Auxillary Drive Belt Tensioner Broken

[ajstars]

Hi,

My Auxillary Drive Belt Tensioner on my VVTi 1.8L (2001) Avensis has given up the ghost according to the garage. Does anyone know if this is a (competant) DIY job or should I leave it to the garage? Only they want a few hundred of my hard earnt pounds to do it for me.

Thanks

[Black Knight]

Tricky but do-able.

To take the tensioner itself off is just one nut and one bolt which whould be easy enough. Problem is, if I remember correctly the bolt is so long it fouls the inside of the wheel arch. Means you have to put a jack under the engine to take it's weight and then undo the engine mount to give you enough room to get it out

[ajstars]

Thanks, sounds typical Toyota then - just like changing the rear diff mount on a Mk1 Rav4 where it would all be very easy if they only bolted it from the other direction!

[ajstars]

Looking at the tensioner system there is a kind of shock absorber attached to the pulley system that I am assuming is what actually creates the tension in the belt rather than a manual adjustment. I can quite easily push the belt causing the shock to compress, so I am in fact now wondering if it is the pulley that is broken or just the shock part. If just the shock part then this would be easy to change if indeed they sell them seperately - I think this is worth exploring further!

Does anyone know if this is a part that normally fails (138,000miles)?

Thanks

[Black Knight]

It'll be the damper and not the pulley I'd bet but no they don't sell that bit seperately.

One thing it's worth trying before commiting major surgery is try moving the damper full stroke a half dozen times. You'll see a cast nut on the arm of the tensioner. Put a 19mm spanner on this and push/pull all the way (the cast nut, be careful not to use the actual fixing bolt otherwise you risk stripping the thread).

May purge it and make it work, it may not but it won't cost you anything to try