05+ Tacoma odd problem turned BIG!

[Schattenjager]

I am in Kensucky visiting family. A few nights ago we got a HUGE rain that lasted all night. The next morning I went for a coffee run and the belt started squealing big time. Not being one for 'mechanics in a bottle' (belt dressing) and not having a full compliment of tools onboard, I went to the local dealer for a replacement at 75K miles.

After a two hour wait at the not-so-busy yet huge dealer, the service writer told me that the new belt broke upon start up and they had to put on the old belt due to no more in stock. I was asked to return the next day, which I did.

That job took about 50 minutes and shortly after leaving the stealership I smelt oil - hot oil - and lots of it. I know what your thinking and I suspected a hose going to the oil cooler as well. BUT as it turns out, the broken belt 'walked off' (dealer speak) *BACKWARDS* and was caught behind the harmonic balancer and effectively 'walked' the front main cover loose creating the Valdez II. Upon return to the dealership and pointing to the culprit, they quickly scheduled my truck in for repairs, gratis.

It seems that this has happened before. I mention this now because our trucks are getting older and many may be in need of this repair. The service tech (Toyota Master) told me that despite the simplicity of the job, a Tacoma owner would be foolish to shoulder this task and run the same risk without the protection of a toyota dealer to stand behind it.

Just an FYI. Carry on.



I am going to cut and paste this into the 05 and newer thread about Tacoma issues.

 

[Crikeymike]

That sucks that the problem formed so easily. I guess it's a good thing they had their hands on it before the oil spewed everywhere, otherwise you would have maybe had to pay for repairs, or was it covered under warranty?

 

[Schattenjager]

Well, after the completed repairs, it seems the belt was caught behind the harmonic balancer pulley, which in turn tore the front main seal. The dealership covered this plus a rental for two days.
:beer:

There seems to be some issue with the belt that requires PRECISE placement on the pulleys prior to start up. There is then a multi step START/RE-CHECK process they are supposed to go through to ensure the belt is seated correctly. Once done it is just fine, but originally the belt is put on in the factory sans a truck body to work around. Again, the tech said that a typically simple job is best left to a dealer who would be fully responsible for the work and parts.

Spooky issue, but I have had 70K miles of good luck with this truck, so no real complaints here either.
:xxrotflma :

 

[Dave Bennett]

Wow. Thanks for the heads up!

 

[Crikeymike]

The harmonic balancer mustn't have a very high lip on the edge to keep the belt straight or something. Either that, or the engineering of the pulley alignment between the balancer and other pulleys that the belt is attached to might be right on the edge of not being straight and inline with each other.

I had a car once that when I bought a new alternator for it (a reman), the reman had a different pulley offset, but the same rib count for the belt. So I installed the alternator, without realizing the difference, and within a few seconds of starting up the car, the belt flew off. Then when I looked down, I could see the offset pulley. I took it back to the parts store, had them swap out the pulleys from my old alternator, and then it was all good.

Front main seals kinda suck. I just changed mine a couple of weeks ago, although it's not a Tacoma.

 

[Switch]

I am in Kensucky visiting family. A few nights ago we got a HUGE rain that lasted all night. The next morning I went for a coffee run and the belt started squealing big time. Not being one for 'mechanics in a bottle' (belt dressing) and not having a full compliment of tools onboard, I went to the local dealer for a replacement at 75K miles.

After a two hour wait at the not-so-busy yet huge dealer, the service writer told me that the new belt broke upon start up and they had to put on the old belt due to no more in stock. I was asked to return the next day, which I did.

That job took about 50 minutes and shortly after leaving the stealership I smelt oil - hot oil - and lots of it. I know what your thinking and I suspected a hose going to the oil cooler as well. BUT as it turns out, the broken belt 'walked off' (dealer speak) *BACKWARDS* and was caught behind the harmonic balancer and effectively 'walked' the front main cover loose creating the Valdez II. Upon return to the dealership and pointing to the culprit, they quickly scheduled my truck in for repairs, gratis.

It seems that this has happened before. I mention this now because our trucks are getting older and many may be in need of this repair. The service tech (Toyota Master) told me that despite the simplicity of the job, a Tacoma owner would be foolish to shoulder this task and run the same risk without the protection of a toyota dealer to stand behind it.

Just an FYI. Carry on.

I am going to cut and paste this into the 05 and newer thread about Tacoma issues.

I had a belt break after Toyota dealership did warrenty work on a blown gasket. Fortunately I carried a spare belt. When the spare was being installed it almost got installed wrong too but thanks to a careful spotter the problem was corrected.
It is really easy to install the belt incorrectly over the fan pully. The shroud makes it hard to see. You have to make sure the belt is completely within grove of the pully. Because the belt is groved, it is easy to mistakenly loop a grove onto the side of the pully. I need to make a picture:

 

[Schattenjager]

Dude - awesome post!
:friday:

I had a belt break after Toyota dealership did warrenty work on a blown gasket. Fortunately I carried a spare belt. When the spare was being installed it almost got installed wrong too but thanks to a careful spotter the problem was corrected.
It is really easy to install the belt incorrectly over the fan pully. The shroud makes it hard to see. You have to make sure the belt is completely within grove of the pully. Because the belt is groved, it is easy to mistakenly loop a grove onto the side of the pully. I need to make a picture:

 

[Applejack]

What timing! I was just ready to do a belt change and then I find this. Thanks. Lately, every time I would enter deeper waters (15in and up) my belts or pulley's would make horrible noise, and would carry on for 30 min of driving. So thought I would start with the belts. Good to know. Thanx!!

 

[Schattenjager]

Hey AppleJack! Welcome to ExPo!
:jumping:

 

[devinsixtyseven]

I use a rule of finger & thumb when I need to work with the belt, or on my g/f's car, belts.

No matter how good it looks, take your thumb and finger and feel all the way around the edge of each pulley, checking the placement of the belt on the pulley. You should be able to feel the lip of the pulley as well as the back of the belt. On a reversed pulley, check for equal space to either side of the belt...it will align correctly anyway if the belt is mounted proper on the pulleys before & after.

Won't help with the wrong pulley offset tho...that sounds like a PITA!