Belt Tensioner pulley broke off tonight

[Redog]

OK so I'm out, running all over the world to get things done (including my manifolds powercoated, they look sweet I'll post later) and I'm heading over to Acme for my Rx and I smell a little bit of burning rubber, just a bit.

Park the car, get my Rx and start going home and the burning rubber smell is getting worse. WTF is that? I didn't do a burnout in a while, but it doesn't sound like that.

So I get home and get out of the car with it still running and look under the hood. The smell is stronger on the right side (front) of the motor.

Maybe I took in a bag? I say aloud. I grab my flashlight and shine it around the alternator because the smell is the worst there, and I see *flash, flash, flash* on the alt pulley with the flashlight, I look down and see half the belt wrapped around the tensioner :eek: and NO PULLEY!!! Rubber flakes all over in the bottom part of the engine bay.

I'm going to replace it all tomorrow, it's not a big deal, but has anybody ever heard of the pulley falling apart/off? I really can't see exactly what is the problem, but there is def no pulley there.

I have another Tensioner here. I pulled it out of a junked Alero about 3 years ago. I'm thinking it might be a good idea to just suck it up, pay the $40, and get a new one, along with a belt. :cry:

[hahano404]

.....

[Redog]

^^ O, this is the first time I've heard of it, or maybe the first time I know enough about cars to know what happened.

New tensioner and belt tomorrow :D

[alerored04]

I have heard of the bearings seizing in a pulley, causing the belt to wear it off or something similar. If I were you I would just use the junkyard pulley, the odds of it happening again seem pretty slim. Too bad this wasnt a year ago, I had two almost brand new serp belts hanging in my garage that got tossed when I moved. I would have sent you one for like $5.

[Redog]

Is the Goodyear "gatorback" a good belt?

The belt is usually $55 to $60 but Advance Auto sells the GoodYear one for $29 :eek:

[TheEdgeofSanity]

yes! gatorbacks are awesome. they last forever.

[Vinalero]

Happened to my friend on his sentra, but the belt just got out of the pulleys. He also saw the pulley bang the car behind him on the highway right in the windshield.

[CBLOHM3400]

if you look at a gatorbelt serp. belt you will notice that it is not just cut for the griives in the pulleys but also cut diagonal
they say they run cooler are more flexiable and last a lot longer

[Cliff8928]

I have heard of the bearings seizing in a pulley, causing the belt to wear it off or something similar. If I were you I would just use the junkyard pulley, the odds of it happening again seem pretty slim.

This happens all the time.. It's unfortunate that the pulley is plastic because the bearings aren't serviceable, in fact most of the time the bearing overheats and melts the pulley too!. The pulley should be available separately though.

If you have a bearing go bad in one of the metal pulleys that has the serviceable bearing like the two on the 3400, they use a Timken # 203FF.

[meadus101]

If my belts squeal when it's damp or raining, is that A Sign I could be facing a snapped belt in the near future?

[CarGodz]

I've seen and heard many a problems with the plastic tensioner pulleys and would suggest buying new over a junkyard piece.
The Gatorbacks are very good belts and do normally last much longer.

And yes if you are getting major squealing while driving it could be your belt, but you may also want to check all your pulleys to make sure it's not a bearing.

[bdyman]

mine blew on my grand prix, and on the ls4 its not just a pully oh no its every pully and its one huge bracket that runs the side of the block
on my alero no problems i can speak of with belts or pullies

[kwhauck]

yep, i have snapped 3 belt tensioners, 2 water pumps, and believe it or not one motor mount :eek: .....that was a real interested trip, almost as cool as the time i blew the #6 cylinder and drove home 11miles in limp mode.......

[Gr1m]

i actually just replaced mine, once you do it 4-5 times you can bang it out in no time at all

[Cliff8928]

on my alero no problems i can speak of with belts or pullies

Well, the Ecotec hardly has any accessories! Just the alt and A/C.

yep, i have snapped 3 belt tensioners, 2 water pumps, and believe it or not one motor mount :eek: .....that was a real interested trip, almost as cool as the time i blew the #6 cylinder and drove home 11miles in limp mode.......

I guess that's what you get when you have the belt driving more than what it was designed for.... :p

[surreal_awakening]

This happens all the time.. It's unfortunate that the pulley is plastic because the bearings aren't serviceable, in fact most of the time the bearing overheats and melts the pulley too!

This has happened to me twice in my 245k miles. One time was on the highway at 70mph. The pulley was still there, but the bearing was gone, along with alot of the surrounding plastic. Just had the outer ring of the pulley left dangling. Heard a loud thump as the belt slapped the hood, and lost my power steering. Scared the crap outta me at the time.

[cherrington17]

Scared the crap outta me at the time.

...as is expected..

[Redog]

Well I did the tensioner today.

Took me a while because I had a lot of trouble getting the motor mount bolts out and the 2 18mm bolts wouldn't go back in that easy. I think the jack moved because the motor wasn't mounting up right. I had to pull the motor towards me while the wife started the bolts. Then the front 18 mm wouldn't go in, it was lined up, and the other 18mm was in. I lubed it with WD-40 and got it in that way. The belt was a bitch too because it was twisted in the sleeve, ugh. The Tensioner came out pretty easy, but belt parts where jammed in the melted pulley and the rest was wrapped around something else.

Took me 3 hours to do, just because of all the crap I dealt with. Last belt I changed took me only 30 minutes, plus it's COLD here.

Fixed the power window motor too, that only took 35 mintues

[billytheman1188]

Well I did the tensioner today.

Took me a while because I had a lot of trouble getting the motor mount bolts out and the 2 18mm bolts wouldn't go back in that easy. I think the jack moved because the motor wasn't mounting up right. I had to pull the motor towards me while the wife started the bolts. Then the front 18 mm wouldn't go in, it was lined up, and the other 18mm was in. I lubed it with WD-40 and got it in that way. The belt was a bitch too because it was twisted in the sleeve, ugh. The Tensioner came out pretty easy, but belt parts where jammed in the melted pulley and the rest was wrapped around something else.

Took me 3 hours to do, just because of all the crap I dealt with. Last belt I changed took me only 30 minutes, plus it's COLD here.

Fixed the power window motor too, that only took 35 mintues

heh, yea its fuckin FREEZING out....it wouldnt be so bad if it wasnt windy:ninja: Well at least everything is fixed now! :yahoo:

[mfuller]

You know, it always bothered me that the tensioner pulley was plastic. I'm thinking these can be adapted to replace the plastic tensioner pulley, along with the two smooth idler pullies (by the alternator and below the power steering pump). They are designed for the L67/L32, but knowing GM there's a good chance they'll work fine. Sadly, I don't think there's anything we can do about the plastic power steering pump pulley.

http://www.smoothflowpulleys.com/sitebuilder/images/6-rib_idler_set-363x362.jpg

[Cliff8928]

Those are hot! definitely worth more than the L67...

I've never seen any issues with the PS pulley, but I wouldn't doubt it could be replaced. It would just need to have a steel hub for the press-fit to the pump.

[Redog]

I noticed a nice chip out of my PS pump pulley, It's on the side, but the edge for the belt is still there :ninja:

[alerogls001]

Happened to me several yrs back. Just driving along and started overheating. Pulled over and saw the pully with just shredded plastic everywhere. Just went down and got tension bar and new pully and i was on my way. Always been paranoid bout the damn thing ever since though cause I always wondered exactly what caused the plastic to tear up to such an extreme. There was nothing left of it.... :(