Belt Tensioner

[PaCelicaGTS]

is there anyway this can be fixed ourselves? or should we just take it to toyota. and if we can do it ourselves do you have the belt diagram??

[GTS LAID]

i can post the belt tensioner stuff but you're better off taking the car to the dealer.. why do you wanna deal with the hassle when you can just have it all fixed by them... Besides if it needs replacement of the belts what are you gonna do buy them yourself.. it just makes more sense to take it to the dealer.

[Lomeinhu]

I have the same problem, but when I brought my car to the dealer, the guy said that the noise has to be there for them to inspect it. Is there anything that I can do or say so that I won't be turned away when I go and there's no noise?

[GTS LAID]

go there on a cold and humid morning.. most likely to happen then

[boner69]

do you think its the belt and not the tensioner? The kind of rubber just not grabing?

[SmittyVVTLi]

Yeah mine is squealing in the mornings when it's humid. I haven't been able to duplicate it at the dealership yet (of course).

[boner69]

justt sent mine in today.... they said there IS a TSB on it.....

[tripnotic]

Off topic:
When there a TSB on the car, does it mean it gonna be fix for free even though when the mechanic diagnose it and don't find the problem is.

I just put my car in service because I have problem on starting the car once in a few months. They said, if they diagnose my car and don't find any problem on it then I get charge for $68. Is this true..

[t2000gts]

i recall several people saying they had new beefier belt tensioners on their cars after they went in for service.

anyone here one of them? if so, you got a part #?

it doesn't take a whole lot of effort to find the dealer invoice and copy some numbers guys, come on. some dealerships (like in NY) are complete jerks about duplicating noise and TSBs and stuff. you'd think they were cut off from Toyota.

[swift 21]

hey when the car is out of warranty does is the tsb still covered or would i have to pay?

[GTS LAID]

no a TSB is only for warranty work... but the pully is part of your engine warranty i think which is 60K

[bagodoosh]

my car is out of the warranty, and i'd rather not pay the dealer to do this. can someone with a service manual look it up and say how difficult it is to do? perhaps post the procedure?

[Hepnotic]

Someone should record the sounds from the belt tensioner and host it up here. I am getting squeak noises from my engine now, but only noticeable when im at idle.

Im just trying to decide if its bad enough to take it in for service.

[Robdog]

When I got my belt tensioner replaced along with the belt, they did it all for free and this was like a month and a half ago. But once I got it done I noticed a ticking , rattle sound coming from under my floor boards or engine, could not really tell, you can only hear it when your between 1 and 3rd gear then it stops. Does anyone know what this sound is? I looked under the car to see if any of the plastic was rattling or to see if it was not all attached but it seems ok. Its not loud but it bugs the hell out of me. Has anyone else had this problem and if so what can I do to fix it? My car has 38,000 miles on it but runs great otherwise. I hope it is nothing serious.

[xav3x]

i went in today.. they said they wont' do it unless they can diagnose it.. they said best thing to do is leave it over night.. sorry my ass i'm gonna leave it there over night.. i'll just hope i can get it there in time when it does go off. lol i dunno about the charge if its not there.. 68 buxx for them to get near my car and hear it.. damn! thats expensive.. hey someone pay me 68 buxx to get near a celica and see if it sqeeks!!!!!!

[gto78]

i had a squealing problem that was sooooo embarrassing so i changed the belt and it went away. Maybe thats you man.. maybe your belt is dried out and makin noise. cost me 20$ and 10 minutes of my time to fix it.

[Griffin]

Don't feel too badly towards the dealership about what they are doing... the first rule of being a technician and the first step in any repair is to verify the customer complaint. If they can't do this they aren't SUPPOSED to fix it... especially with lemon laws only giving you 3 chances to fix something before having to buy a car back most dealers are VERY hesitant to try and fix somethign when they aren't REALLY 100% sure what the problem even is - or if in fact there is a problem.

All this aside, if you just take the car in and tell them that it does it intermittantly, print out the copy of teh TSB and bring it in - and show them that its a known issue with a proven fix they will probably try to help you. If they still give you grief ask them to call the Tech assistance line they have for their technicians - the guys on it know all about the problem if theres a TSB...

BTW - also look at the flats on your non ribbed drive pulleys. When you have inadequate belt tension leading to squeal you can get belt slippage which causes heat which causes the rubber to coat the pulleys sometimes - you can spray em with brake clean or carb clean and buff them with a very fine emery cloth or some scotchbrite to knock the glaze off and decrease the probability of belt squeal.

Griffin

[jimbo]

Griffin said, "Don't feel too badly towards the dealership....... especially with lemon laws only giving you 3 chances to fix something before having to buy a car back ...you just take the car in and tell them that it does it intermittantly, and show them that its a known issue ...."

The dealerships deserve any grief they get.... As for "3 chances"... Around here, they avoid lemon law claims by refusing to write up the problem on the service ticket. No documentation, no lemon law claim! It doesn't matter if the problem is intermittent or not. If they don't want to fix it, they "don't hear it". That's why I'm stuck with a "certified" Toyota Celica Lemon. (engine problems, handling problems, etc.)

I've had the belt tensioner failure THREE times since I bought my "certified" Celica GTS in 2002. And I have put only 25,000 miles on the car. Every time I have had it fixed, they hit me with a $50 deductible, PLUS the cost of a new belt, because the belt is "not covered under warranty". Frankly I think if a covered device like a tensioner fails and causes the subsequent faiure of a "non covered" device like a belt, the cost of the belt should be covered.

I've asked two local dealers about TSB's on this problem and they claimed to not know about one. Meanwhile I have read of some owners getting stuck 8 times for new tensioners. When is Toyota they going to engineer a permanent solution and recall our cars to put it in?