I have a 2009 prius that I just took into the dealer for an oil change at 50K miles. They gave me the complimentary Check and told me they found the engine belt was "cracking" and it would be $145 to fix. I wanted to take it to a mechanic I trust to fix (he's usually cheaper too... I called on my way over and he said he could replace the belt for $90) but when I brought it in he looked at the belt for a couple of minutes and said it looked fine to him. He didn't recommend any work now and said just check it again during my next oil change. Should I get a third opinion? Or just wait until the next oil change to get it looked at again??? I'd love some thoughts... I don't want to be stranded if it breaks! The dealer didn't seem overly worried when I turned down the $145 service but wanted to see what you guys thought. Thanks! John
The belt costs about $95 bucks, the rest is labor. You could do it yourself, but do get it replaced. If you don't do it now, buy one keep it in the car, you will eventually need it!
Maybe I should Check for cracking myself?? Is it easy to see the belt? Just seems weird that the dealer recommended a fix and the other mechanic said it looked "fine"
The belt is fairly easy to see. It's on the left side of the motor if you are standing in fron of your car (passenger side). I replaced mine couple of weeks ago. The belt from the dealer was less than $30. They wanted to charge me $185 to replace. It took me less than 45 minutes to complete including watching the instructional video on youtube...
The belt is easy to check for cracks on the inside of the loop (not the outside) with a flashlight. The belt should be about $15 after market a little more from the dealer, but at your milage I doubt there is anything wrong with it. They typically last 100,000 miles on the Prius as it only drives the coolant pump if the engine is running. My 2008 is now over 90,000 miles on the same belt. John (Britprius)
I just took a look and the belt looks okay to me. Since I'm only at 50,000 miles, I'll probably "risk" it and just keep an eye on it... see what the mechanic says at my next oil change in 5K miles. Thanks everyone...
I'm not a mechanic....and I don't play one on TV but I recall seeing the same thing in one of my Usta-trucks. I took it to a GM mechanic and he reported that minor cracks are normal for the splines (bottom) of a serpentine belt for that application. IIRC he said..."I'd be happy to replace it for you as long as you understand that it doesn't need replacing...and in a few months the new belt is going to look the same way." I've been seeing a LOT of "My Stealership told me that I need....." stories in this forum lately. I don't know if it's just Toyota's usual lousy dealership network, or the economic recovery is just taking a little bit longer more fully develop out on the left coast and in the rust belt.....but if it were me? I'd leave the belt alone. FWIW..... $90 is a very fair parts and labor rate for this replacement IMHO. Good Luck!
Yeah, I agree. Especially looking at the belt myself. It doesn't SEEM like a belt failure is imminent, so I'll just keep an eye on it going forward.
No, the part costs much less than that. Even the dealer price here in Australia (which is typically double that of the US) is only about $30. Anyway, I'd trust your independent mechanics assessment more than the dealers. Those belts are typically good for 100k miles or more. Mine is at 108k miles now and I'll be replacing it myself pretty soon. I check it with a flashlight every time I check my oil and coolants. Mine has some fine surface cracks but it's not fraying or anything.
LOL.... I took my 2006, 125,000 miles in for the coolant pump, floor mats (finally!) and the steering shaft recall. I guess the dealership had to make up the loss so the mechanic called me after I had dropped off the car and recommended that the serpentine belt be replaced as it was cracking. He quoted me a price of $185 to do this work "while the car was there". I declined and did a quick search and found the videos showing how to do the replacement jacking up the car and going in through the wheel well cover. Looked a bit involved but hey for $185 my time is worth it. Picked up a belt at Auto Zone for $18. Took off the air pipe into the air filter and looked closely at the belt's path and the pulleys. On a hunch, I reached down between the belt and the fender and low and behold I could reach the bottom of the engine pulley! So I could guide the new belt in place from the top of the engine compartment. Thinking I had little to loose, got the 14mm box wrench and the 12mm socket, loosened things up popped off the old belt, and dove in, threaded the new one around the engine pulley, over the water pump and up around the tensioner. A few twists of the 12mm, check tension, and lock it down with the 14mm, replace the air pipe and I was done. Total time: 5 minutes. Cost per hour at the dealership: ($185-$18)*60/5=$2005/hour. Grated that is not a completely fair calculation as the shop has to move the car in/out, do paperwork, cleanup etc but even if all this took 30 minutes, I was quoted close to $300/hour for this task that takes little skill to perform.
Great work pendetium, that's exactly how I was planning to replace mine. We've had several posts in the past about people doing it this way, but it's always nice to get more feedback that it's not too difficult. Makes you wonder why people would go to all the bother of removing the wheel well covers and going in from underneath?
IMHO, this belt seems to get tensioned excessively. It only drives the water pump, and we see some of those pumps leaking around the shaft. It makes me think that, as long as there is no slippage, the tension could be less, and the pump would last longer. I have backed off the factory tension on my belt a while ago, with no problem.
I haven't ever touched mine, but I will probably be changing mine soon just for kicks, I'm at 145,000.
