1st Gen How-To: Change your belts (P/S, A/C, Alternator) 2.4/2.7L

Thanks, good to know. I'll probably do the same.

 

This saved me so much frustration, I can't thank you enough! Great details!

 

I just did all the belts on mine....Many thanks for this.

 

I just did this on my 2.7L 1996 Taco. I used the Duralast parts that they gave me at Autozone as follows:

350K5: Alternator
343K4: A/C (packaging states "OLD NO. 342K4, agreeing with the OP")
437K4: Power Steering

Everything seems to work just fine.

 

Nice job!

 

Well, my A/C idler puller was shot and making a squeeking sound, I got a new pulley and also decided to throw on some new belts for good measure. For some unexplainable reason I decided to actually REMOVE the alternator pivot bolt. Oh man, what a nightmare that turned out to be! It took a lot of pounding and cajoling to line the alternator back up right to be able to slide the long bolt back in. Made a 30 minute job a couple of hour job.

 

So I just did the belts on my 2004 Tacoma regular cab, 4x4 4 cyl. Even though I was not able to get either one of the torque wrenches I borrowed from Autozone to work, I think changing the belts was as easy as changing the oil. I didn't even need the wrenches. All I had were the sockets and the extensions. I also found a 1 inch extension came in handy on the uppermost pulley (the one tight up against the fan itself). The 3 inch extension was too long and without the 1 inch extension, too short. Still had to remove the fan shroud as mentioned but that was easy. One of the belts I used was different from what is in the original post. Instead of the 440K4, Autozone sold me a 437K4. I have no idea if I have the belts tensioned correctly. 1/4 to 1/2 flex to one person is probably different to another person. Like Hulk Hogan to a 99 lb. weakling. I'm going to check them again in a few days to make sure they haven't loosened up. Maybe get another opinion. As far as the torque goes, I'm gonna have to recheck that too. The first wrench I had broke and the second never popped at 20 lbs. I'm probably doing something wrong, but I sure can't figure out what seems to be basic. I even set the wrench to 20 lbs and found a nut on the bumper and put everything I had into it, and still no break/pop from the torque wrench. Glad I didn't pay over 100.00 to have someone else do this.

 

I have a question on the alternator adjustment block. On mine the long bolt was missing. Is the hole in the adjustment block for the long bolt supposed to be threaded. The old one was not and the new one is not as well. The only threaded hole is for the mount at the top of the alternator. Thanks.

 

Hi Scott, Welcome! I just checked to make sure, my adjustment block is threaded for the long (adjustment) bolt. Good luck

 

Doing these three belts this week. Thanks for all the great posts!

 

How did it go MainerDave??? Im gonna get these done ASAP.

If you have to loosen the idler pulley nut, does anyone know the specs for re tightening that bolt? If i missed it in the thread I apologize. Thanks guys!!!

 

sund

 

subd

 

Hey CantCme it went great! It took me a few minutes to get my arm and gear wrench position on the tensioner for the power steering figured out. Once you get turning that one just go at it for a few minutes because the more you back it off the easier the belt comes off (all the tensioners really). Every other nut and bolt is easy to see and reach. I did the skid plate off method. I had already taken the big plate and the transmission plate (two part skid plate) off recently so it drops off easy now! One belt was too big from the parts store so I lost some time getting that swapped out. Otherwise, all alone, first time through it was 2 very easy hours. I only backed off one nut on a pulley and it was the AC pulley. I just tightened it back up snug. No squeals on start up. Double checked tension a couple days in a row. Nice deflection on each belt. I assume I'll have to snug things up in a thousand miles. Double check your belt numbers from the parts store. The parts guy admitted he had pulled the wrong part. This youtube video was pretty helpful for locating bolts: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8yF_gD-Mx0 I didn't' touch the fan or the airbox. I pulled one vac hose off the airbox to get it out of the way off my arm. Good Luck! Also, I'm on the wrong thread as I've got 6 cylinders!

 

ac idler pulley's been squeaking for about 2 weeks now, and today, i decided to go to o'reilly's and buy a new one, and go ahead and change all three belts...and wouldn't ya know it, on the way to my buddy's shop to do it, the squealing got super loud, then quiet, then i smelt burnt rubber...got to the shop, opened hood, and hey, damn pulley locked up and threw the ac belt...

so, i changed the pulley(gates part, made in canadia, seemed pretty skookum), then changed the belts...the ac belt was a pain to get on to the comp even with all tension released...i wound up getting it started and then turned the motor over a few times till it went all the way around the ac comp, then i put some tension on it, installed the rest of the belts and ran it...had to put a bit more tension on the ac one, and took a bit off the ps one...

and, btw, the ac belt don't go on the water pump...the water pump is ran with the same belt that runs the alternator

and, there's really no need to remove the fan shroud...it's easy enough getting the belt in through the shroud and fan

 

I just worked on my cousins 2.7 litre 2001 4x4 and did the three belts among other things. It went pretty well. PB Blaster saved my bacon on this truck. More rust, more dirt, more over torqued bolts by previous owners/mechanics than on my truck. I think I'd say that the 3.4 and the 2.7 are about the same level of work when it comes to the belts. PB Blaster everything the night before if you can. Especially if it's rusty and you're not the last one to torque the bolts! We sprayed as much as we could and then changed the oil and the rear diff fluid before trying the bolts. It sure is nice working on someone else's truck and having a second set of hands! It took both of us to get the pivot bolt loose on the alternator!

 

Just finished this. Great write up, didn't need to loosen the fan shroud on my 2002 2.7

O'Reilly Auto parts belts

 

Just did this today on my 2.7. Really easy but do yourself a favor and pull the shroud so you got room to mess around, thats my preference anyway, spend a few more minutes preparing to make it that much easier. all together i maybe spent a hour to finish. I dont think the OP removed the shroud completely, but the 4 bolts and the bottom plastic piece off, and pop your top radiator hose off and it slides right out, gives you more than enough room to comfortably work

 

Changed out my 2 idler pulleys (AC and PS). The lower AC pulley can easily be accessed with a couple of long extensions reaching the adjuster bolt from under the truck. I didn't remove the skid plate, as I did that a few weeks ago when changing the front diff fluid, and it was a PITA.

lay in front of the passengers front tire and look up, you'll see the bolt I'm talking about.

 

I need help changing the belts on my 99 Tacoma 2.7 pre runner. It looks like there are 3 belts total. I was told that I needed to change the serpentine belt and another one. They all look pretty rough to me. I would like to do this myself and not spend the $200 they want, but I'm not very experienced. Any help would be greatly appreciated.