Replacing the serpentine belts on my Camry

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How hard would this be? They are about due, and I can see some cracks on the inside of the belt, across the ridges. It looks like one is easy, but the power steering belt looks cramped for space. Due for tires so I'm tempted to let the shop do it, if they have to pull a wheel & wheel liner to do it then it's well timed.

2011 Camry, 2.5L 2AR-FE. Conventional power steering, not electric. Hence two belts.
 
First of all, I recommend Bando, which is one of the Toyota OEMs. You can get it on Amazon.

Some lock nuts can be very difficult to fit a wrench on. Chances are that you will need various socket extensions as well as various regular wrenches. I couldn't fit a socket on my lock nuts because of minimal clearance and I had to use a small wrench and an extension to apply the necessary torque to loosen the nuts.

If you can loosen and tighten the nuts, the rest is easy except that you need to use a formula for the accurate tension. (See below.) Also, don't pry on the power-steering pump itself but on the stay while you tension its belt.

Belt-tension formula:

http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php/topics/3605460/Formula_for_belt_tension

Look up the belt tension from your OEM repair manual. Note that new and used belts have different specs.
 
Just have the shop do it.. See how much they charge first.. Should be done pretty quickly at shop. My car only has one and took dealer under 5 mins.. Guess it depends on the car though.
 
Originally Posted By: Rolla07
Just have the shop do it.. See how much they charge first.. Should be done pretty quickly at shop. My car only has one and took dealer under 5 mins.. Guess it depends on the car though.

The main downside of having a shop do it is that there is almost a 100% chance that they will get the tension wrong at least for some of the belts.
 
Your belts have Tensioners, No need to worry about manually setting the Tension. Asian automakers were 15 years behind too use Automatic Tensioners.....But they got there!
 
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Yep, has tensioners. Which are not making noise, so I think they can stay for a bit longer.
 
Finally called the dealer on this. $240.85 to do the belts for me.

That seems... awful. Is it really that bad of a job?

 
If you cannot do this yourself, stop by a independent shop, maybes Japanese auto repair and get a quote from them.
 
Make sure you or whomever is doing this job get a metric belt.
wink.gif
 
Originally Posted By: PimTac
If you cannot do this yourself, stop by a independent shop, maybes Japanese auto repair and get a quote from them.


I tried to get my local shop to do it, but they haven't returned my call, nor did they pick up the phone today. Need state inspection too, so I figured I'd take a chance and let a dealer do both.

Maybe it's a legit price. $70 of belts and an hour of labor? Seems high but perhaps that's just what it costs. All I know is that I looked at it last fall, saw the tensioner bolt and was afraid I'd either break it, or remove all the layers of skin on my knuckles, given how tight it is. I did notice this weekend that there is a splashpan next to the crank pulley so I might have more access, if I pull the wheel.
 
Any other Toyota dealers around where you can compare prices? Maybe this dealer or one of them has a service coupon on their website under service specials. Sometimes a certain % off when spending over $200 or so.

I'm guessing you've spent very little on repairs/maintenance for the car. So $240 or so isn't much on a six year old car with 130k.
 
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I don't mind spending the money, it's the notion that I'm spending $170 for 10 minutes of work. It's one thing to spend $50 to avoid skinning my knuckles, another to overspend $100. An afternoon of my time might be worth less and the better option.

Repairs have been so-so. Rear pads and rotors, now it needs a new set up front too. Did plugs and air filter, and a battery. So it hasn't been bad, just hard on brakes and tires (it's on its fourth set now). Should know in another 4yr/100k if it was a "good" car or not.
 
Originally Posted By: SatinSilver
Any other Toyota dealers around where you can compare prices?


Good call on that; not sure why I didn't bother with that the first time (probably because I hate calling around and wasting people's time quoting stuff). The dealership I usually use wanted $170 to the job. That's more in line with what it's worth to me. Rebooked.

That estimator site says $125 to $195; this job should run towards the high end, given that there are two belts.
 
Plus the dealer can probably do these in their sleep since they do so many of them. So a little more peace of mind that way.
 
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