the car has about 104 K miles-never any issues with the car- if the drive belt checks out fine, no cracks, tight,…
should I replace it anyways - can I make the assessment or do I need the opinion
of a mechanic? the manual recommends inspection or for premium maintenance replacement -
How often do you find yourself driving in locations and at times that it would be troubling to find yourself on the shoulder of the road?
Drive Belts Not Only Crack, But They Do Wear, Too. A 2010 Vehicle Is 5+ To 6+ Years-Old. Gages Are Available To Check Wear, But At What Point Is The Belt Going To Become Unreliable?
Replace it. Put the old one in the trunk.
Oh, and how about that coolant? Has that been replaced? Brake fluid…
CSA
thanks for the reply
Gee…with labor it can’t be more then $100. Do it yourself…and it’s $30. If you just want to keep it til it breaks…then buy a new one now and keep it in your trunk.
You do mean drive belt and not the timing belt ?
I replaced the drive belt on our Toyota recently for exactly $42. That was done pro-actively at 45,000 miles as it looked OK except for some minor cracks. One less thing to worry about on a trip.
1.6L Or 1.8L ?
Belt installation appears to be pretty straight-forward. On the 1.6 you loosen the tensioner pulley nut, install the belt, and readjust tension when tightening the nut. On the 1.8 you remove a fender protector, relieve tension from the auto-tensioning pulley and insert something to hold it there, install the belt, and release tension before replacing the fender protector.
Always have a belt diagram on hand. You’d think it’s simple to remember, but once the belt is off it’s easy to be confused. The diagram is often on a label under the hood, in the Owner’s Manual, or online.
CSA
You can no longer determine if a serpentine/drive belt requires replacement by visual inspection.
If you look to the right on the page, parts stores give away that orange belt wear tool.
Tester
I think that this bears repeating:
How often do you find yourself driving in locations and at times that it would be troubling to find yourself on the shoulder of the road?
In the total scheme of things, is it really worthwhile to try to defer replacement of an aged belt when the negative consequences of it snapping are usually very significant?
For reasons that I will never understand, those who try to play Russian Roulette with car maintenance always seem to rationalize that, when their car breaks down as a result of lax maintenance, it will be…in their driveway…in the middle of the day…when it isn’t raining or snowing…and when they don’t need to go somewhere that could be of vital importance.
In reality, most breakdowns take place in…inconvenient or unsafe places…at inconvenient times.
This is just something for the OP to consider…
I’d replace it. Belts are cheap to replace but can be very costly if they break while driving. After 100,000 miles of use the rubber surely is worn.
Ya know a serpentine belt replacement is usually a lower cost item, I get my service done at a shop now days, I think it might have been done, depend on the shop for obvious repairs. Sure I will do an alternator or thermostat or starting motor, but for 60 bucks if they say it is time I go for it.
It’s not just miles that affect the belt; age and temperature extremes are also part of the equation.
If you have a place to stash it I would advise taking your old unbroken belt and tucking it away in the car somewhere as a spare.
On the rare offchance that a problem develops in the future and which leads to failure of the new belt the old one can be a handy fall back spare to have with you.