember, should not be used on surpentine belts and if it can, he used to much as I also once used to much in the past and it took weeks for the crap to wear off.

So, will get a Goodyear belt this week and have him put it for me since he offered at no charge!!!

So, for the few days until I get the new belt, do I do the dish soap technique or the bar soap technique.

Thanks.

[prophase]

Picked up the belt today, and wow, just from looking at this new one and the one of the car, what a difference, I can see why it's such a good belt and worth every penny.

I hope to get it on this thursday from the mechanic and I will be sure and tell him to not spray anything on it as they seem spray happy with stuff like this.

[trlong1]

Is the serpentine belt, or tentioner, or pulleys...an endemic problem on some Corollas? I just traded a 06 LE at 46k and never had a problem with it. The only thing I did was change oil and filters. Yet, my daughter's 06 Corolla S is on it's third serpentine in 43K. All three were either Toyota original or high quality replacement. Me thinks there's a problem here.

[omgLIFT]

Originally Posted by prophase

Picked up the belt today, and wow, just from looking at this new one and the one of the car, what a difference, I can see why it's such a good belt and worth every penny.

I hope to get it on this thursday from the mechanic and I will be sure and tell him to not spray anything on it as they seem spray happy with stuff like this.

nice man I told you just by looking at it you can see the quality they put into that belt. Make sure you post up your results once it's installed.

Originally Posted by trlong1

Is the serpentine belt, or tentioner, or pulleys...an endemic problem on some Corollas? I just traded a 06 LE at 46k and never had a problem with it. The only thing I did was change oil and filters. Yet, my daughter's 06 Corolla S is on it's third serpentine in 43K. All three were either Toyota original or high quality replacement. Me thinks there's a problem here.

The Toyota belts have been known to crap out every 15-20k miles i've heard of people already tripling that amount on the goodyear gatorback belt and they haven't had any issues yet. You haven't had a higher quality replacement until you've replaced the belt with a goodyear... Also the tensioners I believe are a known problem and there may be a TSB to correct it if the car is still under the powertrain warranty but don't quote me on that.

[prophase]

omgLIFT: car is so quiet now, almost seems wierd.

trlong1: my wife had her tensioner replaced under warranty at 20+K if I remember correctly, and I do believe they are a known issue. I also feel that they replaced it with the same crappy that originally came on the car, meaning same design, I don't even know if the TSB existed when we got hers done so I expect the tensioner to start acting up soon as well. Based a quick call to my local toyota service dept, when it does go, another lovely $350 bill!!!

[trlong1]

omgLIFT: Thanks for the information and the heads-up on the replacement Goodyear quality and the tensioner replacement. I've sent the thread to my daughter and encouraged her to push the issue with the dealership to fix it, not just patch it and wait for the warranty to run out. Hopefully she'll cut them no slack. I am still surprised that of 5 or 6 Corollas and two Highlanders in the last 12 years, not to mention an 80's 4x4 and 90's 4-Runner, I never had a serpentine belt fail, even though well over 40k were put on each. This '06 S is the first Toyota to have this problem that I've seen.