Serpentine Belt Replacement

[Shel_B]

The belt in my Camry has about 86,000 miles on it, and as far as I can tell, it's the original belt from when the car was produced, in December of 2010.

Might it be time to replace the belt? What do I look for to determine the condition of the belt? Thanks!

 

[slacktide_bitog]

Modern belts are made of EPDM which lasts a long time

You probably don't have to replace it unless you think it's bad, or if you notice any bad cracks, or if anything driven by it is losing performance, or if you're replacing something driven by the belt

 

[BISCUT]

Slacktide is right. Are you able to measure deflection? Sometimes a belt can stretch. I replaced the belt (there is only a single belt; no accessory belt) on the 3.6 in my Subaru at 85k. The old belt was fine and could have gone longer. It was a feel-good replacement for me.

 

[JMJNet]

Actually, the original from factory belt in Toyota are very good.
You can visually inspect them to see if there is any dry cracks and you can hear squealing.
Otherwise, it is good to go.

86K is nothing for a Toyota. Of course, it depends on the climate of the your area of living.

 

[DriveHard]

Sold my 2011 Silverado with ~135k miles on it with the original belt just last year. I would check it twice a year at the oil changes...it always looked great and crack free. I'd put my lunch on the fact it is still going strong today.

 

[Jake_J]

The proper way to check a serpentine belt is to look for cracking on the rib side of the belt. Modern EPDM serpentine belts last a long time so at 86K you're OK. Checking belt deflection isn't really useful on most cars now since they come with auto tensioners, so if belt tension ever becomes an issue it's a tensioner problem.

 

[Silver]

When you do, change the tensioner and check play on the pullies while you're doing it.

 

[2strokeNorthstar]

When you do, change the tensioner and check play on the pullies while you're doing it.

200k is common to get out of a Japanese tensioner. I wouldn’t worry but checking is always good.

 

[joekingcorvette]

I have over 114,000 miles on my Honda Civic with the original serpentine belt however I am going to change it when it warms up this spring. I am not worried about it breaking right now.

 

[Hall]

It's cheap, easy DIY maintenance so while most have said, it's probably not necessary to change, there's little harm in changing it either. In your case, I'd consider the fact that it's 10+ years old instead of only looking at the mileage.