When to replace the serpentine belt?

I replaced mine on my '06 at 125k, I just sold one of my Camry's with 181k and it still had the original belt. Be sure to check your idlers too.

 

Well a little over next week, but replaced my belt. 181,784 on original. Quick and easy.

 

I cant get mine to stop squeakin and squealin. Been through 4 belts in the last couple months. New tensioner, new balancer, Everything seems fine. New belt lasts about 4 days to a week, and then its squeakin again. Been carrying around a bar of soap to hit it with every morning and evening. Troubleshooting indicates bad belt or misalignment, but I have yet to read of how a misalignment is even possible on these things, or of anyone who has dealt with it.. Everything is where its gonna be, they don't move. I'm on my last leg with it. Just ordered ANOTHER belt, but a gatorback. We'll see. Good luck

 

That's annoying; good luck with the fix. I never had squeaking issues with my OEM belt. I went through squeaking belt issues with one of my Dodge Cummins. The gatorback fixed it and I never looked back. It will be the only belt I'll put on for replacements.

I changed my tacoma belt last year just short of 100K Miles. Used a Gatorback, now sold as a Continental Elite. No issues for the last 13K miles. I do carry a Bando that I bought as a spare when I first bought the truck(had a long road trip right after I bought it and I won't roll without a spare).

 

My last two were oem/bando belts. They are fine for a couple days and slowly start chirping, within a couple days its a full on constant squeal. As if something is wearing them too fast. But hit it with soap for a couple seconds and its fine for a while. It just has me so baffled, Ive spent hundreds on it already and loads of time. I'm tired of throwing parts at it and nothing working.

 

I was the same way with my Dodge belt until I went with the gatorback. Hope it works out for you as squeaky belts are pretty trashy sounding.

 

Well over 200,000 miles on mine with the original serpentine belt.

After inspection, belt looks good, not new, but still good.

Have a new replacement belt which is kept in the small cargo compartment along with tools, behind the divers side seat for in case for an emergency.

....and yes, have owned my Tacoma since April 2008, brand new driven off the dealerships lot.

 

If it works don't fix it!

Seriously, it's a good idea to keep the spare on board, that's a lot of miles. I will say that changing the serpentine belt was one of the easiest things I've ever done, almost as easy as changing the oil. It's been a few months since I did it but I believe it took me all of 15 minutes start to finish...

 

So which belt is better Gatorback or the Bando ? and what is the stock number and where can you get them from ?

 

Bando part number is earlier in this thread.

This is the Gatorback part number for V6: Continental Elite 4070834 Used to be Goodyear years ago, now it is Continental. Here is their parts finder which will bring up the belt specs as well. http://www.partfinderelite.com/

I bought my Gatorback from Amazon(I'm an Amazon.comaholic), but the price has gone up over $10 since I bought it. Would try to find elsewhere.

 

Thanks brother....

 

I replaced mine at 144k, and found a 5 inch long slice in the belt.

 

I just changed mine at 60 months.
4.0 V6
The way to go is to remove the belt from the PS pump while pulling the tensioner loose.
The same goes for installation. Route the belt around everything but the PS pump and put the belt around it last while pulling on the tensioner.
I did everything from the bottom after pulling the skid plate since there is no room from the top.
Check and recheck that the ribs are centered properly on each and every ribbed pulley from the top and bottom, before starting the engine.
Check every pulley and idler while the belt is off for free rotation.

 

i replaced mine at 160K because it was split down the middle. It looked like there were two belts running on the pulleys LOL. i have also replaced the ldler pulleys and the bearings in the tensioner pully twice becauser they started 'singing'.
2007 Gen2 Access Cab OffRoad

 

For those Intrested in a visual comparison between a 102K mile belt, and new. Visually, it looked great while on the motor. Upon removal, there were 2 damaged areas:

 

Idlers and tensioner pulleys should be replaced at the same time. All in, about a $60 job from Rock Auto for parts

 

I have 2nd gen 2015 4cyl 2.7L with 270.000 miles in January 2024!
I replaced original belt at about 140k miles.
i am about to change the belt just because it is right thing to do, the belt still looks good.
i only use OE Toyota parts, and strongly recommend getting OE Toyota parts.
The taco still rides and feels like brand new!
Enjoy!

 

Better to do it when you choose to versus have to.

 

Somewhere around 100,000 miles is a good place to start. But if the belt has been in 10 years I'd replace it regardless of miles. It may well last longer, but I'd rather replace it when I want to than on the side of the road when it breaks.

 

I've never seen a serpentine belt break unless there is a mechanical failure. The rubber will start to get old and hard which results in cracking followed by noise. Gates actually has a spec on so many cracks per inch as a guide on when to replace.