The Yaris sucks.

[firemachine69]

Blew the serpentine belt with a hair under 39k miles.


Left me stranded and delayed my trip home by five hours, plus a bill for a new belt and 3/4's hour labour - on a Sunday. At least Toyota gave me a one-time-only courtesy tow (just past warranty). :rolleyes:


Whichever engineer decided that the Yaris should not have an automatic tension adjustment should be shot, plain and simple. Re-tightening the belt every oil change, with a new belt every 30k miles (per my dealership's service manager) should not be SOP. That's just ungodly stupid.


/End rant.

[Brian]

My original belt lasted me 90,000 miles. You shouldn't have to re-tighten it at every oil change.

[fnkngrv]

I have 63k on mine and my belts all look to be in great shape...this thread made me check since it has been a while...not sure why yours crapped out so soon? Perhaps environment?

[BluYrs]

Left me stranded and delayed my trip home by five hours, plus a bill for a new belt and 3/4's hour labour - on a Sunday.

Yeah, I see why the Yaris sucks. Most cars' belts fail on workdays- your Yaris was just downright inconsiderate.

[firemachine69]

Finding a suitable shop on a Sunday is a PITA. Obviously the car did not "choose" the day, but bad luck sure seems to find me...



fnkngrv:

Mine did as well, I just checked it not 2k miles (at my last oil change). The problem is once the elasticity "gives" a bit (in a permanent way), your belt gets loose. However, you'd be almost hard-pressed to tell the difference from a snug belt and a loose (and soon-to-fail) one. Most cars have automatic adjusters that "spring out", for lack of a better word, keeping it taught and tight. However, the Yaris has a single adjustment point on the alternator bracket, which needs to be manually adjusted with a long - 3-4 foot - breaker bar, to keep the belt super-tight, and a single bolt that's almost impossible to break free without stripping threads. As you can guess, I do not travel with a three-foot breaker bar in my hatch. :rolleyes:

[ilikerice]

I thought there was 2 bolts. 1 bolt to loosen from the bracket, and the other front bolt to adjust tightness. I know the breaker bar method cuz I used it on the crx alot.. but I dont remember bringing out the breaker bar when i did my pulley swap.

[CTScott]

Per the service manual, the belt should only be retensioned once after it is run for a short time after initial installation. Chances are your water pump will go soon as well from your service people constantly overtightening the belt.

[A-Dingo-Ate-My-Baby]

Blew the serpentine belt with a hair under 39k miles.


Left me stranded and delayed my trip home by five hours, plus a bill for a new belt and 3/4's hour labour - on a Sunday. At least Toyota gave me a one-time-only courtesy tow (just past warranty). :rolleyes:


Whichever engineer decided that the Yaris should not have an automatic tension adjustment should be shot, plain and simple. Re-tightening the belt every oil change, with a new belt every 30k miles (per my dealership's service manager) should not be SOP. That's just ungodly stupid.


/End rant.

haven't been around cars much, eh ?

MOST engines never have a floating tensioner on the accessory belt.

only the timing belts have floating tensioners.

accessory belts need to have occasional static tension checks
with a tensiometer, adjusted accordingly, then locked in place

[ilikerice]

MOST engines never have a floating tensioner on the accessory belt.

only the timing belts have floating tensioners.

accessory belts need to have occasional static tension checks
with a tensiometer, adjusted accordingly, then locked in place

I would say MOST 4 cylinder motors do not use floating tensions for accessorys

MOST V6 V8 motors use floating tensioners on serpentine belts. I usually see them on the RWD motors where the belts is in the front of the car. usually FWD have the adjustable ones.

At least this is what I have noticed as a Toyota/Lexus Tech..

[A-Dingo-Ate-My-Baby]

I would say MOST 4 cylinder motors do not use floating tensions for accessorys

MOST V6 V8 motors use floating tensioners on serpentine belts. I usually see them on the RWD motors where the belts is in the front of the car. usually FWD have the adjustable ones.

At least this is what I have noticed as a Toyota/Lexus Tech..

most automotive engines are 4 cylinders. they dominate the worldwide market.
non auto-tensioned belts also dominate the market. it is proven technology.
you need to check it's tension and condition when the oil is changed.

[ilikerice]

Im just saying, someone who works on more luxury cars (lexus, infinity) tend to see more floating tensioners than adjustable ones.. Not saying your statement isn't true, just saying your statistics are broad. Maybe he comes from a background of mustangs...

I feel that "haven't been around cars much, eh ?" is jumping to conclusions..

I had a long rant about that but I will leave it alone. You are correct though, bottom line

[A-Dingo-Ate-My-Baby]

Im just saying, someone who works on more luxury cars (lexus, infinity) tend to see more floating tensioners than adjustable ones.. Not saying your statement isn't true, just saying your statistics are broad. Maybe he comes from a background of mustangs...

I feel that "haven't been around cars much, eh ?" is jumping to conclusions..

I had a long rant about that but I will leave it alone. You are correct though, bottom line


-I'm- jumping to conclusions ?

thread title is 'The Yaris Sucks.'


lmfao kthx

[mazilla]

-I'm- jumping to conclusions ?

thread title is 'The Yaris Sucks.'


lmfao kthx

It's easier to just admit you were wrong...it happens, doesn't mean we won't like you anymore. :biggrin:

[Yaristeve]

I would say MOST 4 cylinder motors do not use floating tensions for accessorys

MOST V6 V8 motors use floating tensioners on serpentine belts.

Interesting. Why would V motors need tensioners more than I4 motors?

[RedRide]

Per the service manual, the belt should only be retensioned once after it is run for a short time after initial installation. Chances are your water pump will go soon as well from your service people constantly overtightening the belt.

Also, your aternator bearings most likely have had their sevice life shortened.

IMO, it's a sad state of affairs that some no longer know how to perform some very basic service and now rely on all the atomatiic "idiot" equipment on cars.

[ilikerice]

Interesting. Why would V motors need tensioners more than I4 motors?

I honestly do not know. I have just noticed this after working on cars for a while. Noted that not ALL "V" motors have those type. My girls Xterra has 3 belts for each accessory and each has a separate adjustable tensioner.

Its mostly the serpentine belts that connect all accessories (A/C comp, P/S pump, and alt.) have the spring loaded tensioner.


I have only had to tighten my belt one time after replacing it on any car. As CTscott says, usually a week after replacing when the belt finally stretches to its limits. I just examine the belt during oil changes to see if it starting to dry rot. Then I would consider changing it, not tighten it more.

[markitect]

Per the service manual, the belt should only be retensioned once after it is run for a short time after initial installation. Chances are your water pump will go soon as well from your service people constantly overtightening the belt.

My bet is they over-tightened it too, I've never had to tighten mine.

[contraband831]

I changed mine at 190k so i cant complain, well actually adjusting it afterwards was a lil pain...

[Connoisseur_of_fine_cars]

You suck if you don't know how to change a serp belt.

Automatic tensioners aren't all that great. They break without warning, and they're expensive to replace.

[Betrivent]

^I'm actually nto entirely sure, because it seems so simple I feel liek I've got a wrong idea of how to do it

[JumpmanYaris]

OP SUCKS FOR RANT AND DON'T KNOW SHIT OHHHHH SNAPSS SON

[Kal-El]

OP, I imagine the Yaris would also suck if you got a flat tire. :rolleyes:

Your case is extremely rare. Most easily go 90,000 miles without needing to touch anything once. And normally, it's just preventative maintenance, not failure.

[paperboy]

no car that is mass produced in the US really 'sucks'

they have to pass rigorous testing to even get the things into production

you know how people say 'there are no bad dogs, only bad owners' ?

well, it's the same with cars

[firemachine69]

Right. I only tore apart (and rebuilt) the last engine in my last car. But like hell I know what I'm talking about, right? :rolleyes: My absolute bottom-of-the-barrel ex-Sunfire came with an automatic tensioner.

Scott:

Shop re-tightened it once, a few days after getting home from the initial repair. They recommended I do it at every oil change, and consider 30k belt swaps. Of course, this is nowhere in the service intervals online. :rolleyes:


I'll add, it squealed one final time this morning, I'm under the impression that it's finally at it's full-length stretch. I'll check the service manual...


<EDIT>


Manual does call for a tension bar, and to loosen two bolts: One is the "pivot point", the other the top bolt on the alternator to adjust tension (Please refer to EM-8 in the Service Manual). If she squeals tomorrow, I'll re-adjust the belt myself. The specs for deflection seem quite low, I'm also very unsure how one goes about measuring that with any sort of accuracy...

[SAV912]

30K serp belt swaps, ROFL. If you listen to that rubbish, you DESERVE to get hosed for every penny they'll take you for. That's just stupid.

I'm at 73K on mine, and there was no record it was changed by the previous owner. I've looked at it twice in 50K miles and it's still tight as a virgin. Me thinks constantly messing with the bolts in that area has done something negative to your tensioner.

-C

[firemachine69]

30K serp belt swaps, ROFL. If you listen to that rubbish, you DESERVE to get hosed for every penny they'll take you for. That's just stupid.

I'm at 73K on mine, and there was no record it was changed by the previous owner. I've looked at it twice in 50K miles and it's still tight as a virgin. Me thinks constantly messing with the bolts in that area has done something negative to your tensioner.

-C



Ok, let me set things straight here.


The bolts were NEVER touched previously. I do all my own maintenance. I simply check for major cracks and tension in my belt, neither of which indicated an upcoming problem. In other words, my belt looked "mint" (no kidding, it didn't even have 35K last time I checked). However, when I blew my belt this past weekend, I had neither the tools nor the breaker bar to add tension to the new belt (that my friend so kindly picked up), so I had to get the yaris towed to a shop (while far out of town) for them to replace the belt. Part of the other reasoning to go to the out-of-town shop was that belts usually don't give in so young in their "lives", thus the possibility of some other major failure (coolant pump, etc.) It turns out, none of the pulley'ed items seemed to be "dead".


Now upon my return home, the belt started squealing on cranking over the engine. So I brought it to my local Toyota dealership to bitch and moan that I thought the alternator was on its way out (my VIN was right in line with the batch of Yaris's that had a bad batch of alternators). This was not the case, they claimed my belt was installed too loose, or had gotten so loose it needed tightening. Fine by me, they did it for no charge, and the squealing disappeared. At which point, they recommended frequent belt changes, and retensioning of the belt around every oil change (of which I've never heard of).

Until this morning on the first initial cranking of the day I hadn't heard a squeal, but I haven't heard it since.


Looking at the remains of the blown belt, you'd be damn hard-pressed to find an area that could even remotely lead on to imminent failure.

[bronsin]

Well you just had a bad experience. It happens. Before you take your Yaris and put it out of its misery evaluate the car as a whole.

Yes there is no belt tensioner. That may be a blessing. It very hard to change one of those serpentine belts. Especially with a sideways mounted engine! The dealers got to do it. Also the tensioner can fail and when it does, the belt comes off or breaks leaving you stranded. Also its usually a dealer fixed item for the average home mechanic although people DO replace them.

Conventional setups like the Yaris usually dont fail. My ECHO was eight years old and had 55,000 miles on it when I sold it and it had the origional belt. My sons 2000 ECHO we bought used has 160,000k+ on it. Its still on its second belt.

The Yaris is a great car. Great mpg. Great quality of construction. One of the best in terms of reliability (but stuff happens) Massive interior room. Excellent visibility. Two glove compoartments and plenty of places to put things. My 2 door has to be the easiest car on the market to get in and out of for older/screwed up physicially people. And you can gets lots of stuff in it!

My son and his GF are in awe of their ECHO. I bought it years ago with 117k on it for $3000. They have taken two 8000 miles trips out west the past two summers. I think they only thing that went wrong was the alternator belt squeeked for a while and the CEL came on beause the MAF failed. But I put the one from my Yaris in it (and bought a rebuilt one for the Yaris) and the CEL is out.

When someone makes a better car I will buy it.

[CTScott]

Right. I only tore apart (and rebuilt) the last engine in my last car. But like hell I know what I'm talking about, right? :rolleyes: My absolute bottom-of-the-barrel ex-Sunfire came with an automatic tensioner.

Scott:

Shop re-tightened it once, a few days after getting home from the initial repair. They recommended I do it at every oil change, and consider 30k belt swaps. Of course, this is nowhere in the service intervals online. :rolleyes:


I'll add, it squealed one final time this morning, I'm under the impression that it's finally at it's full-length stretch. I'll check the service manual...


<EDIT>


Manual does call for a tension bar, and to loosen two bolts: One is the "pivot point", the other the top bolt on the alternator to adjust tension (Please refer to EM-8 in the Service Manual). If she squeals tomorrow, I'll re-adjust the belt myself. The specs for deflection seem quite low, I'm also very unsure how one goes about measuring that with any sort of accuracy...


Measurement of belt deflection is done with a belt deflection gauge.

Checking the belt and needing to tighten it every oil change are completely different. Remember that at most auto service places the people doing oil changes are the least skilled mechanics, which is a strong argument for doing your own oil changes.

[Connoisseur_of_fine_cars]

Did you use aftermarket belt? That might be why failed.

[toy_toronto]

OP< you really should change the thread title from

The Yaris sucks -> MY Yaris sucks :wink:


-toy

[A-Dingo-Ate-My-Baby]

OP< you really should change the thread title from

The Yaris sucks -> MY Yaris sucks :wink:


-toy

That's right, Toy_Toronto's Yaris -does- suck :laugh:

























mine too :redface:

[toy_toronto]

Sry but i think claims like these shows why some members feel the forum has gone downhill the last little while :frown:

[firemachine69]

Did you use aftermarket belt? That might be why failed.


This was the original belt. I used an aftermarket as a replacement in a pinch, all dealerships are closed on Sundays up where I broke down. My spare belt in the back is an actual Toyota OE belt (I learned my lesson, ALWAYS carry a spare! :redface:)


OP< you really should change the thread title from

The Yaris sucks -> MY Yaris sucks :wink:


-toy

You know what, my BFWB (best friend with boobs :laugh:) has a yaris, but other than people constantly doing hit-and-runs on her car :thumbdown:, hers has been mechanically perfect.

So perhaps I should change that title. :wink:


That's right, Toy_Toronto's Yaris -does- suck :laugh:




mine too :redface:

What's up with your Yaris? :help:

[jambo101]

If you are going to label a car as "sucks" just because it has a minor inconvenient mechanical malfunction let me know when you find a car that never has a mechanical problem.i want one eh!

[A-Dingo-Ate-My-Baby]

OP SUCKS FOR RANT AND DON'T KNOW SHIT OHHHHH SNAPSS SON

lollerz!

you just won +1 internets

[firemachine69]

If you are going to label a car as "sucks" just because it has a minor inconvenient mechanical malfunction let me know when you find a car that never has a mechanical problem.i want one eh!

Mechanically, my Sunfire was perfect for the three-ish years I drove it. I killed an ABS sensor, but that was my own fault for using a super-pressure-washer on my alloy rims.

I should add, I've had other major failures on this car. If you go to True Delta auto reliability surveys, you'll notice my Yaris consists of about 90% of the mechanical issues. :rolleyes:

[jambo101]

Mechanically, my Sunfire was perfect for the three-ish years I drove it. I killed an ABS sensor, but that was my own fault for using a super-pressure-washer on my alloy rims.

I should add, I've had other major failures on this car. If you go to True Delta auto reliability surveys, you'll notice my Yaris consists of about 90% of the mechanical issues. :rolleyes:

OK maybe you just got a bad Yaris and your particular Yaris does indeed suck,however dont paint all Yaris with the same brush as the majority are long lived reliable and economical little commuters..
If your car is as unreliable as you claim i'd trade it for something else.

[Kal-El]

Mechanically, my Sunfire was perfect for the three-ish years I drove it. I killed an ABS sensor, but that was my own fault for using a super-pressure-washer on my alloy rims.

I should add, I've had other major failures on this car. If you go to True Delta auto reliability surveys, you'll notice my Yaris consists of about 90% of the mechanical issues. :rolleyes:

Do you know that there are Yaris's with over 400,000 miles with virtually no repairs? The Yaris is the most reliable car ever made.

[JumpmanYaris]

lollerz!

you just won +1 internets

I always do it's the interwebz

[JumpmanYaris]

Do you know that there are Yaris's with over 400,000 miles with virtually no repairs? The Yaris is the most reliable car ever made.

This.

[Hershey]

No wonder there's low member activity due to the nasty replies . :rolleyes:

[Kal-El]

No wonder there's low member activity due to the nasty replies . :rolleyes:

You're bound to get less then friendly replies when you entitle a thread "The Yaris Sucks" and it turns out it's because of an extremely rare broken belt. A part that has no more to do with the Yaris's engineering than the tires.

[jekqmb]

Now do you guys see where im coming from??? hahaha
Cars have problems, fix them and move on, no need to say a car brand sucks though when a lot of others enjoy their cars and dont have any problems....

[SilverBack]

78K on all original parts everything's still running just fine so far.

[JumpmanYaris]

78K on all original parts everything's still running just fine so far.

You can do it !!!! Lol

[jekqmb]

78K on all original parts everything's still running just fine so far.

Better knock on some wood! lol

[fnkngrv]

You're bound to get less then friendly replies when you entitle a thread "The Yaris Sucks" and it turns out it's because of an extremely rare broken belt. A part that has no more to do with the Yaris's engineering than the tires.


+1,000,000,000

[SilverBack]

You can do it !!!! Lol

Better knock on some wood! lol

Hell yeah, I'm still running on the original oil and filter too! *tries to keep a straight face*

But yeah, 78K is nothing compared to that one guy that used to be one here a long time ago that got to 400K with no repairs. Bet his odo is back to zero by now lol.

[paperboy]

the yaris is so simple under the hood that even a mook like me can maintain one without spending a penny on service at the shop

that alone is golden

[paperboy]

Right. I only tore apart (and rebuilt) the last engine in my last car. But like hell I know what I'm talking about, right?

not much apparently.

you're claiming a car that has received worldwide praise across the board for quality 'sucks'

i researched the class for about 2-3 weeks before I decided on the Yaris. It was between the Versa, Yaris, Fit (if I could find one I could afford), Aveo and Accent.

The Yaris was the clear winner with the Fit out-pricing itself or it would have won.

My conclusion from test drives and a little independent research mirrored that of the expert reviews.

Your conclusion puts you in a group of 1 who thinks the Yaris 'sucks' because it doesn't have one feature you like on the belt.

i came to my conclusion through research and personal experience. you came to yours because you had to spend a little cash on a repair and that got you all grrrrrmad in the pants

[galactus]

Not to bring up an old thread, but my Yaris now has 120,000 miles and still has the original serpentine belt. No, I have not adjusted it every oil change. Reading this thread is the first I have heard of this.
Yes, it could go anytime, but I spray it with dressing every oil change. Perhaps that has helped. I have never changed a serpentine on this car, but it looks like a bitch. The sideways engine is practically against the fender well.

[nookandcrannycar]

I honestly do not know. I have just noticed this after working on cars for a while. Noted that not ALL "V" motors have those type. My girls Xterra has 3 belts for each accessory and each has a separate adjustable tensioner.

Its mostly the serpentine belts that connect all accessories (A/C comp, P/S pump, and alt.) have the spring loaded tensioner.


I have only had to tighten my belt one time after replacing it on any car. As CTscott says, usually a week after replacing when the belt finally stretches to its limits. I just examine the belt during oil changes to see if it starting to dry rot. Then I would consider changing it, not tighten it more.

^^^^^This. I've replaced my serpentine belt once (at 207-208k) and it slipped a few days after installation. I took it back and the shop made an adjustment for free. It has been fine ever since.

[daf62757]

I honestly do not know. I have just noticed this after working on cars for a while. Noted that not ALL "V" motors have those type. My girls Xterra has 3 belts for each accessory and each has a separate adjustable tensioner.

Its mostly the serpentine belts that connect all accessories (A/C comp, P/S pump, and alt.) have the spring loaded tensioner.


I have only had to tighten my belt one time after replacing it on any car. As CTscott says, usually a week after replacing when the belt finally stretches to its limits. I just examine the belt during oil changes to see if it starting to dry rot. Then I would consider changing it, not tighten it more.


I think part of the problem is that the engine is transverse and the amount of open area to work on the belt and other components is very limited. Us old timers have a long history of busted knuckles from doing work back with the V8 was almost standard and we had plenty of room.

[Fidelio]

Yea unless the belt isn't gripping to the pulleys or its making unusual noises service it otherwise most of the time you don't need to readjust it after the second time. I ride sport bikes and I rarely have to adjust the chain; comparing the same concept. I mainly compress the slack on the belt to see how tight or loose it is.

[ilikerice]

I think part of the problem is that the engine is transverse and the amount of open area to work on the belt and other components is very limited. Us old timers have a long history of busted knuckles from doing work back with the V8 was almost standard and we had plenty of room.

I dont believe one second that an engineer actually thinks about the mechanic when disigning this stuff :laugh:

but actually makes sense.. probably by accident

[brg88tx]

i agree the original belt is very cheap. i had my water pump replaced on my 07 yaris and the guy said the belt was bad, so i told him to go ahead and replace it. i really didn't believe him, but when i picked my car up he showed me the belt. it was cracked all to hell. other vehicle we have is a 2003 chevy suburban. it has 95,000 miles on it and the original belts (almost 10 years old now) look fine.

[nookandcrannycar]

Hell yeah, I'm still running on the original oil and filter too! *tries to keep a straight face*

But yeah, 78K is nothing compared to that one guy that used to be one here a long time ago that got to 400K with no repairs. Bet his odo is back to zero by now lol.

He's still a member, his mileage accumulation has just dropped off because he drove for work and he has a different job now. As of about a month ago he had 472,000 miles (it's in the comments on his YouTube channel) -- Yarisworld screen name - trini_per4mance , YouTube screen name - triniper4mance .