CELICA GT (2000)

Drive Belt replacement.

The drive belt on the Celica GT's 1ZZ-FE engine, provides drive to the power steering, alternator, water pump and A/C if fitted. Whilst its failure would not be a catastrophic as a timing belt on an interference engine; sudden loss of power steering would not be fun, and the engine would quickly overheat. Changing the drive belt is a good thing. A dealer quoted me $80 + Tax and I think that was a good price. But a quality belt cost me $23. Which brings us to belts, I fitted a Goodyear Gatorback Poly-V Belt 4060745/6PK1890 as my GT has A/C. The drive Belt can be noisy on the Celica's 1ZZ-FE engine and the Gatorback is a quite belt.±
To remove the old belt you slacken the belt tension by rotating the 19mm Hex on the tensioner clockwise, to do this you will need a wrench or spanner of sufficient length so you can get hold of it and get leverage from it. I used a cheap torque wrench with a shallow 19mm socket, and there was only just enough clearance for me to fit this onto the Hex. The socket and the wrench head were about 2 inches. See Below:

Small Torque wrench with 19mm shallow socket.

The job itself took about 30 minutes. I found removing the plastic, cosmetic engine cover and uncliping a hose made access easier. Removing the old belt is easy, and when it was off I compared it against the new belt for size just to be sure I had the right belt before I attempted to fit it.
Looking down at the beltless engine the job seemed a little daunting, it is hard to see the lower pulley wheels, I had the manual's routing diagram with me, and referred to it a few times through out fitting the new belt. There is not a lot of clearance between the engine and the engine bay and I had a few scratches and bruises to show for my endeavors. Once the belt is on, you need to check it is seated correctly on all pulley wheels. Slack off the tension and move the belt if it is not. Though it was a bright sunny day when I fitted my belt, I still needed a flashlight to see the lower wheels; to both look and feel to ensure the belt was fitted correctly.

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Excerpts from the Toyota Manual

Check that belt tensioner moves downward when the drive belt is pressed down at the points indicated in the illustration with approx. 98 N (10 kgf, 22.0 Ibf) of force.
... operate drive belt tensioner 3 times with full stroke. HINT: Take 3 seconds or more for 1 full stroke.
Check the alignment of the belt tensioner pulley to make sure the drive belt will not slip off the pulley. If necessary, replace the belt tensioner. Check the belt tensioner operation.

HINT:
After installing a belt, check that it fits properly in the ribbed grooves. Check with your hand to confirm that the belt has not slipped out of the groove on the bottom of the pulley. After installing a new belts, run the engine for about 5 minutes and check the belt tension.

Below, the old Belt

Below, the old Belt

Below is the Tensioner

Below is the Gatorback fitted.

Below the new belt running!

Disclaimer:

This page is ONLY to show what I did to my Celica!
I take NO responsibility for anything arising from information given here nor do I guarantee its correctness!