How do you change the serpentine belt on a 2001 Highlander 4Cyl How do you take the tension off of the belt.?

Answer 1

It is probably the same as with the 2002 4Cyl Highlander. First, take pain-staking-care in making a sketch of the relative positions of the pulleys the serpentine belt snakes around and the path the belt takes around each pulley. There is one and only one correct path the belt must take around these pulleys. Then compare your sketch to the description below and note any differences. Pulleys labeled below as 3,2 and 6 are toward the front of the car and are roughly in a vertical line with each other. Pulley 1 is above 5, both are left of the vertical line-up of 3,2 and 6. Pulley 4 is directly left of pulley 5 and close to the firewall. (1)-tensioner idler pulley about 3.5" diameter (2)-water pump pulley about 5" diameter (3)-alternator pulley about 3.5" diameter (4)-power steering pulley about 6" diameter (5)-main crankshaft pulley about 9" diameter (6)-air conditioner compressor about 6" diameter DO NOT ATTEMPT TO CUT THE SERPENTINE BELT TO REMOVE IT. The belt tensioner could be damaged if this is attempted. The tension must first be relieved on the serpentine belt in order to remove it. This is done by applying clock-wise torque on a 19mm "nut" just above the tensioner idler pulley. The idler pulley is located just above the main crankshaft pulley and is to the left of the water pump pulley. The nut is a molded part of the tensioner bracket and therefore does not "unscrew" like a conventional nut. Its purpose is solely to provide an attachment point for a long lever used to compress the spring loaded tensioner in order to provide slack in the belt. Use a shallow 19mm socket on a 3/8" ratchet. As the ratchet handle does not provide nearly a long enough lever for applying torque on the nut, I slid a 2ft. long, heavy duty aluminum pipe with a 3/4" to 1" inside diameter over the 3/8" ratchet handle. This extended the effective length of the ratchet handle and provided ample leverage to compress the tensioner spring. The tensioner moves quickly with a lot of force when counter-clockwise torque is applied on the 19mm attachment point, but moves slowly, with resistance when a clockwise force is exerted. This is known as an oil-damped spring. A clockwise force must be applied to slacken the belt, therefore the starting position of the ratchet handle must begin in about a 1 o'clock position as viewed facing the right fender-well. From the front of the car, pull the extended ratchet handle toward you by applying slow, steady pressure as you pull the ratchet handle toward the front of the car. You must apply this steady force for about 3 to 4 seconds in order for the idler tensioner to compress fully. While keeping the tension idler spring compressed, slide the serpentine belt off of the water pump pulley. Then slowly release the pressure on the ratchet lever until it is lax. Leave the socket and ratchet handle in place. Now you can remove the belt from all of the other pulleys. Putting the new serpentine belt on is easiest with the right front wheel removed and the small, plastic splash guard, that is to the right of the main crankshaft pulley, rotated up or down out of the way. Remove the two 10mm bolts holding the splash guard. There is one more bolt holding this splash guard on behind the plastic, lower front wheel well liner but I found it unnecessary to worry with it since the small splash guard pivots out of the way just fine with only the two 10mm bolts removed. You will be accessing belt placement by standing in front of the vehicle and through the right-front fender-well by sitting on the ground facing the right wheel-well. Expect several trips back and forth these two locations installing the new belt unless you have an extra pair of hands helping you. As you thread the belt around the pulleys, make sure the v-grooves in the belt mate to the v-grooves on the pulleys and are exactly centered on each pulley. Note that only two pulleys do not have grooves, the tensioner idler and the water pump. They both have smooth surfaces where the belt contacts. The flat side of the belt makes direct contact with these two smooth pulley surfaces. Begin by looping the belt around the alternator pulley (3), positioning the belt around this pulley clockwise, from the 12 o'clock to the 6 o'clock position, the 12 o'clock end will go left and down toward the firewall to the top of and counter-clockwise around the power steering pulley (4). The 6 o'clock end will go counter-clockwise, top to bottom, around the water pump pulley (2). At this point, it is time to re-compress the tensioner idler in order to provide enough slack in the belt to make it easier to thread the belt around the remaining pulleys. The belt runs counter-clockwise around the top of the Power Steering pulley (4), and exits from the bottom of this pulley toward the right, and up, to the top of the tensioner idler pulley (1). The belt goes clockwise around the top of the idler pulley exiting about the 7 o'clock position toward the top, left side of the crankshaft pulley (5). The belt continues counter-clockwise around the crankshaft pulley exiting at the 6 o'clock position to the right, then counter-clockwise around the bottom of the air conditioning compressor pulley then ending at the bottom of the water pump pulley. Check all pulleys and make sure the belt is still centered on them. You can slowly relieve the torque on the tensioner bolt if all looks good. Reinstall the splash guard with the two 10mm bolts. Reinstall the right front wheel and tighten the lug nuts. Pat yourself on the back and say "Well done". Just hope you never have to replace the belt tensioner as I have. It involves all of this plus more, but you will save at a minimum of $350.