2005 Toyota Echo/Yaris Power Steering Belt Replacement

USE JACKS STANDS TO HOLD CAR UP. DON'T GET UNDER A CAR HELD UP ONLY BY A JACK! The big snow storm somehow triggered my oxygen sensor and my power steering belt on the same drive home through treacherous conditions. Like the car was stressed out and couldn't deal with the drive. I had loud and persistent belt squeek that didn't change when the electric load was reduced - so I was pretty sure it wasn't the serpetine belt. When I got home, I undid the serpentine belt to feel the water pump, AC pump and alternator bearings. All were fine. I started it up briefly with no serpentine belt and it still squeeked, so I knew it was the power steering belt. When I looked at it, it had skipped a groove and was rubbing against the crank serpentine pulley. I could see the steel cords in the side of the belt. I tried being lazy and just getting it back in the correct grooves, but after a drive, it jumped again and was making the noise. I just replaced the water pump in October and could easily have replaced that belt while it was apart, but I opted only to replace the serpentine belt because breaking the power steering belt would not be catastrophic. So I figured I may as well replace the belt with the new one I've had hanging on the wall in my shop for several years. 19 years on one power steering belt isn't half bad!
Some Youtubers and forum guys say you have to remove all the plastic under-carriage t get at it. But it was all slushy and I didn't want to deal with it.

So, I was able to do it fairly easily without removing all that stuff. I jacked it up and took the passenger front wheel off. You need a 12mm and 14 mm socket, belt, pry-bar, and maybe a hammer. The hardest part of the job for me is getting that damned serpentine belt on. Everytime, I think I know how it goes back on, but I don't. DO A LITTLE DIAGRAM showing the belt path or you will start throwing tools around.
I cut the old power steering belt off, but it might have been smarter to leave it on and use the belt to pull the pump forward rather than trying to find something to pry against it. With the tire off, you can see the bottom of the power steering pulley above the control arm. Turn the pump pulley until one of the gaps allows access to the bottom 14 mm bolt (easy if you've cut the belt, but you can do the same by turning the alternator pulley bolt with a 7/8 socket in a clockwise direction). Soak it with penetrating oil and leave it for a while.

Find your shallowest 14 mm 6 point & 3/8 socket wrench. You can get it in there. Universal joints were useless and I didn't have a nice offset 6 point wrench to weasel in there. With the socket on the 14 mm bolt, I had to increase leverage by putting a 7/8 wrench over the end of the socket wrench (but you can accomplish the same with a length of pipe large enough to it over the socket wrench handle). It broke free, and I backed it off a few turns. There was no need to undo any other bolts on that steering pump. I was able to pry it towards the front of the car and get the enough clearance to put the new belt on. If you didn't cut the belt, you could just pull upward on it to move the pump forward. Before I did put the new belt on I soaked the pulley with brake cleaner to remove residual rust penetrant spray.

You now have to remove the serpentine belt off the outer crank so you can get the power steering belt over the inner crank pulley. Once that was in place, I put the serpentine drive belt back on with some swearing and tightened it. The power steering belt was a little difficult to get on, so I used a 7/8 socket on the alternator to turn everything clockwise while I forced the belt sideways into the grooves of the pump pulley. Worked well.

Check carefully that the belt is sitting inside the pulley grooves for both belts and all pulleys.

I adjust the belts for about 1/2 inch deflection in the middle of the longest run of belt. You should be able to twist it about 90 degrees. You want the belt just tight enough that it doesn't slip, and not too tight or it will cause premature bearing failure in the water pump, alternator, AC compressor, & power steering pump. The serpentine belt is tightened by prying the alternator away from the engine and tightening the 12 mm bolt on the adjustment bracket. Be careful to avoid the pressure switch there. Look that you are prying against the metal of the engine block. With a long prybar I was able to get underneath and pry the power steering pump away from the engine towards the rear while tightening the 14 mm on the pump's adjustment bracket through the pulley access hole. Worked like a charm. Everything tightened up. Started the engine and looked carefully at pulleys for wobble and rubbing. Everything running true and centered. Good for another 280000 km.