Engine Serpentine Tensioner

Serpentine Tensioner

Hi guys, noob (to this forum and Corollas, for the most part) here! I spend most of my car forum time on clubrsx, but this time I'm trying to find out some info. for my wife's '03 Corolla.

Her car makes a squealing noise - sometimes - and I noticed it was louder and more frequent so I told her to take it to the dealer since it's under warranty. She did, and they told her her belt is glazed and they'd be happy to replace it for $100 or so!

Now I know that the belt is probably glazed due to improper tension. I compared (used the finger test) her tension to my RSX's tension and hers is considerably looser.

Does anyone here know what the proper tension is for the 1ZZ? I would like to have some facts in hand so I can argue with the stealership intelligently when they tell me there's nothing wrong with the tensioner.

Thanks in advance!

First off welcome.

Second: The belt should deflect 1/4 inch if the distance from pulley center to pully center is between 7 and 11 inchs or the belt should deflect 1/2 inchs if the distance from pulley center to pulley center is between 12 and 16 inchs.

But the drivebelt tension should be automatically adjusted by a springloaded tensioner.

hope this helps you man

Thanks - for the welcome and the measurements!

I haven't measured (I guess there are two different models?), but it definitely deflects more than 1/2"!

I hear that Toyotas eat tensioners, so I'm not too surprised that it's out of whack.

Oh, I'm having a no-brainer day today. Now I understand what you were saying about deflection and it being related to the span of the belt between pulleys. Duh.

The part about toyota's eating tensioners is BS cause my 02 has 100K on it and the tensioner is stock, come to think of it the belt is still the original and its in great shape

Well, I guess it doesn't apply to everyone, just like RSXs grinding 2nd gear doesn't apply to all but it applies to many.

Yea thats true

Including me, sadly. I was hoping at least one of us (my wife and I) would have a trouble-free car by switching to Japanese from domestics........

Don't even get me started on my RSX and Acura dealers......

Well no car is perfect, I have had problems with my 02, but you have to remember that the imports will last londer than domestics

later model rolla's have an issue with the tensioner crapping out...this will lead to a glazed belt.

The fix is an updated tensioner ASSYMBLY..if you get JUST the upgraded tensioner it will not fit on the bracket and you will end up snapping the assymbly at the adjusting "nut".

Oh and a new belt too.

I hope you're right. That's why I ponied up the extra money for my RSX. Just heard from my brother today that he's still driving my old Oldsmobile Intrigue - with 190,000 miles on it. It's had its upper intake manifold replaced (by me at 120,000, it's a common problem) replaced and it's on its third transmission.

My RSX at 50,000 has only had the transmission rebuilt once. Hmm, come to think of it, the Intrigue's first rebuild didn't come until 90,000. Hmm....... The RSX's trans should have been rebuilt a long time ago, it took me a year to find a dealer that would acknowledge the problem. For all I know - I bought the car used - it was already rebuilt prior to my purchasing it. Maybe multiple times. I'm pretty sure I know why it was on the used car lot where I found it.

Sorry to rant. I just found out my headlight is full of moisture again now that the weather has warmed up here. Another problem Acura "could not reproduce" and I am stuck with. The TSX loaners they gave me had the same damn problem, and they tell me "could not reproduce".

My Corolla has near 100,000 miles on it and I have done regular maintence on it and it still keeps going and going and I am hard on my cars. My car sees the redline at least once a day and my tranny is abused and it still runs like the day I bought it.

Guess I should have gone for the Toyota like my wife did. I just can't stand the looks of any of them.

I figured the RSX would be just as reliable. Sigh.

Thier not going to do it watch...haha..j/k

They did it! They replaced the tensioner - free of charge (warranty) but they charged her $27 for a new belt.

Surprise, surprise! My wife - after getting dicked around by the service advisor on two separate occasions - spoke directly to the service manager who agreed that this is a common problem on Corollas (and Camrys, BTW) and he told her to bring it right in tomorrow (which is now today) and they will replace it. He sort of started to tell her it "might not" be covered, of course, but she set him straight.

She still has basic factory warranty AND she purchased extended warranty.

The f-ing dealer on her first visit told her she "shouldn't be there" because it's not the same dealer she bought the car from. What assholes. Pardon my language, but damn!

LOL, ahhh and now welcome to the world of the Toyota Stealership bullshit. Thats the reason why most of us try to stay away from there

Just like all the other stealerships .........doesn't matter if they are Chevy, Cadillac, Acura, Toyota.....though a co-worker had a wheel bearing go bad on her Hyundai Elantra - with 82,000 miles on the clock - and they replaced it under warranty without giving her any crap.

If only the Tiburon looked as good as the new Sonata..........eventually they will get around to redesigning it. Might be my next car.

I try to stay away from stealerships too, unless it's a warranty issue. Of course, if you can afford to, it's easier to fix it yourself half the time, since they give such a hard time about warranty claims!

That sucks...every dealer is different. At our dealership if you have an issue and you're under warranty it's not big deal. Our writers will get it done. Hell if we the techs see the repair needs to be done and the car is under warranty we'll make a note of it...cause hell...warranty pays less but work is work...customer would be more likely to do it if it's free...plus they might go ahead and do some other services.

Sorry you had to talk to so many people to get the work done, that's really shitty

The last time I went to a stealership the guy who worked on my got in my car cranked it over then proceed to go ahead and take it up to the redline a couple of times then decided to spin the tires right in front of me and when I went to complain the manager told me that it was not my, long story short I walked out to the garage and left with my car and have no returned since.