Drive Belt replacement

[nkaufman]

My 2010 Yaris bought in Dec-2010 so practically a 2011 purchase.

Only has 30K miles, went to dealer for oil change (replacing Air filter myself). Dealer recommends drive belt change every 2 years and wanted to change on my car for $150 since it has been nearly 4 years.

this is highly surprising that the belt would need to replaced so soon. any thoughts? or this is dealer just being a 'stealer'?

[CrankyOldMan]

Check the service interval in your owner's manual/maintenance guide for verification. If it's not showing symptoms of wear--cracking, fraying, excessive play--then I wouldn't worry about it.

[bronsin]

HIGHLY unusual! You can check the belt yourself. #1 is it squealing during startup? If not thats good. Squealing indicated a loose belt.

#2 check the mult-ribed surface on the inner side of the belt. Without the engine running feel the inner side of the belt with your fingers. There are about 5 mini V's on it. As long as these are intact and not hanging in shreads or little bits missing from the tiny V's belt is good.

If the dealer changes ANYTHING tell them you want the old parts!

Good luck and tell us what happens!

[nkaufman]

HIGHLY unusual! You can check the belt yourself. #1 is it squealing during startup? If not thats good. Squealing indicated a loose belt.

#2 check the mult-ribed surface on the inner side of the belt. Without the engine running feel the inner side of the belt with your fingers. There are about 5 mini V's on it. As long as these are intact and not hanging in shreads or little bits missing from the tiny V's belt is good.

If the dealer changes ANYTHING tell them you want the old parts!

Good luck and tell us what happens!

Have not heard any squealing etc and have not done anything about it so far. Looks good. Was really thinking that the belt would make some noise before dying, wouldn't it?

[bronsin]

Have not heard any squealing etc and have not done anything about it so far. Looks good. Was really thinking that the belt would make some noise before dying, wouldn't it?

Not really no. A squealing belt is a loose belt. Tighten it to specs and the squealing should stop. A BAD belt will have the mini V's on the pulley side of the belt (not the smooth side) hanging in shreds and disintegrating.

I would say even a squealing belt as long as it drives the accessories is OK and isn't flapping loose. As long as the mini V's aren't damaged. An overtightened belt can damage the water pump and other driven accessories.:cry:

My wifes 05 Camry with 120k on it has the original belt. I can see nothing wrong with it. I check the mini v's every oil change. (twice a year) When the mini v's get damaged....off to Toyota for a new one! :thumbsup:

My brother in law changed the wp a couple years ago and when he did he changed the belt tensioner it was bad. Yaris has no bt.

[Exiwolfman]

Why not just get a new belt and change it on ur own ...will run u maybe 15$ to 30$ for belt and 10 min job.
Did my belt at 110km

[IllusionX]

Don't forget that rubber so dry up. So even if you did not drive much, it can be safe to check the belt for damages/dry rot and replace as necessary.