Timing BELT or CHAIN on 1997 Corolla CE

[Nealoc187]

OK, I just searched back through every combination of terms I could think of to find out if the 1997 Corolla CE has a belt or a chain, and did not find an answer. I found info on 98s, 99s, 96s, etc, but not 97s.

Situation is this, my grandmother's car is at the dealership RIGHT NOW and one of the things they are replacing is the timing belt she was told. THEN they come back and say that the timing CHAIN tensioner is leaking oil. She called me to question me on this. I searched the forum (I'm a moderator of a large car forum so I know the "search, noob" mindset, and believe me, I did just search for the last 45 minutes or so.)

So basically, the question is this. Does my grandmother's 97 Corolla CE have a belt or a chain? If it's a belt, then it shouldn't have a timing chain tensioner that could be leaking oil, and if it's a chain, then they shouldn't have charged her whatever they just charged her to replace the timing belt because a chain should last forever.

So what's the verdict. 97 Corolla CE - Timing belt or chain? I don't know if it's a 1.6 or 1.8L (I gather that both were available in 1997).

[REN69]

you got a belt regardless of what motor you have.. 98 and up have chain. 93-97 are all the same car pretty much.

[Nealoc187]

Originally Posted by REN69

you got a belt regardless of what motor you have.. 98 and up have chain. 93-97 are all the same car pretty much.

OK that settles that.

So does the tensioner for the 97 Corolla's timing belt have any oil running through it that could be leaking? I've seen some pictures of that tensioner now (I've continued searching this whole time) and I don't see anything to indicate that oil has anything to do with it, so I can't see how it would be leaking oil as the dealership is claiming.

[ae924afdx]

is either a 4afe or a 7afe ... both with timing belts..another way to find out is.. if it's got a distributor is timing belt. It uses a regular tensioner {like hondas and others} that you tight in place, just and idler pulley deal. No oil at all. Places to leak around, are cam seal/crank seal. It's fairly easy to replace..dont let them rob you.

Good luck, and take care of your grandma.