Intro thread: https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f151/

 

Thanks!

I ended up pulling the whole adjuster assembly out. The adjuster bolt was frozen so bad that I wasn't able to remove it, even with heat and penetrating oil. Had to order a new one from the dealership. Should have it by tomorrow.

 

Thanks for such a manual.

 

Thanks for the great write up. I have a few questions that maybe some of the more experience members or more mechanical members may be able to help. Here's a little back story just in case it may clue in on what the problem is.


2001 4Runner - About a week ago I got my timing belt and water pump replaced by a mechanic. I also had him check my power steering since it hasn't worked in 2 years, he had informed me that one of the lines from the power steering had been ripped off from the A/C belt. Replacing it was not a big priority since it still steered. This morning I was on my way to work when I notice smoke coming out of my hood, nothing on the dashboard displayed that my car was over heating, low on oil, or had any issues. I pulled over and popped the hood and realized the smoke was coming around and below my power steering pump. I looked all over the engine bay and could not find anything wrong. I figured it may have been the power steering fluid that may have burnt up from the heat from when the mechanic checked.


Not willing to risk it, I went back home. Right at the stop sign to my house, my 4Runner died. I popped again the hood and saw that the drive belt for the power steering had snapped. Not knowing what to do, I decided to start up my vehicle again and it came alive. I was able pull into the drive-way. Decided to Google and Youtube and found this site.


So I ended up loosing up the 3 screws mentioned in the video. Removed the screws for the air box for better access. I was able to put the new belt on. I didn't know how tight the belt should be, but I'd figure it should be similar to the other two. Put everything back to where it was and started the 4Runner up. Started up normally. Let it idle for able 5 minutes then it started to screech/whistle a little bit. I decided to take it for a spin around the block. Barely got it out of the drive way and the SUV died. Popped open the hood and found that the belt had snapped. And here I am on this forum seeking help.


Any suggestions?
Should I be able to take the pulley on the top left out by loosing the nut? When I tried using my gear wrench it would only go clock-wise and counter-clockwise by 45 degrees or so.


Thank you in advance.

 

Sounds like you have possibly multiple issues going on.
1) Burnt up power steering pump, it's frozen. Needs to be replaced as well as the line. No fluid= no lubrication. This can cause stalling at idle.
2) need to figure out why your truck overheated. Could be a head gasket. I think it's independent of the power steering issue. You need to investigate that further with checking oil and coolant for signs of mixing together, or low coolant causing it to overheat. Overheating an aluminum head engine like the 5vz is really bad.

 

Thank you for the write-up! I acquired a new skill today by changing my '02's belts. Was quoted about $250 for the job by the mechanic... Spent less than $70 on parts and about 2 hours of my time--the feeling of accomplishing it myself is priceless. Always fun to learn something new!

 

Excellent! Welcome to YT.

 

So I'm an idiot and didn't buy reversible gear wrenches. I was backing out the power steering bolt (not the tension ones) and backed the nut into the pulley. Any ideas?

 

I really appreciate the excellent write-up. I've done a bunch of these but it's always nice to know what you're up against before you start a job like this. I thought I'd add a couple of notes I had after doing mine.
1. I had to completely remove the AC tensioner pulley in order to install the new belt. Make sure to reinstall it the way it came off and set the torque correctly.
2. For those of you who, like me, got a great deal on a vehicle from up north with some rust underneath, go ahead and remove the upper hose and fan shroud. This is going to me more than an hour long project and the extra room will be helpful. I wouldn't worry about taking the fan off. It won't add save you 5 minutes as the belts easily slide over the fan blades and you risk breaking off the fan bolts. All of my bolts were seized up and I had to be really carefully backing them off. I ended up breaking both the hold-down bolt and the tensioner bolts on the PS pump. I was able to take out the tensioner nut and drill/tap it back to spec and install a new tensioner bolt but it took me a couple hours.
Thanks again for the extra time and effort you put in to posting your write-up and video. They were very helpful.

 

if you hear sqeaking, re position your alternator, make sure you have power steering fluid, and there is a 12mm and 14mm screw on the top and the bottom and just slide it to thr right with a torqe bar, make sure the battery is unplugged also so you dont electricute yourself.

 

Great thread. I just did this today. Was actually expecting it to be a bit harder, like everything seems to be on this truck compared to my 20R...but it wasn't bad at all. Probably just under an hour. It's actually kind of nice that it has the tensioning bolts, instead of having to pry something in there and tighten down nuts at the same time. I've done belts a few times before on a few different vehicles, but I agree with other posters. Seeing photos of which bolts I was looking for, and some description of the trouble spots definitely made it way faster and way less frustrating the first time through.

I definitely didn't take off the fan or the the radiator hose. I felt like that was a good call. I did pull the air filter box to help with the power steering tensioner, but it really wasn't necessary. It didn't really give me more room for the wrench, since I still used a ratcheting crescent wrench instead of any socket wrenches. But it did help me get a way better look at it. I could actually see the bolt.

I was feeling good until I completely stripped my front differential drain bolt trying to change that fluid...but oh well. I kind of expected that

Thanks!

 

[QUOTE=stir_fry_boy;51500136]
You loosen the 14 mm bolt in red and loosen the adjusting bolt in blue (above the front cross member). This is where the gear wrenches are nice. I was not able to get a good area for a ratchet. A gear wrench worked perfectly and I was able to do it quickly. The A/C should be loose now.


Very helpful writeup. Is it counterclockwise or clockwise to loosen the 14mm center bolt on the idler pulley? I rounded off the bolt Thanks!

 

The only place I can think of that is ever a different direction for loosening/tightening are some older full floating axle lug nuts. And some propane tanks.

Every bolt on your truck tightens and loosens the same way you should expect...

 

Thanks 83. I'll try to use a bolt-grip this weekend to loosen the idler pulley.

 

I'm having trouble getting the skid plate off. It seems the two back bolts are rusted on, threaded, stripped, super glued on or something! Any recommendations on how to get them off? Is it possible to do the alternator through the top instead of under the car since that's the only belt I am replacing?

 

From what I remember, taking off the skid plate and accessing some of the bolts from underneath just makes the job easier, but isn't necessary. You'll just be working "blind". But that happens.

 

Yes, the alternator can be replaced without removing the skid plate as 83 mentions. Removing the skid never crossed my mind when I replaced the alternator on my '95.

 

Here's a video my buddy Sean and I made for replacing the drive belts on our 3.4 liter V6 engines:

 

After loosening the nut on the pulley, loosening the tension bolt still doesnt affect my AC belt tension? Any ideas? I can back the bolt way out, but it doesnt do anything. I've also loosened the nut on the pulley almost to the point of it coming off and that didnt help either.

 

See how the tensioning bolt has come out, ie: gotten longer?
It needs to be shoved in. Push on it, or tap on it with a ball peen hammer, until the head of the bolt is back down into the plate it's in. THAT will loosen the belt off. The pulley should move when the bolt is pushed on.
If the pulley won't move, either it's frozen somehow, and needs to be broken loose with some PB Blaster penetrating oil, OR the bolt in the center of the pulley just isn't loose enough. They need to be backed pretty far off. Not enough the pulley fall off but pretty far. If the pulley won't move with the bolt in it's center loose, then you'll need to pull it all the way off, take the pulley off, and see WHY the pulley won't move with the adjusting bolt's action. Again, a few doses of PB Blaster might be the secret ingredient, here.

Does that help?
Pat☺