belt noise ... again. - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

Amber · 05-05-2006, 11:27 AM

Guys,

Newbie-chick here! I will be doing a search right after posting. I've been reading as a visitor for a while, but wanted to ask a question.

I have a 2004 Corolla LE. It had a belt noise under the hood last year, so I took it to the dealer. It had ~32,000 miles so the dealer fixed it and I paid nothing.

Now I have 58,000 miles, and the noise has come back. Actually it has been doing the same noise for about 4 months, but just now have had time to consider taking it to the dealer again.

So I called the dealer to tell them I have the same noise. They told me that the part they replaced had a 12 month warranty and its been 14 months. I don't remember exactly how much they told me it would cost to fix it, but it was $400 or more.

I found out the part costs $163 plus tax. Is there any way I can get this done cheaper, or buy the part cheaper and have my brother put it on? What do you think? The squeal only happens when I start it first thing, like in the morning mostly. Same as last time. After getting up to 55 to 60, the noise stops and doesn't come back until the vehicle has been parked overnight.

Off to search...

Amber

***REN69*** · 05-05-2006, 01:52 PM

What part was it that the dealer replaced??

kwirnu · 05-05-2006, 02:08 PM

There is only one belt under the hood and there is no way it should cost more than $40 at an autoparts place and probably more lie $20. My corolla still has the stock belt @ 107k miles. It has always squealed a bit when it is wet or when it is cold and wet outside. I guess it is just a toyota problem.
I'll bet if you take it to a private shop they would charge less than $150 to change it out if that.

Amber · 05-05-2006, 02:26 PM

Ooops! I meant to add the part in when I was proof reading. Since I left it out, I called the dealer just now, and they told me it was a belt tensioner. The part number is 16620-22012.

I'm guessing the belt is OK, due to this is the exact same noise and last time to fix it, the dealer replaced the belt tensioner. So this belt tensioner part must be pretty lame.

So I'm thinking of replacing it and having my brother fix it. I think it sounds fun to help him, but I don't have tools ... not like he does. He's good at that stuff too. I don't mind getting dirty, but in this case I don't know what I would need to do. That's what a big bro is for.

Amber

kwirnu · 05-05-2006, 02:52 PM

You can buy the tensioner at autozone for $49 plus tax. I'd guess maybe 1/2 hour to replace.

Bingo · 05-05-2006, 03:38 PM

How about squirting some of that belt squeek spray that they sell at auto part stores ? Bingp

kwirnu · 05-05-2006, 05:11 PM

All the talk about belts got me excited so I went to autozone and got one for $20. It took 5 minutes to install. It looks like the tensioner is held on with 2 bolts 19mm and 10-12mm. So, take the belt off remove and replace tensioner and reinstall belt could be done easily in less than 15 minutes if you, 1. have the tools and 2. know what the parts look like.

adsaba1969 · 05-06-2006, 07:03 AM

The serp belt and/or tensioner have caused problems on quite a few 03+ corollas. I had to have my serp belt replaced @ 20K. It was showing the same symptoms as yours. If the dealer is charging you for it, I'd go with one of the options kwirnu suggested; a different repair shop or do it yourself.

cuzman · 05-07-2006, 02:40 AM

JUst done mine not long ago.....got the part of a as new car for f/a

it took little more than basic tools and hour half witha few beers to do!

Good luck should be straight forward job......

Amber · 05-10-2006, 04:25 PM

I'm going to take a crack at it this weekend. My bro came by last night and dropped off a heavy box of tools. Should be way more than I need. Who said chick's can't work on cars?

I am also going to try to get the door trim off, because my window has a popping sound when rolling up and the glass sounds loose if you shut the door with the window open slightly. I'm looking at this as a fun experiment.

If I get this thing torn apart and can't get it back together, I'll just borrow a car until I can, or until my bro can get it back together.

- Amber

Amber · 05-13-2006, 04:21 PM

I realize I didn't mention that I had a problem with the driver's door glass being loose. I wanted to fix this too this weekend, and figured this would be easier, so I started in the door glass.

OK, so I got the door trim off and found one of the two clamp bolts loose on the bottom of the glass. My bro showed me in the service manual how it said to take off the door trim. He had plans this weekend and couldn't help me so I thought I'd give it a try. It went just like the service manual said. Except there's a clear film between the door metal and the door trim. But I only had to peel it back. Any, I figured there was just something loose and I was right.

The book gave the torque, I used my brother's torque wrench and tightened the bolt back up as per the book. Then I put everything back together. I was done with that in 1 hour and 15 minutes. It took about 45 minutes to take the door apart and about 15 minutes to put it back together. Another 15 minutes to find the loose bolt, find the torque, set the torque wrench and tighten it. Not bad, I impressed myself.

On to the the belt tensioner. The pulley on the tensioner is where I think the noise is coming from. I was/am going to replace that pulley because advance said they had that pulley for $10, so I though what the heck. But it has some wierd nut on it, and no tool to fit it. So I decided to take the whole thing off and take it to advance auto and see if they had a tool for that nut or bolt. I found this in the service manual too. It does have a 19 mm bolt and a smaller nut. It showed how to get the belt loose and I did that with no problem. It said to loosen the bolt first, but I couldn't get it loose. I had a fairly large 19 mm wrench, but I couldn't get the bolt to turn. A ratchet with socket would not fit into that space. The wrench is all that would fit. So I gave up.

Does anybody know a good way for me to get this fixed. I just want the $10 pulley replaced, but it will probably require the removal of the entire tensioner. Should I just take to a local shop, with pulley in hand?

cuzman · 05-13-2006, 08:23 PM

Is it a left or right handed thread? check the book.

You may have been trying to tighten it by mistake...lol

rice · 05-13-2006, 11:16 PM

take it to the shop, or if you have someone who knows how to fix it, have them help you

Amber · 05-14-2006, 06:48 PM

cuzman - The book did not say it was a left hand threaded bolt. It didn't say anything, so I figured it was a normal bolt.

ricer - I believe I know how to fix, just didn't have the strength to get that bolt loose. I'm thinking I'll find a shop that'll let me hand them a pulley and just have them swap it out. I want to fix this for as cheap as possible. I'm looking at selling the car. Now that the window is fixed, this belt noise is the ONLY issue with the car. A good car, but wanting to sell it anyway.

Amber

Amber · 06-06-2006, 11:08 AM

All - I got my brother to come over and help me with this. A new part plus shipping I negotiated for $130 even.

The belt squeal is gone!!!

My brother used a piece of pipe as a breaker bar on the big bolt. Then it backed out into the frame inside. It wouldn't back all the way out. He had to jack the engine up about an inch and a half and work the big bolt out. The new one went in easy once the engine was jacked up.

But, the problem is fixed. It cost more than I wanted to pay, but a whole lot less than the dealer wanted to charge. They wanted ~$40 to find the cause of the squeal, $166 for the part, and probably 2 hours or so of labor. That's probably another $100 or so. So, I'd say I would've paid $330 (including tax) or more to have the dealer do the work.

- Amber