Help with serpentine belt not fitting

[yossarian247]

Not quite the same car as yours, but these pics are from a 2009 Auris 1.6 petrol which I owned some years ago and appeared to have the same pulley and belt layout as your 2011 Corolla. Just thought it might help to compare and check your belt is routed the same way as in the pics.

[Mooly]

No idea if anything like this applies here but will post it anyway... just something I stumbled on. May not be relevant at all, however...

Taken from here, only common thing is that this was Toyota.

https://www.toyotanation.com/threads/serpentine-belt-too-short-solved.1561162/

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Y'all do know that the belt drive system was designed so that the belt comes off the water pump first and goes on the water pump last right? Trying to install it on the alternator is completely wrong and that's why y'all have problems. Learned that from hanging with a tech at Toyota dealership

 

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With the alternator loose, I tried again and was able to push hard enough over the WP pulley to slid it on. Good grief. That sucked.

 

[Kaylum]

Hi everyone, I f***ed up, I was running the belt around the wrong side of the smooth pulley, I blame lack of sleep and stubbornness, you guys can laugh/ call me an idiot, I appreciated everyone’s help trying to fix my nonexistent problem  

[Mooly]

Thanks for the update and I'm pleased to hear you sorted it in the end.

[Don Mac]

9 hours ago, Kaylum said:

Hi everyone, I f***ed up, I was running the belt around the wrong side of the smooth pulley, I blame lack of sleep and stubbornness, you guys can laugh/ call me an idiot, I appreciated everyone’s help trying to fix my nonexistent problem  

Yup, you are absolutely the only person on earth who has ever done something like this....

🤣

[Parts-King]

Seen it done plenty of times, you won't be the last one to do it 🤦‍♂️