I recently discovered this forum and I'm hoping that someone might have a little more insight to a continuing issue I've been having with my car.

I have a 2004 Scion xA with just under 90k miles, great little car, but the one recurring issue that I've been having has been with the serpentine belt. Since I purchased the car back in 2005, I have had to replace that one belt on almost a yearly basis, if not within 6 months. I've also had to replace the water pump twice, the last time probably causing that belt issue. Needless to say I've become very proficient at replacing the belt on my own. I've taken the car to several different dealerships, but no one has been able to find an issue. I had one mechanic that wanted to charge me about $1000 dollar to tear apart the engine and check the timing belt, but I chose to not follow that route. Recently, I've heard the initial chirping of a worn down belt and I thought I would search out and see if there were any similar situations or if anyone had any more of an idea to this issue since I'm a little sick of replacing the belt. I think it may have to do with the way that the alternator is bolted on and once before I actually had to replace a bent alternator mount. I have included a few pictures of the mount and the current state of the belt below.

Thank you!

 

You may be ruining waterpumps by overtightening the belt. Are you getting high quality belts? I'm at 86K miles still running original belt with no issues.

 

I was thinking the same thing.

Are you buying the same belt brand or switching it up and experiencing the same troubles?

 

When I have been changing out the belt I have just been buying the basic ones. I'm not sure if I'm a big enough person to even over tighten the belts, but maybe I'll pick up a decent one this time and replace it that way. This last belt was installed by the dealership as well as a few of the ones that have worn through.

 

Does your A/C work good?

 

My A/C seems to get the job done. It's not like it turns the car into a refrigerator, but it cools things off. Since I've owned the car though, it hasn't changed too much. I just brought my car in to get some exhaust work done today and found that 2 of the motor mounts are in pretty rough shape.

 

How do you tighten your belt? With a pry-bar or what? Also why did your alternator mount bend last time? You can find tightening specs in a repair manual. However I usually get it just tight enough that the belt wont squeak. I have over tighten belts before and it would cause all kinds of premature wear on bearings and the belt itself. See if you can look down the belt from the pulley to see if it is aligned like the pic of mine here. one more thing when the belt is off try to wiggle the pulleys one by one, doubt you will find one that loose without making noise but worth a try.

 

I've owned my XA for a couple months and have had belt noise since day one. I tightened the tension but sometimes I still get slight chirping on cold starts or when I turn on the A/C. I'm planning on replacing it soon and checking the Alternator and A/C compressor pulley to make sure they're not hard to turn, or loose.

You might want to check that out on yours too.

Here's a helpful video I found from Dayco Belts.

 

that video didn't say any thing about WD-40

 

It mentioned "Liquid contamination" and "Contamination by other lubricants".

 

Has anyone finally fix this? I'm having trouble with mine, I changed the belts in early of 2010 and is now making horrible noises in the mornings. And another squeak but not as loud when I turn the a/c on

 

I replaced mine with the Dayco belt about 8 months ago. The slight chirping came back a couple months after replacing it, but I tightened it a bit more and haven't heard it since.

 

So I should try and "re-tighten" it? Which bolt did the trick, the one by the alternator?

 

To retighten the belt, you have to loosen both bolts. I used a tire iron to pry the alternator up, this tightens the belt, and I tightened the bolts with the other hand. Don't over tighten it, there should be a bit of slack on the belt. If that doesn't work, you might need a new belt.

 

Got it, Thank you!

 

You're welcome. Here's a write up for an XB. Should be the same for an XA.

http://www.clubxb.com/forums/showthread.php?t=30515