To Tension Or Not To Tension

[numnuts]

Hi Yawl,

Can anyone tell me,when changing the cam belt on a 1998 2.0 gl,do you have to change the tensioners

as well,the main dealer says yes but i'm a bit sceptical about this he wants nearly £200 just for

tensioner's and more than that for the belt and fitting. It hardly seems plausible as the car is only

worth about £700.

[Avensis 1999]

Hi Yawl,

Can anyone tell me,when changing the cam belt on a 1998 2.0 gl,do you have to change the tensioners

as well,the main dealer says yes but i'm a bit sceptical about this he wants nearly £200 just for

tensioner's and more than that for the belt and fitting. It hardly seems plausible as the car is only

worth about £700.

Well put it this way, if you change the cam belt without the tensioners, if the tensioner bearings decide to fail on the way home from the dealer, you will knacker your engine, and it will cost alot more than the cost of a new tensioner to fix. So really I guess the answer is yes. However you might be lucky and the tensioner may last till the next cambelt change. Maybe there is a Toyota mechanic on here who has knowledge/experience on tensioner life expectancy !!

Here's my example of saving a few quid only to cost more in the long run.

I had an old corsa many years ago, I had replaced the cambelt, but not the waterpump which is used to tension the belt. Months and months went by without a problem, then one day the waterpump bearings decided to fail, the cambelt snapped and I bent Four exhaust valves.

Needless to say I regret not changing the waterpump, cos for the sake of a few extra pennies, I had caused myself alot more grief, stripping the head down, and replacing valves.

Alan

[Gooli]

As far as I know, your type of engine is the 3S-FE

"The Toyota 3S-FE is a 16 valve 2.0 L twin camshaft, single cam gear engine built by Toyota from 1986 to 2000. It is commonly used in the Toyota Camry 1987–1992 model, the Toyota Celica 1986–1989, Toyota Carina II 1987–1992, Toyota Carina ED 1990–1992 and E 1993–1998 models, Toyota Corona T190 as well as Toyota Avensis 1997–2000 models and Toyota RAV4, 1994–2000 and Toyota Picnic/Ipsum 1996–2002. It also powers the 6th generation Toyota Celica SS-I (Japanese domestic market only) and the 3S-FE was also used in some Toyota MR2 Mk2 cars due to its torque band being suitable for the automatic models."

The 3S-FE is considered "bullet proof" if given proper maintenance.

And to my knowledge it should not take any harm to the valves if the cam belt snaps.

Please correct me if I am wrong.

[Gooli]

/Double post

Edited August 18, 2010 by Gooli

[Jamesbelfast]

If you pay a garage to replace the timing belt without renewing the tensioners then I doubt very much they would offer any warranty on the work. Let's be honest if you were in their position would you??

Many decent garages don't like their jobs to fail even if the owner insists on a lower quality of work being carried out - it just ain't good for their reputation.

If you are prepared to do the work yourself and take a chance then that's entirely up to you.:)

[Parts-King]

It would be considered at what we used to call "Good engineering practice" to change certain componants at the same time, example, a fan belt with a water pump. Toyota do not require you to change tensioners with a new cam belt, however your car is 12 years old and you should consider carefully putting a new belt on without at least a good inspection of the tensioners and bearings. There are many after market kits that supply tensioners and belts in kit form, maybe look at the prices of those and make a judgement after taking everything into consideration

Kingo

[numnuts]

Ok people,thank you for your replies,the car has gone to my father inlaw and he was asking about this so i thought i'd ask on your forum.He is always trying to go the cheap way but in this case it might just work out dearer so i will let him know.thanks again

[brian1948]

Hi Yawl,

Can anyone tell me,when changing the cam belt on a 1998 2.0 gl,do you have to change the tensioners

as well,the main dealer says yes but i'm a bit sceptical about this he wants nearly £200 just for

tensioner's and more than that for the belt and fitting. It hardly seems plausible as the car is only

worth about £700.

[brian1948]

Hi, I`ve run a Carina to over 200,000 miles and present 2.0SR avensis to over 150,000 miles. I`m firm believer in changing the tensioners as well as the belt.Someone replied saying that they did'nt think the valves would suffer damage if the belt breaks; they mentioned the Camry which they say had the same engine. My memory tells me that the original Camry would not suffer damage in such an event but I'm not sure the next series of Camry had the same engine...I might be wrong. Anyway, don't take the risk of skimping on the tensioners, its just not worth the potential problems, even if the valves don't bend!

[SF695]

The MK1 Camry 2.0 had the 2S, not the 3S-FE, that the MK2 had. However i'm told that the 3S-FE is none interference. I had my cambelt changed at an independet garage, but a mechanic at the Toyota dealers told me, that they usually changed the waterpump when changing the cambelt