SERPENTINE BELT ISSUES

Anyone else having issues with their Serpentine Belt going bad after a couple of years? Had the belt replaced 2 weeks after I bought back in 2020 by the dealership because it was making a squealing noise. Now it's doing the same thing. Had it looked at, the pullies and tensioners are good, but they said the belt was dried out and not cracked. Getting replaced as we speak but wanted to see if anyone has this issue.

 

So far my sr5 v6 is a little over 2 years since buying it....no serpentine belt noises yet. I had a bad one on my 01 tundra within 2 years that was replaced in warranty. It failed again a few years later, and again years later after that. Toyota even replaced the pulleys, and tensioners with upgraded numbers when it failed the first time in warranty. I think they even went to a different manufactures belt. Those 4.7 engines were known for serpentine belt issues.

 

There is a TSB for changing the sepentine belt to a different part number

 

I have an 18 have had no issues. Sounds like something in the pulley system is not aligned properly if you are on your 2nd belt already. You might try a straight edge across the pulley faces to see if any are not lined up.

 

I had one of our customers who deals with fleets look at it, checked all pulleys and tensioners, everything looked good and checked out. the drive side of the belt was clean, no cracks, but the back side which rides over the tensioners was extremely dry and glazed. I guess we'll see what happens in a couple of months or years.

 

I actually took my 2017 back to the dealership I bought it from because it was squealing too. They checked everything and then charged me $200 to replace the belt. A year later it started again. I was mad. Called them and they said bring it up. I said nope.
Called another Toyota dealer that my wife bought her sienna from and the service dept manager I spoke to said he had heard other dealerships doing this to customers. He said that the belts just need a little dressing from time to time.
I had a 02 ram 1500 that was down to 3 ribs left and it never squealed once. Lol

 

Recently watched this video and they mention updated belt from Toyota

 

I bought my 2017 Tacoma new, and I’ve had the serpentine belt changed twice already and today it started squeaking again, I just had it changed last year, I don’t even have 60,000 in my truck yet☹️

 

I changed my serpentine belt at about 85,000 decided on a continental brand, paid about $30 for it. I figure it’ll last or it won’t and if it won’t, I’ll probably go buy one from the dealership next time. These belts are really tight.

 

I'm running the Continental brand and after a couple months after installed I'm already hearing a slight squeal

 

It is not hard to change the drive belt yourself. I like this video because the guy leaves his camera running in real time so you can see how long it took him to do everything.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sv5fAcT0JAY

 

Gates and Napa Proformer series (gates unbranded, same belt) I believe have the updated belt to eliminate squeaks.
70835
7pk2121

I realized this because the oem one is

$20 7pk2120 OEM Quality Serpentine Belt

7pk2120 and that is a tiny bit smaller in diameter than the 7pk2121 (2120mm vs 2121mm) Maybe the longer belt eliminates the squeaky squeaks?

There was confusion at the parts counter because the bando was a 7pk2120 OEM for the 3.5 motor, but the gates/napa (70835) that was also for 3.5 said 7pk2121 on the bottom of the package sleeve. When the employee just typed 7pk2121 in the computer it didn't even come up as an option for the 3.5 motor. But if you typed in 70835 it would be an option with the 7pk2121 label on the sleeve.

IDK

I could be wrong about all of this.

All I know is that the 7pk2121mm belt has eliminated my squeak. It's only been a few thousand miles and I'll report if it ever squeaks prematurely.
Hopefully it doesn't... It was a bitch to put on.

 

Old thread revival.

I'm still on the oem belt on my 2017 with just under 29k miles. I bought a replacement oem "Bando" branded belt to keep as a spare, but the grooves aren't as deep as the oem one that came on the truck.

The Continental belt is a popular replacement, but appears to be made in China if that matters. Continental used to be/ is a good brand. I guess nothing lasts forever.

 

There's a Gates "heavy duty" version of the 70835 belt, used on the Chevy Kodiak haul truck with Caterpillar diesel, P/N K070835HD, if you're interested: https://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo.php?pk=4590294&cc=0&pt=8900

 

Mine was squeaking on my 17” at around 45k miles. Replaced it so far so good now at 75k. Used another OEM belt.
Also pretty dang easy to do yourself! Keep my old belt as a spare in the truck for emergencies.

 

Yes, I've had issues with my 2019 SR v6 including belt squeal.

I bought it new in Feb 19, and it was back within a month due to belt squeal and weird/rough shifting of gears that almost stalled out a couple times in a way that felt like stalling a manual. I don't know/think they were related. The dealership couldn't find an issue. Belt squeal came back and also the truck would go through periods of time when the shifting wasn't right. I brought it back for a second time in 2 months and they could hear the squeal but said everything was fine with the belt, but couldn't reproduce the shifting issue. I made a fuss about the situation, and they swapped the belts and did some sort of program update on the transmission. That seemed to fix it. Now, at 78k miles, the belt is screaming again. This will be the 3rd in 80K miles.

 

https://www.rockauto.com/genImages/64/Gates Technical Service Bulletin (TSB_0050).pdf
The 2120 is the belt's effective length in millimeters. 2120 mm is 83.46 in. 2121 mm is 83.50 in.

The "-0835" is the belt's effective length in inches i.e. 83.5 in., one decimal place. Since both 2120 mm and 2121 mm round to 83.5 in., you get this oddity.

The Gates belt carries P/N K70835 but is actually 83.46 in. long: https://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo.php?pk=613371&cc=3441741&pt=8900&jsn=486 Maybe that's why it works well on the 3.5L.

 

Knock on wood I haven't had any issues, been 2 years so far. From what I've heard it's a common issue.

 

I just replaced mine around 170'000kms and it was quiet prior to that. Just alot of cracking so I figured it was time. I just used one from rockauto, gates I believe. All pulleys were fine.

Pro tip i've found over the years is to wire brush or otherwise clean the grooves of the pulleys before installing a new belt. Debris from the belt wearing overtime will fill the grooves and not allow proper belt contact and in turn allow slippage.

Don't quote me here but, I believe the theory of a serpentine belt is the same as a V-belt in that it is technically driven by the sides of the grooves NOT the peaks/valleys of the belt and pulley.

Contact of the peaks/valleys is a worn out belt and will allow slippage and in turn noise. That's why a new belt tends to have smaller gaps between ribs than a used belt

 

The Dealership told me that the belt glazed over and it happens often. I was surprised to hear that. I take what the dealership says with a gain of salt. So far the 2nd belt hasn't has any issues, I do have a 2nd one on stand by if the issue happens again. Right now I'm at 78K mileage.