Hi I have a Toyota Corolla 2001 160i. when I drive over 100kms my steering becomes very loose and there is not much tension anymore. Also when I turn left or right I hear a noise, like something under the car is loose.

when you are looking at the eingine where the accesories are, to the left of the midline you will see a 19 mm nut attached to the tensioner body place a wrench on it and pull in the direction of the clock apply steady pressure and you will feel that starts to give in and the belt should become loose and allows you to remove it.

either the drive belt is loose (squeal noise) or the oil is low (squeak or click noise) or the pump is worn (rattly), try refreshing the fluid and checking drive belt tension before replacing the more expensive components

There is a loose belt, or a pulley giving you problems. Remove the belts if you felt that one of those belts was really loose that was the problem, spin the pulleys, the crank pulley is hard to spin by hand see if wobble by hand, if one of those pulleys has excessive movement that was the problem, if all of the are tight then just adjust the belt tension, good luck BettyHasting.

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Hi,
Those belt that came loose are power steering belt and alternator belt.
One of the belt might broke off and needs replacement and the other one might only been dislocated and came out from the pulley, either way, you have to check first the condition of the remaining belt if it needs to be replace too.
You could ask your dealer or any toyota parts dealer for the belts you needed.
Hope that hold everything!
Thanks for using Fixya!

If by "scream" you mean very annoying, high-pitched squeal coming from under the hood... it could be one or two things

It's likely that it's either a loose or bad drive belt. Check the tension on all of your belts by pushing down or pulling up on each belt. There should be some deflection...but very little. If you find a loose belt, simply adjust the tension, which is typically done by adjusting the alternator, and occasionally, another swivel mounted type component such as a compressor, or power steering pump. It's very important to make sure not to overtighten. If you push or pull on the belt and it barely moves, it's way too tight and needs to be loosened up.

In some instances, there is a spring-loaded idler tensioner, and it cannot be adjusted. If your belt isn't fitting properly with this type of tensioner, chances are it isn't routed properly, or you installed the wrong belt. There usually a diagram under the hood that shows how the belt should be properly routed. If belt is properly routed and still loose, chances are you have to replace the tension idler.

If all of your drive belts are in good shape, this last possibility isn't as common, but still can be quite noisy once it's going bad... the waterpump. You typically find this with older cars, because of corosion buildup over time, and bearings wearing out. In this case, you have to replace the water pump, along with gasket and sealant.

Hope this helps

there is a belt tensioner near the back of the engine, you need a 19mm wrench to loosing the tension and remove teh belt

2001 TOYOTA COROLLA - L4 1.8L 1762cc GAS FI N 1ZZFE
2001 TOYOTA COROLLA - L4 1.8L 1794cc GAS FI N R 1ZZFE

Multiple Accessory, w/A.C.


Hope helped with this; remember rated this help. Good luck.

Crank the tensioner to get some slack in the belt and slide it off the uppermost, most easily accessible pulley. Remove the old belt. Route the new belt in accordance with the belt routing diagram and crank the tensioner the same direction as before to begin getting the belt over the uppermost pulley. Slide a screwdriver under the belt and over the pulley to leverage the new belt on. Release the tensioner and check for belt tautness. If the belt is loose, you've either purchased the wrong size or have misrouted the serpentine belt.

In my 37 years of working on cars, I never, ever heard of a belt tensioner leaking, All there is inside is a heavy duty spring, and after awhile they become weak, causing the belt to squeel. There is no adjustment on them, just replacement.

I can get you a diagram on monday but it goes from the alternator to the power steering pump then around the tensioner pulley then around the crank pulley then to the a/c compressor then pull on the tensioner to give you some slack and slip it on the waterpump.I hope that helps.Let me know if you still need the diagram