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Serpentine belt tensioner issues

40K views 10 replies 5 participants last post by  marty68  
#1 ·
Anyone have any experience changing the belt tensioner on these bad boys? Cant seem to get the tensioner out for the life of me. Ive gone to the extent of taking the 3 bolts out of the passenger side motor mount and trying to jack the motor up but i can't get it to budge. The bold that goes through the tensioner is just too long to get out. Any suggestions?
 
#2 ·
In 2001–2003, the RAV4 used the 1AZ-FE. In 2004 and 2005, it was the 2AZ-FE engine. You have the 2001 according to your profile.

http://www.rav4world.com/forums/95-...om/forums/95-4-2-d-i-y-modifications/75364-need-diy-drive-belt-replacement.html and http://www.rav4world.com/forums/88-...om/forums/88-4-2-faults-fixes/82660-serpentine-belt-installation-procedure.html refer to removing the splash guard between the wheel well and turning the wheel. I wonder if that will give you the clearance you are looking for.
 
#4 ·
No, just some experience in using the search function to find prior posts from people who have done similar things. Did you already remove your splash guard separating your engine from the wheel well area as discussed in those threads? Putting the front left on a jack stand and removing the wheel would make access easier, if I understand correctly. If you are saying that the bolt head comes in contact with a steel frame member, I don't know what the trick would be; I did not see that discussed.
 
#8 ·
#9 ·
the tensioner is frozen. it doesnt spin at all. it was squealing and then it snapped the belt. trying to help a friend and she kept kept driving it while it was squealing. needless to say it shredded the belt and now i cant figure out how to get the bolt out. i saw some info that said camrys had the same issue and one guy said he removed the motor mount and jacked the engine up but i tried that and i still dont get enough clearance....:confused:
 
#10 · (Edited)
My daughter's 2003 Matrix has the same problem: tensioner bolt hits the frame when trying to remove it.

If the RAV4 is similar, you have to loosen the bolts in the right-front motor mount (there are 3 bottom-side MMs: rear, right-front, and left front). Then loosen the top motor mount on the top of the wheel well by the shock tower, if I remember correctly.

Then, raise the engine up 1"-2" by placing a block of wood on the jack with the block up against the edge of the oil pan (jack doesn't have enough lift to do it without the block). The bolt can then be removed.

Tip: place the center of the jack on a couple pieces of 2"x4"s between the wheels to get the wheels off the ground to keep it from rolling, because you can't get the jack/block quite straight up/down, and the jack will try to roll away when you start the lift, and drop the engine back to its resting point (ask me how I know).

Again, this is all for a Matrix, so YMMV. Good luck!
 
#11 ·
Good day. I'll tell you my experience replacing mine. I jacked up the front right side, removed the front right tire, removed the 3 screws that hold the inner fender splash shield and pealed back the splash shield. I then removed the belt. Next I loosened the belt tensioner mounting bolt (14mm). As discussed before, this bolt is too long to remove completely. The head of the bolt hits the frame. What you have to do is remove the tensioner piston from the tensioner assembly using 16mm socket/wrench and 14 mm socket on the lower nut. Next remove the tensioner piston. As described by Gary123, you have to remove the right side engine mount bolts X 3 and jack the engine under the oil pan to lift the engine a few inches. Once this is done, the tensioner assembly should come out from the top side.

I snapped the hexagon head right off the new when I was trying compress the tensioner to install the belt, so be carefull on the quality of tensioner assembly you buy to replace the old one. I had to remove the tensioner again and combine the old tensioner and new tensioner parts to make a good one.

Hope this helps.