Darchy Posted January 16, 2007 Report Posted January 16, 2007 Hi, I can see that there are many other topics like this but I was wonder if you can help. About a week ago I started getting a loud squeeling from the engine, upon closer examination it appeared to come from the 'Alternator drive belt tensioner' as a squirt of WD40 cleared the noise. The noise went away for a few days only to come back today with a vengeance! The noise was now much more coarse and mettalic, I stopped to take a look and it was still coming from the same place. as we were on out way back from shopping, four kids in tow, I decided to continue home. After a short while, the noise stopped, there was a whiff of burning rubber, the battery light came on and the steering went heavy. I limped the last 1/2 mile back home ok but when I got out of the car I noticed that it was now leaking water. I checked under the bonnet and the drive belt had disappeared. My suspicion is that the drive belt tensioner need replacing but what would cause the water? the water temp guage didn't appear to rise (couldn't be 100% on that though) So, please could you advise me, 1. Are the tensioners only available through main dealer?2. Could I have damaged the water pump by driving it back?3. Any other advise, where to source parts etc would be greatly appreciated Cheers Shaun Quote
Dave-G Posted January 16, 2007 Report Posted January 16, 2007 This is not neccessarily the tensioner. I'd firstly suggest (wear old clothes) feeling if every pully that the accessory belt "snakes" against or around feels gritty or tight - the water pump being the most relevant. Try to see if that is where the water is leaking from. If it seized that would account for belt friction on the pully and the smoke as it burnt. It could also be one of the other pulleys, or the belt just packing up - hoewver it's likely you would have seen at least some indication of fraying while playing squirty poo's with the WD40. Quote
Darchy Posted January 16, 2007 Author Report Posted January 16, 2007 Cheers Dave, I'm off to take a look now, i couldn't really see last night so I may be wrong but i think the belt may have broken off, the last time I did a job like this, the belt came with a diagram of how to route the new cable, do you know if they still do? I left the motor trade in '92 so I'm very rusty in this area! Cheers again , Shaun Quote
Dave-G Posted January 16, 2007 Report Posted January 16, 2007 I've seen a recent thread with a sketch of the belt "snake" - A search of that word may well produce results Quote
Dave-G Posted January 16, 2007 Report Posted January 16, 2007 I've tried a search for the belt route on a vr6 - without success. Just check EVERY pully down there very thoroughly - I'm sure someone will be along soon with a tis sketch for you - I have a horspital appointment to get to ATB, Dave Quote
greg_68 Posted January 16, 2007 Report Posted January 16, 2007 Shaun, almost certainly your tensioner. Your symptoms are exactly the same as mine even the distance I was from home was the same. New belt and tensioner about Quote
Darchy Posted January 16, 2007 Author Report Posted January 16, 2007 Cheers for all the help guys, i've certainly found the main problem, the tensioner bearing as completely fallen apart, the belt hadn't snapped it had just come to rest where there was no tension the other items,water pump etc, seem fine (now i've cleared the debris!) More worrying is the water leak, it doesn't seem to come from the belt/pump end of the engine, when i put some water in the expansion tank I got a trickle of water from the front of the engine, at the distributer end. I cant quite see where it is coming from to be fair at the moment but i'll get back to you. I have my local parts shop on the hunt for a tensioner and belt at the moment. Cheers again Shaun Quote
Richard gal Posted January 16, 2007 Report Posted January 16, 2007 Dont want to worry you too much (as you might just have spilled the water), but when the belt stopped turning so did the water pump and it could have blown the headgasket, hence water from the other end of the engine, or possibly a core plug pushed out a little. Quote
Darchy Posted January 16, 2007 Author Report Posted January 16, 2007 lol, I was trying to keep that bad thought out of my mind! I have a tensioner and belt coming for Quote
Steve S. Posted January 16, 2007 Report Posted January 16, 2007 Dear Shaun, Hope you get your belt and tensioner sorted out ok. With regard to your water leak problem, could well be unrelated to the belt snapping and might well be a leaky thermostat housing. It sounds like the "the area" for this, and your car is about that age . Mine is a '97, and I had a leak last year. The job is a bit of a swine ,just takes time. It's documented in a post called "leak or not to leak" by my goodself! Just hit the "search" button. Best of luck. Cheers, Steve S. Quote
Darchy Posted January 16, 2007 Author Report Posted January 16, 2007 Hi again, right, after what seems like a very long day waiting for bits I finally got it all back together! She started up ok and I can't see any leaks at all even after I let it get up to temperature! On my way home however I did notice some mild juddering from the power steering, could the belt be slipping? I cleared out all the debris and caked on old belt from the grooves so I'm a little anxious as to why it judders, could anything be wrong or can it take time to settle down? Anyway, I'm going to keep an eye on the coolant side of things too for a while and see how things go Shaun Quote
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.