Tensioner Leak

I was at the Toyota Dealer today as my car was making a noise. I knew
it was a belt of some sort. The service person told me that I needed a
belt ($150) and that my tenisioner was leaking ($400). I told him to
change the belt but I would check on the tensioner elsewhere.

I called another garage and they told me that tensioners don't leak!
Is this true or is there something else I should look out for.

Thanks,
Reilly

<reillygirl64@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:1168102669.533743.134290@i15g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...[color=blue]
>I was at the Toyota Dealer today as my car was making a noise. I knew
> it was a belt of some sort. The service person told me that I needed a
> belt ($150) and that my tenisioner was leaking ($400). I told him to
> change the belt but I would check on the tensioner elsewhere.
>
> I called another garage and they told me that tensioners don't leak!
> Is this true or is there something else I should look out for.
>
> Thanks,
> Reilly
>[/color]

What is the model year, model, engine, and mileage on your car?

A $150 belt sounds like a timing belt, many of which are tensioned by a
hydraulic tensioner. The other garage obviously does not know much about
cars and should be avoided. If it is the timing belt and the tensioner is
leaking, then changing the tensioner at the same time as the timing belt
will add a half-hour or hour of labor to the cost, while changing the
tensioner on another trip will duplicate most of the labor so you will pay
anywhere from 3 to 5 hours of labor.
--

Ray O
(correct punctuation to reply)

What year, cylinders? Automatic drive belt tensioners (for AC/PS belts
for example), are spring tensioned and do not leak.

Hydraulic tensioners, used on V6 engines, cost about $60-90 online. Two
idler pulleys about $50 online. V6 timing belt costs over $270 to
change, so you either got a drive belt change or a timing belt change
for the 4-cyl which doesn't use the hydraulic timing tensioner.



[email]reillygirl64@hotmail.com[/email] wrote:[color=blue]
> I was at the Toyota Dealer today as my car was making a noise. I knew
> it was a belt of some sort. The service person told me that I needed a
> belt ($150) and that my tenisioner was leaking ($400). I told him to
> change the belt but I would check on the tensioner elsewhere.
>
> I called another garage and they told me that tensioners don't leak!
> Is this true or is there something else I should look out for.
>
> Thanks,
> Reilly[/color]

Ray,

I don't think it was the timing belt. The charge on changing the belt
was $150. $50 for the belt, $88 for the labor and the rest taxes and
whatnot.

I called the other garage again and the guy did, indeed, say he was
wrong and that with the 2003 Toyota Corolla, there is a hydraulic part
on the tensioner. The price at the other garage for changing the
tensioner is $230 and not $398.

Because I know so little about cars, I just can't help feeling ripped
off all the time. Every time I turn around with this car, I'm taking
it somewhere to take care of some noise it makes. Very very
frustrating.

Thanks for your help.


Ray O wrote:[color=blue]
> <reillygirl64@hotmail.com> wrote in message
> news:1168102669.533743.134290@i15g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...[color=green]
> >I was at the Toyota Dealer today as my car was making a noise. I knew
> > it was a belt of some sort. The service person told me that I needed a
> > belt ($150) and that my tenisioner was leaking ($400). I told him to
> > change the belt but I would check on the tensioner elsewhere.
> >
> > I called another garage and they told me that tensioners don't leak!
> > Is this true or is there something else I should look out for.
> >
> > Thanks,
> > Reilly
> >[/color]
>
> What is the model year, model, engine, and mileage on your car?
>
> A $150 belt sounds like a timing belt, many of which are tensioned by a
> hydraulic tensioner. The other garage obviously does not know much about
> cars and should be avoided. If it is the timing belt and the tensioner is
> leaking, then changing the tensioner at the same time as the timing belt
> will add a half-hour or hour of labor to the cost, while changing the
> tensioner on another trip will duplicate most of the labor so you will pay
> anywhere from 3 to 5 hours of labor.
> --
>
> Ray O
> (correct punctuation to reply)[/color]

<reillygirl64@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:1168114422.107988.285960@q40g2000cwq.googlegroups.com...[color=blue]
> Ray,
>
> I don't think it was the timing belt. The charge on changing the belt
> was $150. $50 for the belt, $88 for the labor and the rest taxes and
> whatnot.[/color]

$50 for the belt and about 1 hour's labor (depending on where you are)
sounds a little high but in the ballpark for an accessory drive belt.
[color=blue]
> I called the other garage again and the guy did, indeed, say he was
> wrong and that with the 2003 Toyota Corolla, there is a hydraulic part
> on the tensioner. The price at the other garage for changing the
> tensioner is $230 and not $398.[/color]

The accessory drive belt tensioner and about an hour and a half's labor
sounds about right. Having the tensioner done separately does duplicate
some labor.
[color=blue]
> Because I know so little about cars, I just can't help feeling ripped
> off all the time. Every time I turn around with this car, I'm taking
> it somewhere to take care of some noise it makes. Very very
> frustrating.
>
> Thanks for your help.
>[/color]
Some dealers hold customer "clinics" where service department personnel give
lessons on car maintenance basics - what is needed when, what some of the
major parts are, etc. I doubt if they would point out every part on the car
since few people who are not avid car enthusiasts would remember.

Another possibility is to take an evening continuing education course at a
local community college or high school. In the area where I live, the high
school district offers a couple of auto shop classes. Most of the time,
they will let you do some minor repairs during the hands-on portion of the
class.
--

Ray O
(correct punctuation to reply)

Yeah, I always felt like a total ass for what the dealer I worked for
charged people for changing belts on newer 4cyl Camrys & Corollas,
considering it takes less than 5 mins. That was one of the things I was
always happy to show customers how to do themselves. Peoples faces would
light up when they realize that there is still stuff they can do on newer
cars without thousands in equipment.

<reillygirl64@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:1168102669.533743.134290@i15g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...[color=blue]
>I was at the Toyota Dealer today as my car was making a noise. I knew
> it was a belt of some sort. The service person told me that I needed a
> belt ($150) and that my tenisioner was leaking ($400). I told him to
> change the belt but I would check on the tensioner elsewhere.
>
> I called another garage and they told me that tensioners don't leak!
> Is this true or is there something else I should look out for.
>
> Thanks,
> Reilly
>[/color]


I don't really know if the one on my 95 Geo Prizm was a spring or hydraulic,
but I know it was on it's way out before I changed my timing belt. The car
has recently started to run a little rougher and when I took that top cover
off of the engine over the belt the belt felt way loose.