Service Schedule on Serpentine Belt

Hi Aaron,

I suggest you either refer to the warranty/maintenance book or else the Toyota website. For example, following is the 2004 schedule for 60K miles:
Toyota Parts and Service

Regarding the serpentine drive belt, the schedule suggests the initial inspection at 60K miles/72 months; then inspections every 15K miles/18 months thereafter.

I replaced the belt on my 2001 at ~60K miles because the outside surface was getting glossy. That belt had to turn the AC compressor pulley as well as the engine coolant pump.

Since the 2G belt only has to turn the engine coolant pump, it has a much easier life. However it is not expensive and is easy to replace, since the tension on the idler pulley can be easily adjusted. I will probably replace the belt on my 2004 (now at 48K miles) at 75K miles just for fun, not because it actually needs changing.

Regarding the engine coolant hoses, since the Prius gasoline engine doesn't generate much excess heat the hoses are on light duty. Unless you see a leak, I think they will be good for easily 100K miles.

Regarding valve clearance adjustment, I did that on my 2001 at 60K miles and found that a few valves were slightly loose. However I decided to leave well enough alone since adjustment requires removing the camshafts and replacing the valve bucket spacers.

I believe that the recommended valve inspection is just to listen for excess noise, unless there is a driveability problem. It seems that the normal wear pattern is towards excessive valve clearance rather than insufficient valve clearance.

 

Ahh..lovely pictures of a super clean top end...a motor that has spent its life on Mobil One I suspect!

 

Hi Ed,

Thanks, but sorry to disappoint: I use Castrol GTX 5W-30 mineral oil along with the Toyota-branded oil filter, and observe 5K mile changes.

 

Does my '08 have a auto belt tensioner pulley for the serpentine?

 

I do not believe that the belt tensioner design changed within 2G model years. My 2004's tensioner pulley is not spring-loaded.

The adjustment procedure is to loosen the nut on the pulley, then turn the adjusting bolt to achieve the desired belt tension. Tightening torque on the pulley nut is 30 ft-lb.

The desired belt tension is reached by pressing in the middle of the belt's longest run with 22 lbs pressure, deflection of a new belt should be between 0.35 to 0.47 inches. A used belt should show deflection from 0.43 to 0.59 inches.

A new belt is defined as a belt that has been in service less than 5 minutes.

 

If you're going to go in there and muck with the tensioner at
all, I'd take the whole assembly apart and clean it off and put
some anti-seize on the various threads. You can check the idler
bearing at the same time. That's the piece that's going to
accumulate the most revolutions over time, in fact, since all
the other pulleys are bigger.
.
_H*

 

During servicing checking the belt tension and wear is normal. Look for tiny cracks on the ribs inside the belt. If you see any cracks replace the belt. It is unusual to need to adjust the tension on this type of belt for the life of the belt. Check the idler pulley bearing every time you change the belt, maybe every 100,000 miles or more. I have used after market belts in the past but when I last changed the belts on my Camry I used genuine Toyota belts, all the squeaks and noises from the belts went away. From then on I only use Toyota belts.

 

pat, there's a reason oem is worth the money. we rarely if ever use aftermarket parts on our cars and the cars we flip.

 

how much have you all paid for replacing the drive belt? the dealership quoted me $145. is that normative, low, or high?

 

I am curious about this also. I recently paid $250 for the serpentine belt. I have suspected that my dealer (in nyc) was out of line in charges.

 

MSRP of the belt is $17.
Champion ToyotaWorld

My estimate is that it takes 0.5 hour of labor (or less time) to replace. Given the above, you can reach your own conclusions about how reasonable your dealer's service price is.

 

the last time i check, the prius belt was kinda pricey to replace... not because of the part because of the labor involved, Toyota quotes over an hour however i have never seen one being replaced yet. Including my own at 196,000 km, no cracks in mine WEE

 

Hi Phil,

I changed the serpentine belt on my 2001, it is easy to replace. Remove the RH side engine under cover for access to the crankshaft pulley, then slacken the idler pulley, and remove the old belt. Install the new belt, tighten the idler pulley to obtain suitable tension on the new belt, reinstall the under cover, and you are done.

 

interesting, i'll have to look up the labor guide for 2g priuses to compare thanks patrick!

 

Speaking of Genuine Toyota parts...
I was having the oil changed on my 2004 (83500 miles) and was shown by the service adviser that I needed a windshield wiper refill at a cost of $23!. I went across the street to an auto supply store and bought 2 for $4.25.
Jim

 

The weather was nice today so I decided to do some work on my 2004 with 70.4K miles:

- replace windshield and hatch glass wiper rubber
- replace PCV valve
- replace the serpentine belt
- clean the throttle body and throttle plate

Following is guidance on how to replace the serpentine belt:

- Jack up front end and support with two jackstands
- Remove the RH side engine under cover
- Disconnect the air cleaner inlet hose to provide clearance
- Loosen the nut which is coaxial with the idler pulley
- Loosen the bolt on the idler pulley to relax the serpentine belt, then remove
- Spin the water pump pulley, it should turn smoothly and the pulley should not have any play. If you note any problem with the pump bearing or if you see dried antifreeze stains on the water pump or pulley, replace the water pump.
- Place the new belt on the idler pulley and crankshaft pulley, note that the outside of the belt is in contact with the water pump pulley.
- Tighten the idler pulley bolt to place tension on the new belt. While applying 22 lb of force on the belt midway between crankshaft pulley and idler pulley, the new belt should deflect 0.4".
- Tighten the idler pulley nut to 30 ft.-lb.
- Reconnect the air cleaner inlet hose
- Reinstall the engine under cover
- Start engine to verify that the new belt works properly, take a test drive and think about the $$$ you just saved.

The center of the first photo shows the idler pulley after the air cleaner inlet hose was moved out of the way. See the nut at the pulley center. Also see the idler pulley bolt head, note the head has some white paint on it. The old belt is still in place.

The second photo is zoomed out to provide some perspective. The left bottom corner of that photo shows the windshield washer container which is next to the RF fender.

The third photo is taken from under the car, note the appearance of the old serpentine belt wrapped around the crankshaft pulley. The water pump pulley is in the upper right corner and the idler pulley is barely visible above the WP pulley.

The fourth photo shows a plastic fastener for the engine under cover. This can be found in the RF wheel well and is not easy to remove. Note the two "ears" that can be compressed using long-nose pliers from the inside, to remove that fastener.

The fifth and sixth photos show the new belt part number.

The last photo shows rib cracking apparent on the inside of the old belt. This is why I replaced it. If you are satisfied with a lower standard of maintenance, you don't have to replace the old belt until there are actual gaps in the ribs, not just cracks.

 

Thanks. Is it possible to replace the belt without undoing the underside and going under the car? Or, just not enough room from the top to place the new belt around the necessary wheels?

 

Nice clean cylinder head. Not sure if I posted the results of a teardown of a Tacoma 4.0 v6 with 158,000 miles on it. That cylinder head already had pretty bad deposits.

The owner wanted performance parts installed, and since it was starting to lose compression, he agreed to an overhaul. The piston ring land is pretty nasty too