1. Welcome to TRD Forums! A community for Toyota, Lexus, and Scion Enthusiasts. To enjoy all the benefits of the site, we invite you to signup.

Engine Timing belt.... or chain?

Discussion in 'Powertrain' started by CaptainCorolla, Jul 9, 2006.

  1. Offline

    CaptainCorolla Thread Captain

    Message Count:
    320
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    Location:
    Orange County
    Timing belt.... or chain?

    I never seem to get a definitive answer to this:
    2000 Corolla LE.
    Timing belt, or timing chain under the hood?
    If chain, when (if ever) it is recommended I change it?
    Thanks all. I searched forums, couldn't find a satisfactory answer!
    CaptainCorolla, Jul 9, 2006
    #1
  2. Offline

    vortex Well-Known Member

    Administrator
    Message Count:
    4,110
    Likes Received:
    48
    Trophy Points:
    748
    Location:
    Westminster, CO
    chain of course. :)

    you should check it for tension problems... if you ever find any, you may need to replace your tensioner, but thats about it.
    vortex, Jul 9, 2006
    #2
  3. Offline

    Legit01Rolla Active Member

    Message Count:
    1,131
    Likes Received:
    8
    Trophy Points:
    38
    dat shit happened to my car..spent like 200 bucks for the Tensioner itself!
    Legit01Rolla, Jul 9, 2006
    #3
  4. Offline

    DaCubanSkillz Active Member

    Message Count:
    1,378
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    38
    Location:
    Arlington, VA/North Bergen, NJ
    I had a rattling noise in my 00. And it was due to the tensioner and something else..cost me almost 700.00 to get it fixed
    DaCubanSkillz, Jul 9, 2006
    #4
  5. Offline

    jtweezy New Member

    Message Count:
    1,347
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    Location:
    Irving, TX
    same here...fixed it..
    jtweezy, Jul 9, 2006
    #5
  6. Offline

    Mayur Biggest trd whore in the whole wide world

    Message Count:
    1,723
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    38
    Location:
    Des Plaines, IL
    Never happened to mine. How many miles was it when this started to happen? Mine has really low miles so i dont know.
    Mayur, Jul 9, 2006
    #6
  7. Offline

    vortex Well-Known Member

    Administrator
    Message Count:
    4,110
    Likes Received:
    48
    Trophy Points:
    748
    Location:
    Westminster, CO
    holy crap you guys got RIPPED OFF!

    the part, an OEM toyota part is only $25.00 dealership price and it takes about 10 minutes to replace. It's easily accessable via the rear of the motor (where you have ample room even with a turbo to access it)

    If you paid more than $100 to have just a tensioner installed, that's completely stupid.

    Now, if your chain was damaged in any way and had to be replaced, it can become costly, but the chain is designed to hold up for the life of the motor with only the tensioner being replaced when particular signs are shown.
    vortex, Jul 9, 2006
    #7
  8. Offline

    rolla02 Corollalcholic

    Message Count:
    2,622
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    38
    Location:
    Delaware
    What are the signs telling you when the tensionar is going out.
    rolla02, Jul 9, 2006
    #8
  9. Offline

    Mayur Biggest trd whore in the whole wide world

    Message Count:
    1,723
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    38
    Location:
    Des Plaines, IL
    ^^I would also like to know.
    Mayur, Jul 9, 2006
    #9
  10. Offline

    jtweezy New Member

    Message Count:
    1,347
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    Location:
    Irving, TX
    thats true vortex....they got ripped off.....big time...cost me $60...friend did it..
    jtweezy, Jul 9, 2006
    #10
  11. Offline

    DaCubanSkillz Active Member

    Message Count:
    1,378
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    38
    Location:
    Arlington, VA/North Bergen, NJ
    Not everyone has a friend or is mechanically inclined to change things on an engine. Could I have been charged less, yes. But was I willing to risk driving my car around (not knowing if it would cause more damage or leave me stranded somewhere) finding a spot to fix it for less...no. I had more then one part replaced and paid for a service to be done. therefore I paid more. Although the majority of the bill was labor.
    DaCubanSkillz, Jul 10, 2006
    #11
  12. Offline

    Takeshi New Member

    Message Count:
    24
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    so how often and what are the signs? my car is getting kinda old.
    Takeshi, Jul 10, 2006
    #12
  13. Offline

    fishexpo101 Get Some

    Message Count:
    1,087
    Likes Received:
    3
    Trophy Points:
    488
    Location:
    Northern Virginia
    Chain tensioner is bad if you get a loud rattling, ticking kind of noise under the hood that does not seem to come from the valvetrain. Pretty hard to tell on the 1ZZ-FE - since it is a pretty nopisy engine to begin with anyways. Also - the serpentine belt tensioner is known to rattle as well when it starts to go bad - so it might be that instead of the chain tensioner. On my old car, if you hear a rattling noise on deceleration, turned out to be the chain tensioner. I assume it would be very similar to the 8th gen+ Corollas.
    fishexpo101, Jul 10, 2006
    #13
  14. Offline

    e_andree E

    Moderator
    Message Count:
    8,246
    Likes Received:
    13
    Trophy Points:
    578
    Location:
    MD

    Then you didnt pay 700 bucks for the tensioner. What theyre saying is that its a 25 dollar part.....and if you paid 700 bucks for the tensioner, they charged you about 7-8 hours of labor for something that will take an hour at most.
    e_andree, Jul 10, 2006
    #14
  15. Offline

    Legit01Rolla Active Member

    Message Count:
    1,131
    Likes Received:
    8
    Trophy Points:
    38
    o f*** i got ripped off by my friend..i ma sue dat foo....btw...that rattling noise i cud stil hear it...i changed my tensioner already....hmmm......belt i thinkl??
    Legit01Rolla, Jul 11, 2006
    #15
  16. Offline

    xplicitcorolla99 Active Member

    Message Count:
    2,201
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    38
    Location:
    las vegas
    i never did change my tensioner and i had 95,000miles with no problem.
    xplicitcorolla99, Jul 11, 2006
    #16
  17. Offline

    jtweezy New Member

    Message Count:
    1,347
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    Location:
    Irving, TX
    yeah i changed mine at 135k
    jtweezy, Jul 11, 2006
    #17
  18. Offline

    USFrolla New Member

    Message Count:
    34
    Likes Received:
    1
    Trophy Points:
    0
    Location:
    Tampa, FL
    Hmm... I have a similar sounding rattle to what is described here. I've taken it to two mechanics that think it's a spun rod bearing, but I thought the engine would've gone out a long time ago if it was that(noise started about 14k miles ago). I had the valve cover off changing the gasket and there didn't seem to be any slack in the chain. When the tensioner goes bad, does it loosten the chain, or is it just the tensioner itslef just chattering?
    USFrolla, Jul 12, 2006
    #18

Share This Page