Easy way to replace drive belt in Celica GTS 2000- 2005 2ZZ engine with A/C

[PETER PAN 2009]

Easy way to replace drive belt in Celica GTS 2000- 2005 2ZZ engine with A/C
(TOYOTA P/N TOY99366J1940 retailed $90)

There is only 1 belt that drives all accessories off the main engine crank shaft. If the drive belt breaks while you are driving, you will lose power steering and coolant pump, not to mention the A/C and alternator. If you continue driving, the engine will overheat within 5 to 10 minutes, potentially cracked or seized up, not the chance you want to take. You should pull over and stop the engine immediately.

The drive belt is scheduled replacement at 60K miles per factory recommendations. Check the belt regularly every oil change. If there are more than 5 cracks per inch on the grooved surface, it should be replaced.

There is no tension adjustment on this belt. The belt fit tight over the pulleys and kept in tension by a strut tensioner bolted onto the engine block on the passenger side. You are supposed to release the tension on the belt by turning the 17 mm aluminum hex head near the tensioner strut clockwise. But the Aluminum hex head is weak and the tension from the strut is very strong. You can easily damage the AL hex head but still cannot move the bracket enough for the belt to fit.

Don't use this Al hex head, instead use an allen wrench lever wedged between the hex head and the round base of the mounting bolt. Add a 12-inch steel tube extension for leverage. Need 2 persons to do this procedure

1. Remove the plastic baffle over the engine on passenger side. This is the only part that needs to be removed for this procedure. You can also jack up the car and remove the front right tire and the lower right engine cover ( 2 x 10 mm self-threading screws and 1 plastic snap-in anchor) for easy access to the 3 bottom pulleys.

2. To remove old belt, if not broken, wedge a

[PETER PAN 2009]

Forgot to mention, There were belt debris stuck on my pulleys. Use a brush, brush over the pulley to get rid of any debris stuck to them. Should improve the life of the belt.

Replace this belt every 50K miles just to be safe.

Good luck guys.

[Smaay]

you should have no problems posting pictures. What i really want to know is how you ise a 1/4 inch allen wrench and how you simply just dont bend the hell out of it.

[CRBCelica]

:worthless:

[PETER PAN 2009]

I could not find ways to post pics in this forum. Will try again.

The 1/4 inch allen wrench would not bend. I used the same wrench a few times on 2 different GTS now. It has not bent.

You can also try to jam the tire iron with the sharp flat end into that slot and use it as a lever. I havent done it, but it looks like it should fit in that slot.

If your 17 mm aluminum dead hex head is still intact, you can try to use a good closed-end box wrench on it. But it's easily smashed given the high torque required to compress that tensioner strut.

you should have no problems posting pictures. What i really want to know is how you ise a 1/4 inch allen wrench and how you simply just dont bend the hell out of it.

[vegeta4ss]

I just use the hex head on the side of the tensioner. Lock together two wrenches and pull. Would be even easier if I had one of those long metal bars that came as part of a serpentine belt kit.

to post pictures, upload them somewhere such as photobucket or imageshack. Copy the link it gives you to your clipboard.

The syntax for posting pictures is this: (omit the apostrophes)
'url to your picture'

[5150_Leadfoot]

I use one of those serpentine belt bars and a grip tite socket no problems.

[chillan420]

http://www.toolbarn.com/gearwrench-3680.html?ref=base
much better than a 1'4 allen wrench

[Smaay]

Thanks Peter Pan for your write up, im closing this thread and moving it to engine maint.