'04 Belt Tensioner

[TheSquishFactor]

We took our '04 Corolla S in for a smog check and the guy said the belt tensioner needed to be replaced. Question is... how can I tell if this is true? The belts don't squeal at all but with the car standing still and in drive, there is a lot of rattling noise and engine vibration. This goes away pretty quickly after increasing speed above 0.

At one point the belts did squeak and the car was taken in and they fixed it. I don't know what they did (it was before I started working on the car). I have seen the service bulletin on the problem with the tensioners on these model years but am not sure how to diagnose if there is anything wrong with the tensioner.

Any suggestions?

[14Bauer]

i just had my 05 xrs in due to a squealing caused by my belt, it was as you said only on idle and it disappeared after movement. i found that mine only made the noise when it was sitting for more then 6 hours. once i got the belt changed it fixed the noise, been 2 weeks and nothing yet. as for the vibrations i am not sure what that could be caused from.

i was told from the mechanic that they were not sure if my tensioner needed replacing cause that was also potential cause of my noise but said it wasn't worth changing now since my xrs only has 57000 on it.

-14bauer