[BLXVCH]

Hey wonderful people of TN, I have an 07 Corolla LE. It’s the 1.8l 1ZZ-FE. I was in the process of replacing my serpentine belt. After getting the belt routed onto each pulley, I realized the belt was a little off on the pulleys.

I then decide to loosen up the belt with the release bolt on the tensioner. The 19mm bolt. And as it was real tight with my pry bar, it suddenly completely breaks off. I have the belt on correctly now, but I need to tighten this back up.

How can I tighten, and be able to loosen it in the future without completely replacing the entire part?

 

[icefire587]

I guess you can use some metal wire or anything strong enough to get leverage behind the tensioner, then pull. Better put some rubber or something soft under it to prevent scratches and damage. BTW, I noticed you might have some leaking from the timing chain tensioner? Not sure.

 

[75aces]

You can adjust the belt by rotating the crank pulley until it seats. Unfortunately you'll have to replace it eventually.

 

[BLXVCH]

I guess you can use some metal wire or anything strong enough to get leverage behind the tensioner, then pull. Better put some rubber or something soft under it to prevent scratches and damage. BTW, I noticed you might have some leaking from the timing chain tensioner? Not sure.
View attachment 330484

I’ll probably give that a try. I appreciate it! And yes there’s several things I’ve been working on with this car including that. It’s got 293k miles. It’s in pretty great shape for those miles though.

 

[BLXVCH]

You can adjust the belt by rotating the crank pulley until it seats. Unfortunately you'll have to replace it eventually.

What pulley would that be? I’m interested in trying. I just don’t wanna chance breaking anything else.

 

[75aces]

The crank pulley is at the bottom. It's above the oil pan. It's a ribbed pulley. Depending on how far off the belt is, will determine how many rotations needed to seat the belt.

Is the pulley not aligned with a smooth pulley or ribbed pulley?

 

[elitemafia]

it shouldn't be that hard to release the tensioner, your tensioner is probably on it's last legs if it's that hard to release it. I'd replace it with a new one.
also as long as you have it aligned with all the ribs on the belt, you typically just need to release the tensioner several times and it will self align... at least that was my experience with this.

 

[rich_d]

i agree with elitemafia. if you were local, i'd just give you the extra one i have. but they aren't terribly expensive to just replace.

 

[BLXVCH]

I Have an update;

I went and bought a good pair of groove joint pliers and was able to grip onto the edge of the tensioner to put it back with a firm grip. I was able to get it tightened. I do plan on replacing the entire thing later when I have the time to do so. For now it should be good. I appreciate the help guys!

 

[XtRaSlo]

+1 for replacing, 1zz tensioner not that bad