Near 36k miles....go to dealer NOW!!!!

[CloNeGTS]

Ok, someone slap a sticky on this guy. This needs to become a standard procedure for all Celica owners.

I am currently at 40k miles, out of warranty. My belt tensioner is shot. Of course, the dealer knows of the problems and is replacing the belt/tensioner under warranty.

Wanna know what it'll cost ya outside of warranty to get this universally defective part replaced? Try $250 for just the part! I'm going to change the part myself, so if you aren't mechanically inclined, tack on some labor charges.

So....learn from my misfortune. If you hear the faintest of squeaks, take it in and get it replaced. If you don't hear a squeak....get it replaced anyway! Try at least, tell em you hear it all the time, you hear the 'rock tumbler' sound (thanks for the adjective Jesse).

Don't let this fuking part put a hole in your mod's checking account.

[HilfigerCelica]

Thanks Clone, I've been living with the squeak for over a yr, I guess I'll bring it in during spring break.

[static]

From my understanding.. we do have 5 year, 50K POWERTRAIN coverage.. that includes the Engine and Tranny components... so we should be ok.

[CloNeGTS]

Ooooh....good point Static......I need to try that one.

If that doesn't work....anyone have a trashed Celica in the junkyard somewhere.....wanna sell me a tensioner???

[CloNeGTS]

Called the dealer....he's looking into it....I'll let ya know what he says about it.

From the warranty book given to us, it doesn't mention the tensioner by name, but it does mention valve covers, flywheel, engine mounts, ECU, water pump, fuel pump....blah blah. I can't imagine why it wouldn't be covered.....but we'll see.

[static]

Damn right!! U tell em!!!

[CloNeGTS]

Original response.....NO. Not in the book. I told him to start calling around asking about it. At this point, the answer is no.

[static]

Originally posted by CloNeGTS
Original response.....NO. Not in the book. I told him to start calling around asking about it. At this point, the answer is no.

What a bunch of hogwash!?!?!

[kaioshin]

Originally posted by static
From my understanding.. we do have 5 year, 50K POWERTRAIN coverage.. that includes the Engine and Tranny components... so we should be ok.

50k???? Damn. I thought I still had this warranty.... I thought it was 100k. Damn.... :mad:

[static]

Originally posted by kaioshin


50k???? Damn. I thought I still had this warranty.... I thought it was 100k. Damn.... :mad:

100K??? If you want that.. gotta get a Tiburon :D

[GeeTeeEss]

Clone,

This is an idea for you. If you have a REALLY good friend w/ a Celica (Under warranty) take your belt off, put it on his and vice versa. Then have himn take his car in. Do you catch my drift...? Kinda low down cheap and sleezy... but then again isn't Toyota...?

[RedNOSceli]

Powertrain includes anything that makes the motor run..The belt system has a direct effect on the motor.

Now if your windo stops rolling up, then you're screwd..ac going out, then your screwed...Belt tensioner breaks, then your car wont run(well, not very long) and they need to replace it.

[X-EVIL-X]

i got this replaced a year ago and no problems.
you guys think it might come back.
i have close to 36000 miles

[dee5330]

Whoooo!!! Good thing I got the 100k warranty. :applaud:

[Jesse IL]

Hey man, don't be afraid to get regional customer service people involved. I wrote a nasty letter to Toyota Motor Sales a while back due to my dealer's being an ass. I eventually got a call from a regional customer service rep. Once they got involved, it seemed like the dealer was more than happy to help me out. I would write how this is a known problem that many people have been having problems with, and how it seems like poor customer loyalty to try and shut out a customer on what amounts to a recall issue.

[CloNeGTS]

well, no new info. The guy was going to check into a few things for me, and nothing so far.

Don't get me wrong guys, this is a small town dealer and they love my car. They will bend over backwards to help you (getting the front end repainted was a breeze with these guys...under warranty!)

I dunno. If I don't hear from him tomorrow, I'll be calling regional as Jesse said.

But....remember the message guys. GET IT REPLACED WHILE YOU CAN!!!!

[DevlynSyde]

... front end repainted... under warranty???

[daSchtick]

Is the new tensioner an improved part in any way, or is it destined to squeak just like the original? Has anyone had a second faulty tensioner? Mine squeaks on rainy days when I first start the car, but it only lasts about 2-3 seconds. I hate to even bother going to the dealer for such a minor issue if a new tensioner will squeak after a year or so anyways.

[z6joker9]

i'm glad i got the 100k warrenty :)

Will having the AEM pulley void that? i've been getting the squeaking sound but it comes and goes... i asked about a tsb on it a while back but there wasn't one... has something changed?

[Vroom_Vroom]

CLONE WHERE THE HELL DID U GO!!!!! i havent seen you around man!!! damn nice car!! did u get a new one? sorry i was absent for a while so i kinda missed on some stuff..

[static]

Originally posted by daSchtick
Is the new tensioner an improved part in any way, or is it destined to squeak just like the original? Has anyone had a second faulty tensioner? Mine squeaks on rainy days when I first start the car, but it only lasts about 2-3 seconds. I hate to even bother going to the dealer for such a minor issue if a new tensioner will squeak after a year or so anyways.

Its not the squeak that points to a faulty tensioner.. you will literally hear a loud RATTLE... its abnoxious.. you can't miss it. The squeak is actually just the belt.. seems like the factory belts are crap too. But they are 2 separate problems in reality. And yes.. my tensioner went out Twice.

[BRAK]

i got a 6 year 75,000 mile waranty :applaud: :naughty:

[SmittyVVTLi]

I have a second faulty tensioner and I only have 12,000 miles on the car. The things keeps doing that rock tumbling thing, I'm going to take it in soon. If they try to tell me they can't fix it anymore after my warrantee is up (considering the history of the faulty part) then I will sue.

[Kit99bar]

thanks for the info Robb! :)

[gts24]

5 years/60,000 miles. ----pulled from toyota's website..

STATIC you made me crap myself, where you pullin 50k?http://www.toyota.com/html/shop/vehicles/celica/warranty/celica_warranty.html

[t2000gts]

does aem or unorthodox racing pulleys void the warranty?

[CloNeGTS]

Ok, first....

The reason for the extreme cost was this.

The parts guy said you have to buy the full deal....the pulley/arm/tensioner assembly. On my car (2000), it appears you could just replace the tensioner itself, a little black shock looking thingy. Reason for the whole replacement....Toyota decided the original tensioner assembly didn't work right. So they don't service that anymore. You have to replace it with the new one in which the tensioner is built in.

The new tensioner was designed with a longer arm to give a better mechanical advantage apparently. Whether or not this cures the problem....I don't know.

AEM pulley....shouldn't cause warranty problems. They have to prove that your aftermarket part caused the failure in order for them to blame you for that. If you put the pulley on right, I don't see how that has anything to do with the tensioner.

And as for how to know when the tensioner is bad.....the rock tumbler sound is one thing...but if your belt is squeaking at all RPM ranges with a belt that is only 2 years old, it's the tensioner having lost its tension....actually compression in our case. The rock tumbler sound I'm guessing comes from the tensioner actually bouncing back and forth (tell me if I'm wrong). But the reason I know mine is bad is just because there is inadequate tension in the belt, causing the belt to squeak....and not just a little squeak at start up guys....I mean mine squeaks bad (wails is a better word) at all RPMs, whether I just started it or I've been driving for 2 hours.

As for the warranty paint work....I had a large piece of factory paint come flying off the front end of my Celi this summer at a car wash. After a 20 second glace from my dealer, they called it defect in the paint and had my car in a week later to have the front end repainted under warranty.

[dragonfrog]

i'm glad someone posted the true warranty. i was reading and reading and no one had put it up.

fyi - u can still purchase the extended warranty for your vehicle up until the last inch before the standard warranty expires.

[gts24]

Originally posted by dragonfrog
i'm glad someone posted the true warranty. i was reading and reading and no one had put it up.

fyi - u can still purchase the extended warranty for your vehicle up until the last inch before the standard warranty expires.

Anyone wanna let us know how MUCH the extended warranty will cost?

[317gts]

so the guys who have heavily modded the car...aren't you guys scared the dealer will just be an ass and void your warranty. then it seems like we'll all need to escalate it to the next level like jesse il said, which we shouldn't have to do in the first place.

[dragonfrog]

ask your dealership about the ext warranties. i don't have it personally, so i don't know. i have a really cool dealership that absolutely loves my car. all the mechanics are really into fixing up their cars, so they're pushing for me to add a turbo and whatnot to the engine. i don't think i'm worried about voiding mine. each dealership is different.

[CloNeGTS]

Originally posted by 317gts
so the guys who have heavily modded the car...aren't you guys scared the dealer will just be an ass and void your warranty. then it seems like we'll all need to escalate it to the next level like jesse il said, which we shouldn't have to do in the first place.


That's what SEMA is for. If you look around their website, it clearly describes the laws protecting consumers. A dealer can not void a warranty in the case of warranty coverage unless they can prove that the part in some way caused the malfunction, crash, explosion, whatever. So, for instance, if you hydrolock your car because of your CAI....you're screwed. Can they void warranty on a bad CV joint because you have springs on the car....doubtful. They would have to prove that the nature of the spring caused the failure.

The reason we aren't scared....their is a law system in this country. The same laws that got my front end repainted, the same laws that is making the City of Wichita pay to repaint my hood and replace my windshield (different story).......

[da wacky paki]

Explain this "rock tumbling" sound please. I have a GT, and if i'm at a stop, and have the clutch in and rev the car a little, it sounds kinda like tumbling rocks. But if I rev it a little higher its fine. This only happens right after idle, like within 200 rpms of idle. Then it dies down. But if i keep it at about that particular rpm, it'll continue to make that noise. Is this the belt tensioner? Or would the rock tumbling sound be much more noticeable. Thanks.

[2KGTS]

My feedback and new thread specifically on the tensioner and belt are here:

http://www.newcelica.org/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=11820

[Jesse IL]

Everyone should watch out for a similar sounding problem. If your coolant is low, you can get air into the system and from idle you can rev the car to about 1500 and hear a sound similar to the bad tensioner. My car is doing this right now. I think I need to flush my coolant and make sure the system is bled properly. So if you hear a rock tumbler sound but never get squeaking belts, service your coolant before blaming the tensioner. And on Static's car, the second time the thing went out, if you sat with the hood closed next to the right front wheel, you could clearly hear the tensioner rattling away.

[317gts]

Originally posted by CloNeGTS



That's what SEMA is for. If you look around their website, it clearly describes the laws protecting consumers. A dealer can not void a warranty in the case of warranty coverage unless they can prove that the part in some way caused the malfunction, crash, explosion, whatever. So, for instance, if you hydrolock your car because of your CAI....you're screwed. Can they void warranty on a bad CV joint because you have springs on the car....doubtful. They would have to prove that the nature of the spring caused the failure.

The reason we aren't scared....their is a law system in this country. The same laws that got my front end repainted, the same laws that is making the City of Wichita pay to repaint my hood and replace my windshield (different story).......

thanks clone, info i didn't know about and was looking for.