[bolexbrother]

Recently I was driving through Arizona to Los Angeles when the check engine light clicked on. My car had recently hit 90,000 miles. So I pulled into TEMPE TOYOTA and they charged me 90 dollars to check it out. After the checkup they said that the Catalytic Converter had an internal failure and my DRIVE BELT TENSIONER and DRIVE BELT were leaking. My car is running just fine and I have noticed no difference in it's operation. After I arrived in LA I disconnected the negative terminal of my battery and reconnected and the light has not come back on since. And upon inspection of the engine there doesn't appear to be anything leaking or loose or broken. Any ideas? Suggestions?

 

[mike787]

Check engine light on is usually an emissions conponent failure...like the 02 sensor is very common. On some cars the warning light will come to advise you that it is time for a major tune up ie. the timing belt change and the Dealer will reset the light after repairs. In order to pin piont the exact promblem, you must perform a diagnostic code check on your car and the Haynes Repair manual will give you instructions as to the exact procedure. By the way the drive belt does not leak and the drive belt tensioner can only be checked for excess free play after you remove the timing belt cover and that is a lot of work...definitely more than 1 hr.

 

[Bluechalice]

I recently took my Toyota Corolla 2000 into my toyota dealer for Intemediate Maintainence Special for $137....and after a few hour I went back and they Recommended 3 things:
Battery $142.54
Engine Drive Belt and Tensioner $382.56
Front Brake Job $198.95

I didnt get any Check Engine Light...but they guy said my Drive belt is dry and cracking and the tensioner is loose or something...dont remember the details....
but my main question is...Are all these procedures price accurate and standard price? or am I being overcharged?
I am thinking I should just go to Walmart and get my battery replaced...but I was wondering if Walmart would be able to do replace the front brakes? How much does that usually cost anyway? also...how much does it cost to get the Engine Drive belt and tensioner replaced?
by the way...they said my front brakes are 2mm and the back ones are 3.5mm...is the 2mm really bad? how long will it lasts?
Also if the engine drive belt is dry and cracking...will it just break and what happens then? I really dont know anything much about cars...but the guy said mine doesnt use a timing belt...so I assume timing belt and engine drive belt is different? and engine drive belt is made of rubber too?
Ken

 

[Rmonkey]

Drive belt tensioner....I just found out I had one on my 1999 corolla with 236,000 kms (146K miles). I asked a friend who is knowledgeable on cars and he had never heard of one. My car was in for service and they called me and said the tensioner was loose. Cost $135 Cdn for parts/labor (I did get it replaced) They also said my drive belt was cracking. I wonder if this is the new phantom repair.

Can someone shed some light?

MOD - Maybe this should be sent to Gen Discussion?

 

[TRDragoon]

I work at the dealers. so i can tell you what the common problem for the 1ZZ-fe Engine

one is Serpantine belt, which cracks after 60,000km.
-2nd, Timing chain cover gaskets, oil leak starts from there.
3rd. oil comsumption due to worn piston ring (must do oil change people!!!)
4th CHeck engine light 1998~2000. occurs in long distance driving... dunno the cause.

other stuff like brake service, alignment, tire rotation, etc etc etc, those are just mandatory maintenance.

on thing i should suggest is, if you own a Standard transmission, do you oil change more often than Automatic..... these engines are not meant to rev high.

 

[theman86_2]

I recently took my Toyota Corolla 2000 into my toyota dealer for Intemediate Maintainence Special for $137....and after a few hour I went back and they Recommended 3 things:
Battery $142.54
Engine Drive Belt and Tensioner $382.56
Front Brake Job $198.95

I didnt get any Check Engine Light...but they guy said my Drive belt is dry and cracking and the tensioner is loose or something...dont remember the details....
but my main question is...Are all these procedures price accurate and standard price? or am I being overcharged?
I am thinking I should just go to Walmart and get my battery replaced...but I was wondering if Walmart would be able to do replace the front brakes? How much does that usually cost anyway? also...how much does it cost to get the Engine Drive belt and tensioner replaced?
by the way...they said my front brakes are 2mm and the back ones are 3.5mm...is the 2mm really bad? how long will it lasts?
Also if the engine drive belt is dry and cracking...will it just break and what happens then? I really dont know anything much about cars...but the guy said mine doesnt use a timing belt...so I assume timing belt and engine drive belt is different? and engine drive belt is made of rubber too?
Ken

Well the battery should be a genuine toyota battery and the price sounds right personally i prefer the genuine batteries. The tensioner i have no clue how much it is but that doesn't sound right because it's only a 2000 and belt is easy to check if it's worn, cracks running against the ribs and long cracks running with the ribs or pieces of ribs missing means it needs to be replaced. As for the 382.56 i bet you 3/4 of that is labor, and the brakes sounds right for front and rear both but not one or the other besides you'll save a lot of money if you do the brakes yourself.

 

[Bluechalice]

I Really dont know anything about fixing up a car...so it would be disaster to do my own brakes...furthermore...Toyota is trying to charge me $200 for the Front Brakes ONLy!!! its crazy...
And I just remember now...when I bought my car...I dont remember whether its was a geniune toyota battery or what...it was a new Toyota Corolla 2000....and I know my battery is not a TOYOTA battery...its like AC Delco...I am beginning to wonder if those guys at the shop swap my parts? Is this a common mispractice?? I mean we dont get to see what goes one behind the scenes...so How will I know when I pay $130 for a maintainance that the do what they listed?
They also said my Drive belt was " DRY and CRACKING"....
I probably need to change both front and rear brakes...cause the front is 2mm left...and the back is 3.5mm....but one funny thing I notice now as I check back on the maintainance reports....everytime I go in for a scheduled maintainance....the brake report is always different...like AUG 2002 is 80% then in Jan 2003 the brakes are 90%!!!
Were they just trying to avoid replacing my brake pads while the warranty was still on?

 

[Rmonkey]

My corolla's original battery is AC delco. I don't believe there is a "toyota" brand.

I'm trying to find out the same on the belt, since I have the same problem. I'll put it on here should I ever find out.

 

[Bluechalice]

Same here

Hey Rmonkey...sounds like we are having the same problems with out Corolla 2000...
I'll definitely post back here if I do get some more information...I went to walmart to check the batteries they are all around like $30 to $40....I was wondering if anyone has any good experiences with Walmarts Tire and Lube Service?

 

[Chris Corolla S]

By the way the drive belt does not leak and the drive belt tensioner can only be checked for excess free play after you remove the timing belt cover and that is a lot of work...definitely more than 1 hr.

1zz has a timing chain.

He is refering to the accesory belt.

 

[knightbr]

"on thing i should suggest is, if you own a Standard transmission, do you oil change more often than Automatic..... these engines are not meant to rev high."

Tell me your joking. I run my to 5500 RPM all the time have since the day I bought it (2000) and have 70,000km on it. No issues so far. But I do change the oil a lot every 4500km have switched to Synthetic oil and switched to 7500km changes.

 

[Chris Corolla S]

"on thing i should suggest is, if you own a Standard transmission, do you oil change more often than Automatic..... these engines are not meant to rev high."

Tell me your joking. I run my to 5500 RPM all the time have since the day I bought it (2000) and have 70,000km on it. No issues so far. But I do change the oil a lot every 4500km have switched to Synthetic oil and switched to 7500km changes.

He works at a repair shop and I belive was specifically refering to a problem some 1ZZs develop where the piston rings no longer fully seal the combustion chamber because of a combination of design flaw, high revs, and low or old oil.
Also 1ZZs were not meant to rev high. A 6200 RPM redline is not very high. That's like a truck's redline. Reving to 5,500 RPMS is not what I would consider high.

 

[knightbr]

Once I accidentaly ran it to redline and the engine shut off. It scared me so bad as I didn't realize what I had done, now I am a bit more watchful of the RPM when I am really stepping on it. One thing I have noticed is that the real push you back into the seat is at the accelartion between 3500 to 5000 mark going over 5000 I find I the power is lost.

Thanks for the info.