Panic phonecall from the wife at 3pm today - the car made a noise, the power steering went and there was some smoke...
I race into town from work (Thanks boss!) with a few tools and a tow rope.
I get into the local hospital road network and find the car parked, neatly blocking the road. Still, it was chock-a-block with nose to tail traffic so no real harm done.
Lift the bonnet and my suspiscions are confirmed. The serpentine drivebelt has disintegrated.
Lots of strands lying around the pullies. No real way of retrieving them at the roadside so it was a tow home.
Got the car into the workshop tonight and my worst fears are also confimed.....upon removal of the cambelt cover, belt strands can be seen wrapped around the crankshaft cambelt sprocket. Luckily for me, the wife had the sense to shut the engine down right away and not to attempt a restart,; I think (I hope!!!) this sensible action has avoided a cambelt slip...
When I get time to strip it out, I'll update you all. Fingers crossed.....
PS When I looked over the car the weekend before last, the belt appeared to be none the worse for wear - it was only replaced 18 month sago together with the cambelt. Looks like I'll be doing it all over again. I'll be happy aslong as there is no engine damage.
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groups.msn.com/honestjohn - Pictures say a thousand words.....
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Hi DL, commiserations. What age/miles is the car? Seized PAS pump? Just guessing. (I have changed plenty of LR PAS pumps in my time...)
A suddenly disintegrating serpentine belt must surely be a pretty rare thing? Or not? Fingers crossed on the cambelt.
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'97 R @ 80K
All pullies/shafts in line and moving.
I've seen disintegrated serpentine belts before but they were obviously worn out. I'm 99% sure mine hadn't got to that state of affairs.....it was replaced 2 years ago.
Oh well, that's my Saturday taken care of!
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groups.msn.com/honestjohn - Pictures say a thousand words.....
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Must have been something wrong with the it, or it wasn't fitted quite right.
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Or possibly a stone jumped up and round round one of the pulleys with the belt, these modern belts are so tight they will almost explode in such circumstances.
Happens too with timing belts, something like a 10mm fixing bolt left loose on a belt change can drop into the run and when it is carried round a toothed wheel it breaks the belt.
M.M
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>... the car made a noise, the power steering went and there was some smoke...
DL - this is at odds with all pullies moving etc. Sounds like you might have suffered a temporary seizure of one of the components? When the alternator seized on my BX (also wife driving, who wasn't impressed when I said "Oh, I wondered when it was going to do that - it was really noisy at the weekend"!!) it stalled the engine before the belt broke, and couldn't be restarted till the belt was taken off....
While you're here, can I hi-jack your thread and pick you brains? My mate's got a Xantia HDi 110 which is playing up (and you seem well up on HDi issues!) - engine warning light was coming on when it was very wet at the weekend, followed by engine shutting down. Appeared OK after being dried out, but then started doing it again. He took it to the dealer who apparently said "no fault codes, even though light is on"(!!). Any off the top of your head thoughts about possible weak points that might not like getting wet?
Cheers
RichardW
Is it illogical? It must be Citroen....
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Upon investiagtion, the sprung loaded tensioner appears to be running out of line or it indeed appears to be at an angle to the belt in its fully released state, possibly explaining the premature belt failure.
I've ordered a new auxiliary belt tensioner (£65+VAT! gulp!), a belt and a cambelt/tensioner kit(belt, plus tensioner and jockey wheel) I figured I might aswell do the cambelt while I am there......
More news Saturday...
Richard - the HDi - it has to be a wet weather related fault. I would suggest running the engine (air conditioning on, if fitted to run the condensor fans, to circulate hot air around the engine bay) This will, after time, dry out any residual moisture in the engine bay. It might also be prudent to unclip any accessible wiring connectors (ignition off!) and check for any moisture. A shot of WD40 wouldn't do any harm either.
The lack of fault codes doesn't help whatsoever....I would have expected some codes if the fault were to be a wet weather related fault.
See how you get on!
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All sorted.
The belt timing had slipped 3 teeth. I feared engine damage.
I had nothing to loose but to refit the belf correctly.
I did so and gingerly turned the key, expecting the worst. The engine burbled into life on all four cylinders....wow!
So, a new belt and tensioner kit (Quinton Hazel - £51+VAT - half the price of Audi parts, plus the tensioner was the EXACT same make as an OE tensioner!), a new auxiliary belt tensioner (£65+VAT) and a new 'fan' belt and all was well.
Needless to say, I'm a happy man.
Well done to Wife for having the sense to shut the engine off at the first sign of trouble, almost certainly avoiding mucho ££££ and hours repairing the engine.
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groups.msn.com/honestjohn - Pictures say a thousand words.....
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