cracks in drive belt

$17 for the belt subtracted from $190 = $173 labor for changing a belt that took me 15 minutes. Ripoff!

 

It's hard to find a good independent that will touch a Prius though (not that I'm a fan of the dealership).

 

I got the cracking belt warning on my last oil change (2005 Prius).

I looked from up top and didn't see cracks so I've been under the car since (put it up on rhino ramps and used a creeper) and as hard as I've tried I can't see the cracks in the belt. If there are any they are on the inside of the belt and are very small as I can't see even a hint of one.

I'm not really trusting the dealer on this one.

FWIW the car has 80k+ on it and sits in a garage when not in use though it does see use more days than not. I just don't have money to waste on something that isn't needed. If the belt is good for 120k and I change it at 80k then I'm looking at one extra belt by the time I hit 160k on the way to 240k.

I hope the Prius as a whole it makes it to 160k but at 11k per year that's another 6 years so I make no predictions.

 

If your car has logged 80K miles, I guarantee you will see cracks on the inside of the serpentine drive belt once you have removed it.

However if you wish to accept the risk of the belt failing and your engine overheating to avoid paying for a $17 part now, that is your choice.

 

Did the tech at the dealership remove the belt to inspect for cracks or is there some way to easily see the inside of the belt that I haven't figured out?

 

It is highly unlikely that the tech removed the belt to inspect for cracks.

It is possible that the tech relied upon his/her prior experience with the belt as well as looking at the exterior surface, noting that it (probably) is relatively shiny, and concluding that it is original equipment and therefore at 80K miles, worthy of replacement.

My post #18 here shows how to replace the serpentine drive belt and what the interior will look like after 70K miles:
http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-ii-...45143-service-schedule-serpentine-belt-2.html

 

Holy belt cracks batman! If I saw even 1/2 the cracking you had on that belt I'd change the belt. I'll have to take pics of mine when I replace it. I'm betting it's in better shape than yours was but I'll document it even if I'm wrong.

The flat side of your old belt shows bands of discoloration (brown instead of black/gray) that make it look worse even from that side than my belt.

I'd say that is due to increased heat and decreased humidity you see in the southwest vs the temperate rainforest type conditions I see in east TN on the edge of the Smoky Mountain National Forest. Your rubber is dried out and baked aging it much quicker out there.

Your post on the change at 70K was in 2009 and the vehicle was a 2007 so that 70K was in 2 years of driving?

My 2005 is at 80K in 2011, less miles per year but 6 years.

So your vehicle saw 3x the miles per year as mine but mine saw 3 times the years.

 

No work you have done on the car or that you do voids the warrantee on any car!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!unless they can prove it caused damage!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Galaxee is in Maryland (ocean air, saltwater?) but they made it to 93K miles to get the wear Patrick Wong got in 70K in Arizona (dry and hot). The OP (BrennanShilohRescue) is in Florida (definitely exposed to salty air and heat)

I don't know how salty air affects rubber (I know how it affects metal but that's another topic). I do know dry and hot is bad for rubber.

I've gotta think pacific northwest and western North Carolina, northern Georgia, and far eastern Tennessee are ideal climates for belt life in the US. Guess I'll know when I pull my belt off if there is any hope against dry rot.
[ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tennessee"][/ame]

 

I'm glad that my photos have motivated you to remove and inspect your serpentine drive belt. The photos were of the 2004, so the original equipment belt was > 5 years old and had logged 70K miles.

The vehicle was in Honolulu for the first three years and 15K miles of its life, then in southern CA (Orange County) for the next two years and 55K miles. I would say that the ambient temperature conditions were relatively moderate, on the warmer side in summer months but not as extreme as we now face in southern AZ. The humidity level in Honolulu is quite high with daily rain, being surrounded by the Pacific Ocean.

 

Interesting, so you had less miles and similar years but salty air. So the only real difference will be the proximity to saltwater. Given that I expect to see cracks on mine as well.

Guess that means I should move up my plans to do this. I had other projects I wanted to do ahead of it but I'm at 82K now so I should move it up my list.

Still interesting that of the ones we have pics for they were all "on the coast".

just for comparison I did a price check

My local dealer parts counter quoted me the lowest price $18.32 + tax (about $20 after local taxes) but for comparison the Web search results were:

West Covina Toyota / Amazon 22.75
Champion / Toyotaworld 24.24
Dealer Direct Parts 24.65
Village Toyota 29.70

I guess if you don't have a dealer close by it is a plus to have it shipped but I don't mind driving the 6 miles to the dealer in my case. 12 mile round trip to pick up the belt saves enough money to be about $0.20 a mile. Not quite enough to break even. If I combine it with another trip in that direction it'll save a few cents vs ordering off of Amazon. Yeah, I can see why someone would order off the web.

 

You know that saying, if you snooze you lose?

Well I didn't grab the part from my toyota dealer when they gave me that price a month ago, called today and they quoted me a price $7 higher. do not know if the price changed or if the first time they gave me wholesale and this time gave me retail.

Either way I just ordered from Amazon / West Covina so I'll be swapping my belt in a few days. I'll post a pic when I get the belt changed and can see how bad the cracking was.

 

I went ahead and changed it using the no jack method
(left the tire on, didn't jack it, didn't remove the bottom cover, or top cover). It was tight getting my arm in there but doable. I did need some PVC as a cheater bar for the nut on the tensioner and it was right at the edge of what I could to to loosen that nut but that was the hardest part.

Galaxee is in Maryland but they made it to 93K miles to get the wear Patrick Wong got in 70K in HI/CA.

I took mine off at 85K and 6.5 Years (it spent some time in NC I think before it came to TN) and it looks to be in better shape than Galaxee or Patrick's examples but still has noticeable cracking and the flat side of the belt is a solid brown instead of the black it started out as. I'll try to post pictures when I get some AAs charged up for the digital camera.

I think I could have let it go to 100K miles to get to their level of cracking but I'm fine with replacing it at 85K and 6 years. If I lived in a hotter or drier climate I'd have no problems with replacing it earlier (say 60K or 75K and 4 years). Especially true if you are doing the work yourself and don't have to pay labor or just have money to spare and don't mind paying the dealer to do it slightly early.

I'd be curious to see what one looks like at say 100K miles in 3 years in a moderate climate to see if mileage and age have similar contributions to wear on this part.

Another consideration is Grill Blocking (which could increase heat on the belt if overdone). I hadn't used any grill blocking in the past but I'm doing some this winter. I'm assuming heat plays a noticeable factor in addition to years and miles. I'd say if you are grill blocking you probably should treat your car as though it's in the warmer climate and check/change the belt earlier than if you don't grill block.

 

OK, I said I'd post pics of my belt. Let me know if these aren't high quality enough.

I think it shows that I could have gone longer on the same belt compared to Patrick and Galaxee's photos.

 

Laura,

I am in Bradenton Florida and I recently went through a problem with the Gettel Toyota service dept. My AC went warm and they told me I would need a new Evap Coil which would be $1200.00 plus taxes. It is a 9 hour job so the cost is in labor. I jumped onto this site and a guy from St. Pete referred me to Ice Cold Air. They were great. Did the job for $850.00 out the door all fees included. I asked them about my drive belt and it was cracked. They quoted me $75.00 which includes parts, labor & taxes. Do not go back to the dealer. If you go to ICA talk to Pete and they can repair anything on a Prius. Their customer reviews are phenominal!

Best to you... TO THE BEACH TODAY!

Scott

 

As a former mechanic(also 2005 Prius owner)I'm "highly" disappointed with dealerships! I see them as bordering on being legal scam shops! Thankfully I can do many repairs myself. I can purchase a high quality serpentine belt(many call a drive belt)for roughly $20-25 dollars and install it myself. An experienced mechanic should be able to do the entire job including the time to get the car into the shop and back out within 30 minutes. For a dealer to charge even $100.00 is simply WRONG!

 

The belt, through McGeorge, is around $13 plus shipping:

Serpentine Belt - Toyota (90916-02570) | Toyota Parts

The labour? At least a half hour. I would think you'd want to remove the passenger side wheel (can get really awkward trying to do it all from above), and maybe there's some plastic panel at the back of the wheel well to get out of the way. Some of the air intake needs to be removed. $100 all in, meh...

Repair Manual info attached.