Belts too tight?

[eckbrethpj]

I had the timing belt and water pump replaced recently on my 2001 Avalon XLS (175,000 miles) at the Toyota dealer. Now it seems as though the belts are too tight. The engine RPM is lower than beofre the maintenance and the car seems to be dragging. My mileage went from 26 mpg to 21 mpg after the maintenance. Any ideas if this is correct?

[new echo owner]

If the cam timing is not aligned properly it will affect the engine the way you had described. Take it back to them and have them recheck their work.

N.E.O.

[aznstylez]

they didn't redo the timing. take it back to them.

[TrailDust]

I'd also be wary for how they billed you on the repair. Make sure they didn't double-bill for the water pump removal, which is already included with the timing belt replacement. It always helps to stay on top of repair facilities....

TrailDust

[tr7driver]

Are You getting a CEL? When I had my timing belt done on my 2000 av at 105K the car ran fine but after about 10 miles it threw a CEL. The code indicated the cam sensor was off. I took it back to the shop and they re-did it at no charge (and threw in a car wash). The mechanic told me the belt must have slipped one notch when they were putting it through the tensioner.

It was close enough that I would never have noticed the error based on the car’s performance if it didn’t throw the CEL.