Replacing the serpentine belt at 222,000km

My '07 Tacoma-TDR-dbl cab-6cyl-4x4-6spd, is just about to hit 222,000 km and this morning i heard a "ticking" from under the hood. Checked it out and noticed that the serpentine belt had a fray about 2-3" long (about 1/8" wide) that was causing it.
Needless to say, i'm getting it replaced/replacing it myself, but i just have a few questions before i go ahead...

1) just out of curiosity, if the belt fails/breaks will it cause any damage? (thinking of a timing belt snapping in some vehicles, some VW's for example, boom, engine replacement)

2) I didn't find much on here after searching "serpentine". It does sound like a fairly simple job, roughly an hour, but i'm wondering if there are any other parts i'll be accessing that should be considered for replacing?

3) any tutorials for this one??? odd tools needed? tips/tricks to make it quicker/easier?

Thanks!

 

http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/2n...pulleys-tensioner-pulley-serpentine-belt.html

 

Serpentine Belt how-to's are all over youtube. You may not find one specific to the Tacoma. The engine in your vehicle is known as 1GR-FE. Concepts are pretty much the same on most vehicles, especially Asian and U. S. vehicles.

In my opinion it helps to have a long wrench to loosen the belt tensioner pulley.

Here's a pointer to the 2005 Factory Service Manual(FSM):

http://web.archive.org/web/20080731033603/http://www.ncttora.com/fsm/

Scroll down to -> 2005-2006 Toyota Tacoma FSM 1GR-FE & 2TR-FE. You will see an Online Version & Full FSM File Download. Select the Full FSM File Download. The Online Version is incomplete in many areas. Selecting the Full version allows you to have the FSM stored on your hard drive. Sooner or later Toyota lawyers will catch up with this "WayBack" thing and bring it down as well.

 

-Draw a picture of the belt routing before removing, or have a confirmed accurate diagram.
-If your old belt wasn't frayed, I'd say draw that diagram on the belt sleeve, and throw the old belt behind the seat as a spare - that's what I do, and it saved my butt a couple weeks ago when a rock got caught between the belt and water pump pulley, shredding the belt.

 

1) just out of curiosity, if the belt fails/breaks will it cause any damage? (thinking of a timing belt snapping in some vehicles, some VW's for example, boom, engine replacement)

The serpentine belt has nothing to do with timing, at all. The serpentine belt runs accessories like the alternator, a/c pump, power steering etc. The only thing i'm not sure about, is whether or not it runs the water pump. If it does run it, then if your belt fails, your pump won't run, with a high chance of having it over-heat. But you will know quickly, as you will have all sorts of lights going off on your dash as soon as you lose alternator power.


2) I didn't find much on here after searching "serpentine". It does sound like a fairly simple job, roughly an hour, but i'm wondering if there are any other parts i'll be accessing that should be considered for replacing?

It's a very simple job to replace. A long breaker bar from above or below the truck, mated up to the tensioner pulley to remove, and replace. If you know the flow of the belt, it should only be a 15minute job.

3) any tutorials for this one??? odd tools needed? tips/tricks to make it quicker/easier?

Can't quite remember the pulley size...14mm? 17maybe? And a long breaker bar. Skinnier arms, you can use a shorter one...and a good diagram of how the belt goes. take a quick cell phone picture for reference before you remove.
and good luck
Thanks![/QUOTE]

 

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If serpentine belt fails usually will destroy coolant pipes going to radiator. I would not drive if belt is already compromised.

 

I did not know that? is that from the belt slap as it comes around, taking hoses with it?
good call though, something i didn't think about.

and yes, if the belt is compromised, do not drive it..

 

Yup. Before it lets go, it will destroy anything on its path even at low RPms. If you unlucky and it happens on high RPM there will be a lot of things to replace.

 

very good to know. is this from past experience by chance?

Thanks for the heads up!

 

Ive had plenty of experience with a serpentine belt, heard mine squealing maybe 6 moths ago so i replaced it. There were small cracks in the belt no big deal, did the job by myself first time replacing this belt and just followed a write up. Maybe took 20 min tops, the hardest part is keeping tension on the pulley while fishing the new belt through. Fast forward 2 months go out to the desert Saturday night with a group, about 10:45 at night squealing gets loud then suddenly stops, A/C stops working, power steering goes out, and lights start coming on in the dash. Pull over immediately and see that my hood is steaming. Pop the hood, coolant overflow cap blew off and sprayed fluid everywhere.
Belt was ripped completely in half with it showing under the truck. Get towed back close to the road, start calling automotive shops and everywhere online that is says 24hrs is not anymore. Called everywhere in 100 mile radius with no luck. Get a buddy to take a serp belt off another buddies truck drive it out at 2 AM gets there around 3:30 go for one more night run drive back to SD get to AutoZone when they open run to my other buddies house put his belt back on and still get to work at 10AM.

Moral of the story always keep a spare. Got a towing quote and it was around $500

 

Not my experience
But I know few people who procrastinated and end up replacing over $1000 in parts, because $50 belt.

 

Toyota of Dallas online belt was 30$
Tensioner is a 14mm

If the sqeaking continues its the pulleys and refer back to that link they posted above.

I recently replaced all my pulleys and belt tensioner assembly. Trucks running like a pussycat.

07 TRD off road 107kkkmi

 

Got the belt and I'm goin in!

 

I'd have to say that went pretty well. Just about an hour from taking the skid plate off to putting it back on. Worst part was all the melting snow dripping all over me. Sure wish i had time to leave it in the garage to dry off first. Oh well.

Here are my tips to share….

-disconnect battery
-jack up truck to give room to work from below. (don't forget your jackstands)
-remove skid plate
-sketch out the belt route or make sure you have an accurate diagram. The one from the fj cruser link on this thread was correct for my truck.
-remove the plastic engine cover (2x 10mm nuts holding it on) This gives you better access to pull the belt off the fan pulley.
-use a 14mm socket and ratchet for tensioner pulley.
- i used a pipe, but get yourself a length of 2x4 about 24" depending on how high the truck is jacked up. you will use this later to wedge the ratchet handle in place.
-working from below, turning ratchet counter-clockwise, release tension from tensioner pulley and pull the belt off one or two pulleys then release the ratchet.
-pull the belt off the rest of the pulleys and then working from above you have to pass it around the fan to get it off.
-still from above, pass new belt over the fan and stuff it down so you can get it from below.
-route belt around all pulleys as per diagram leaving it off one easy to access pulley (not the tensioner, make sure it goes around the tensioner at this point)
-now set the ratchet so that when it is turned about 1/3 of a turn (which is pretty close to as far as it will go) it is about 90deg from the ground
-at this point use your 2x4 (i actually used a length of pipe and if you are as lucky as me, it will already be the perfect length ) to wedge the handle of the ratchet in place so that you can use both hands to fit the belt over the last pulley. ***Make sure the 2x4 and ratchet is firmly in place. You don't want to knock it out of place when you have your fingers in the wrong place.
-make sure the belt is fitted over each pulley correctly
-release ratchet
-connect battery
-fire up the truck to make sure it works
-replace skid plate
-lower truck and replace plastic engine cover
-grab beer

i'll try to attach a few photos (first time )

 

Ok, maybe the ratchet wasn't 90deg from the ground at this point. more like 50deg or so

 

Here is a pic of the new and old belt, side-by-side.
And a pic of the old belt and a couple stray pieces of it i found when i took off the skid plate. I circled a little hole in the belt. That can't be good

 

ive never replaced a vehicle belt yet but in industrial applications the main thing to remember is to re tension after 24 hours. Belts stretch. Im still just an apprentice but all the millwrights Ive worked with tell me stories of people neglecting this step. The belt will then slip, operators will come in with some belt dressing and you end up with very nicely polished pulleys. Which would have to be replaced.

 

Sound advise, however......The tensioner pulley is spring loaded so that when you put the ratchet on and turn it, the pulley moves in the direction that takes the pressure off the belt so you can remove/replace it.
I assume (uh oh) that the "tension" on the tensioner pulley is "preset"? If so, how would you reset the tension?

So if one were to have this done at a garage would you be advised to bring it back in 24hrs or to check the tension yourself, similar to checking your lug nuts after several kms when putting a tire back on?

 

Good to see it went well OP, I did mine back in the summer when I replaced the AC compressor, Alternator, and tensioner pulley. Truck seemed to run a little more smooth than it did before. I attacked the tensioner puller spring to get the belt on from the top though and didn't have to crawl around under the truck (Although there probably would be more space that way).

Serpentine belts are something that should be replaced every 100 - 150k km's like spark plugs and such. If you invest in a Haynes manual, or another manual for the truck it shows you how to do all this stuff and more. For $30 or so it's worth having in the glovebox.