3rd Gen. Tacoma Serpentine Belt Replacement

Hit em up, be real kind and hype it up. Comment on how nice the coffee stained shirt of the service advisor looks. U never know, they might Goodwill it.

 

They must put some crappy belts on these to last less than 50k miles. You should get twice that.

 

Sometimes the parts guy can be in la'la' land or the wrong part can go the wrong packaging that can create first world class problems for some. And I've had new belts go out in a short time too so it doesn't kill me to keep it tucked somewhere.

As for the tension keeper, sometimes you need three hands, so It was a very good point and well explained. Not all things can be found on youtube videos so it's it a win for the OP here.

 

I've never even heard of that feature before, it's a bit mind blowing!

It's never a bad idea to keep spares of stuff! Especially small things, just don't forget you have em!

 

My 17 squeaked like a motha at 40,000 miles upon startup. I took it to the dealer after reading it’s probably the serpentine belt. They replaced it for a whopping 265 dollars. Sometimes it still squeaks 5000
Miles later. Now I feel delusional, what now?

 

If you have a chirp I get the tsb. I have never thought about replacing the belt and I have almost 75k miles. Why change when belts are good for 60- 100k miles? I checked my belts recently still looks good. Even checked my little car (never changed) with 150k miles and it looked good. Also, I am in the desert so if was to expect issues I think the heat would do it.

 

A TOYOTA oem serpentine belt at the dealer can cost $100+ just for the part. A oem A/C relay can cost $80.
I found an identical one (relay) at NAPA for around $8 and a oem quality belt for around $35 for a T4R.

So yeah, they don't call dealers the stealer for no good reason haha!

 

A belt can look good (no cracks) and still go (tsb). All it may take is a slight bearing drag and it can run hotter than it should and you may never be the wiser.
The reason I replace mine is, I'm OCD and this truck only has one belt. Just one!

When and it goes before you can time it, you're SOL and it may not be on your driveway. So yeah until there's a definitive life span, I'm changing it and keeping the old one as a spare.

case in point, I believe there's a tsb on the 3rd Gen now, and they're going out way before 80k.

 

Really good point and this is something I didn’t know about this truck.. it only would make the winding sound at first start. Once in a while it still makes the sound, even after changing the belt at the dealer. Sounds like I should know how to change this belt incase it ever goes!! What TSB are you talking about?

 

agree, I am ready to turn 70k on my 16 and will most likely do spark plugs and the belt also since 99% of my driving is all highway and don't want to get stuck somewhere..

 

Nice write-up. Thanks.

 

A bearing going bad can cause the belt to make noise. Sometimes it can take up to few months for the noise to return. Once this happens, it may be necessary to replaced it again, along with the faulty bearing(s). A good belt should not make noise.

To check the bearings, you can simply loosen the belt and spin each one, and you can generally feel the faulty bearing(s) as it will be a little rough, instead of smooth and quiet like the good ones.

Sorry I don't have a tsb and I didn't see it posted on TW tsb listing.

 

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/3rd-gen-tacoma-serpentine-belt-replacement.712582/#post-25344960

 

@St0rm-Tr00per - Awesome, thanks

T-SB-0098-20
https://www.tsbsearch.com/Toyota/T-SB-0098-20

 

Toyota replaced my tundras serpentine belt in warranty at 14k....i had to do it again myself at 60k, and again around 150k with the tensioner, and twice more after that with a new tensioner. What a pita if you don't want to hear any squealing, or chirping. I left the timing belt stuff up to toyota having it changed around every 100k miles.

 

On my old Jeep I replaced the belt and then would keep the old one as a trial spare. As luck would have it one of my friends belts went out on the trail and lucky for him I had my spare. It's a cheap fix and hopefully you never need to use the spare but it might come in handy one day. That said I'm coming up on 60k so I will be replacing it along with the spark plugs. Oh and the plugs will also be kept as spares because you never know.

 

I think I missed something, is there an issue with the factory spark plugs?

 

Service manual states plug change at 60k and I'm almost there. When I go wheeling I take spare parts that could be useful because you never know when your going to need it.

 

I've got some squealing as well, and intend to replace the belt as a first step, but I suspect I'll have a bigger problem. My squealing seams to only occur when I have the A/C on and it sounds like the belt, can't hear it when driving or accelerating, but at low speeds with the windows down and A/C going I can hear it though it can be a bit intermittent...

Thanks for the write-up. It's where I'll start since it's cheap and easy, then will determine if I've got pulleys to replace or something else if the noise persists.

 

I have had this issue show up twice on my ‘17 during warranty and every time I took it in to be looked at it stopped doing it

it was documented both times and I just turned 49500, and it’s constant now, stopped Saturday for oil change and they would replace it no labor since documented twice but I have to pay for the belt $137.89- tech told me Napa has them for $36.99! Guess what route I took.