Belt change how-to with photos

elementnomore · Feb 20, 2016

Super helpful, thank you.

I changed my buddies 2005 Prius belt with 78,500 miles on the clock. The belt was long over due. 14mm bolt was very hard to loosen but eventually broke free. Swapped the belt from the top only.

gone2green · May 15, 2016

Bringing up an old thread here, I have a 179k and have not replaced the belt yet, My 2007 has A/C but no belt that I can see. when I type in the p/n 90916-02570 it says it fits my 07 and it shows routing around crank, wp/ cc. and idler. I do not have this cc pulley is this still the right belt?

Stephen Boyd · Feb 7, 2018

galaxee said: ↑

We've been overdue for a belt change for some time, and life has just kept us constantly on the go lately. The Prius is at 93k miles and we decided to buckle down and do some maintenance before it gets any colder outside.

I didn't see a belt change how-to write up, so I documented as DH did the change.

Tools:
10mm, 12mm, 14mm sockets. Ratchet. Extension. New part.

BEFORE you begin: know the routing of the belt! It's hard to get a good picture, but get your hand in there and feel where it loops around and picture in your mind how it goes in. Note how tense the belt feels.

Brand new belt!

Pull back air intake hose from engine air filter box. Use a 10mm socket to loosen the clamp.

Here are the various pulleys you're looking at. Top one is the tensioner. Below is the water pump, and rearward of that is the crank pulley but it's poorly visible here.

Get a 14mm socket on the nut inside the tensioner. Loosen it a little. DO NOT take it off. It will be tight.

Next, loosen the 12mm bolt above the tensioner. (you can see the extension going down to it) until you can see the pulley drop and the bolt comes back up toward you. Then stop.

If the tensioner doesn't drop, push on the 12mm bolt- if that doesn't do it, you might not have loosened the 14mm nut enough.

Tensioner pulley dropped, you can see the belt is loose:

Belt can easily be taken out now:

This one most certainly needed to be replaced. Look at the cracks!

There is a little glazing, which is normal after a lot of time. Recall this belt saw 93000 miles of service. If it's severe glazing, it's a sign something is binding up.

And it's a little stretched out compared to the new belt due to normal wear:

Now for the re-install. Hold the belt so it has two loops:

Here's where you want to know how to replace the belt. Get your hand in there and fit the belt in the tracks on the crank pulley. Make sure it's in the tracks and not shifted.

Bring the belt over the water pump pulley and last loop over the tensioner.

Re-adjust the tensioner bolt to restore tension to your new belt. Recall the old belt was stretched out a little, so increase tension slightly in comparison to the old.

Check tension, check that the belt is in place everywhere, re-check tension. Adjust tensioner bolt if necessary again.

Once all is good, tighten the tensioner nut:

Replace air intake hose:

Done!

Took 11 minutes for DH, including the time he went looking for an extension because that 14mm nut is a little tight.

Happy Prius maintaining!
-g and DH
Click to expand...

...and the photos have been removed...

gone2green · Feb 8, 2018

it was really pretty easy

TerryB · Oct 18, 2018

Thank you for the clear instructions and photos. Managed to do it from the top with a bit of cursing trying to get the belt in place (hands are just a bit too fat to fit in that gap!!) but eventually got there.

bugaboo416 · Aug 8, 2019

I attempted to loosen the 14mm tensioner bolt per instructions but it is held on fast.
I assume I'm loosening it in the right direction (counterclockwise - aka towards the center of the car).
Any suggestions on how to get it loose without breaking it?

ChapmanF · Aug 8, 2019

If I remember right, mine was pretty stubborn too. I eventually persuaded it without incident. But I think your negotiating position is strengthened by the fact that just replacing the idler and bolt wouldn't be very hard if you happened to break it. So you just have to convince it that you're not afraid of that outcome. Maybe let it see that you've already bought a spare bolt so you're ready for anything.

mtbnest · Nov 22, 2024 at 12:16 PM

galaxee said: ↑

We've been overdue for a belt change for some time, and life has just kept us constantly on the go lately. The Prius is at 93k miles and we decided to buckle down and do some maintenance before it gets any colder outside.

I didn't see a belt change how-to write up, so I documented as DH did the change.

Tools:
10mm, 12mm, 14mm sockets. Ratchet. Extension. New part.

BEFORE you begin: know the routing of the belt! It's hard to get a good picture, but get your hand in there and feel where it loops around and picture in your mind how it goes in. Note how tense the belt feels.

Brand new belt!

Pull back air intake hose from engine air filter box. Use a 10mm socket to loosen the clamp.

Here are the various pulleys you're looking at. Top one is the tensioner. Below is the water pump, and rearward of that is the crank pulley but it's poorly visible here.

Get a 14mm socket on the nut inside the tensioner. Loosen it a little. DO NOT take it off. It will be tight.

Next, loosen the 12mm bolt above the tensioner. (you can see the extension going down to it) until you can see the pulley drop and the bolt comes back up toward you. Then stop.

If the tensioner doesn't drop, push on the 12mm bolt- if that doesn't do it, you might not have loosened the 14mm nut enough.

Tensioner pulley dropped, you can see the belt is loose:

Belt can easily be taken out now:

This one most certainly needed to be replaced. Look at the cracks!

There is a little glazing, which is normal after a lot of time. Recall this belt saw 93000 miles of service. If it's severe glazing, it's a sign something is binding up.

And it's a little stretched out compared to the new belt due to normal wear:

Now for the re-install. Hold the belt so it has two loops:

Here's where you want to know how to replace the belt. Get your hand in there and fit the belt in the tracks on the crank pulley. Make sure it's in the tracks and not shifted.

Bring the belt over the water pump pulley and last loop over the tensioner.

Re-adjust the tensioner bolt to restore tension to your new belt. Recall the old belt was stretched out a little, so increase tension slightly in comparison to the old.

Check tension, check that the belt is in place everywhere, re-check tension. Adjust tensioner bolt if necessary again.

Once all is good, tighten the tensioner nut:

Replace air intake hose:

Done!

Took 11 minutes for DH, including the time he went looking for an extension because that 14mm nut is a little tight.

Happy Prius maintaining!
-g and DH
Click to expand...

Belt change how-to with photos

elementnomore Member

gone2green grumpier than the grumpiest old man you know ;)

Stephen Boyd New Member

gone2green grumpier than the grumpiest old man you know ;)

TerryB Junior Member

bugaboo416 Junior Member

ChapmanF Senior Member

mtbnest New Member

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Belt change how-to with photos

elementnomore Member

gone2green grumpier than the grumpiest old man you know ;)

Stephen Boyd New Member

gone2green grumpier than the grumpiest old man you know ;)

TerryB Junior Member

bugaboo416 Junior Member

ChapmanF Senior Member

mtbnest New Member