Just lost my Serpentine belt...

On the way home from trick-or-treating with my wife and daughter I head a funny noise under the hood and saw the battery light come on. A quick back and forth of the steering wheel confirmed I had no power steering. Belt came off. Damn. So I floored it and made it to the top of hill as quick as I could with the temp gauge rising. Shut it off and coasted as long as I could, fired it up again, floored it, shut off, coast. Luckily I was only 5-6 miles from home and I don't think it overheated. Dealer just did head gaskets on it (under warranty, I had just bought it) in August. And only a week or so ago I replaced one of the idler pulleys that was getting noisy. I think the pulley on the tensioner is shot as it doesn't spin very freely at all. So questions for those who've been into this before.

1. Is there supposed to be a washer behind the upper belt tensioner pulleys? Mine didn't have one on the alternator side and I thought that was a bit odd.

2. Should the belt tensioner pulley spin freely? Mine does turn but with some effort. Doesn't seem right at all.

3. I'll likely do this anyhow but should I replace the other two idlers while I'm in there?

I do have another vehicle to drive tomorrow but unfortunately I need to use the truck to tow some equipment Sunday. So I'll be visiting the dealer tomorrow. I like OE parts anyhow and they do give me a good discount.

 

1. Not sure, i would eyeball it and determine if the pulley is in the correct place

2. Not "freely" but smooth and very little effort. If you spin it with your fingers it should spin a few times and then stop in new condition and will spin longer as it ages but should not make a sound.

3. I would just check them and if they felt good id run them untill they die. OEM idler's are costly

my 81's power steering idler pulley has been siezed up completely untill its good and hot for about a year. still keeps on going, when i throws the belt or blows the engine i will change it.

 

I am sorry that your belt came off. Since your belt did jump off, I would suspect your belt tensioner. The spring may be fatigued and it is not holding the belt under pressure. You should check all your roller also, as a roller seizing would also throw off your belt. Good Luck.

 

Belt was actually still on there. Wrapped up in the fan. Fortunately it didn't break the fan blade. Just chewed up on one edge pretty good. The other upper idler feels a touch loose but it's not making any noise. Lower one feels fine. The pulley on the tensioner doesn't spin. You can turn it, but not easily. Pretty sure it's toast. Kind of a bummer that belt was put on in august. I think I'll probably do the other upper, a new belt, and new tensioner. That ought to be about 200 bucks...

Krog funny you mention the idler/tensioner on a 22R. The one on my old 89 I have makes a hell of a racket but it keeps on going. I busted the adjusting bolt off it years ago and now just loosen it slightly and bash it with a hammer and screwdriver to tighten the belt, then tighten the bolt. But that truck never leaves the property.

 

to be fair the tags on my 81 expired in june so i have not been driving it on the street at all since. That and a little over a month ago i rolled it.

But its one of those things i like to just run it untill there is no more running it then fix it and see how far it will go again lol.

 

Previous owner probably went mudding a lot and the tensioner pully is seized from the mud/grit. Common problem

http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/2nd-gen-tacomas/163094-mud-idler-pulley-bearing.html

 

I had the same issue when my harmonic balancer went and was replaced. The belt shredded about a week later. Replaced it and bam, no issues since. Is it possible you knicked the belt doing some work?

 

I've got a new belt, one upper idler pulley, one lower idler pulley, a new tensioner assembly, and a belt on my desk here at work. I didn't go OE but I bought Gates pulleys/tensioner and a Continental belt. Looks like quite a job to get the tensioner assembly installed. It's going to be fun. I doubt this truck ever saw any mud but 127k miles in New England can be tough on anything. All the pulleys do turn but the tensioner and lower idler are a little stiff. And the upper I didn't replace is a little loose. It will all be new soon.

 

Well damn changing that tensioner assembly sucked big time. The rear lower A/C compressor bolt was a pain to get to. Took me about 4 hours to change all the idlers, tensioner, and get the new belt on. Got it all back together and the belt squeals whenever I start it or stab the gas quick. Pretty sure it's the alternator. Doesn't spin very freely and it does it worse when I put a big electrical load on the truck. This sucks. Of course the alternator in my first 05 went south at about 90k miles and this one has about 40k more miles on it. I need to get it fixed quick though as there is a mixed precipitation in the forecast next week and I don't drive my mint 89 325is once the salt comes out!

Well just found the correct Denso 130 amp on ebay for $80 so it's mine and I should have it next week. At least that's easy to change. A few minutes ago I went down to the garage and hit the back edge of the alternator pulley with some wurth spray grease. Got a little on the belt and when I fired it up it squealed like mad. Got out the stethoscope while it was still squealing and sure enough it's coming from the alternator. When it threw the belt I had the high beams on, heater blower, stereo, etc. It probably slipped the belt a little and got it off track allowing it to come off. Oh well at least now everything will be new and the total cost for the fix should still be way lower than if I had a shop do it.

I fix all my own stuff and restore an old car every few years, maintain vehicles for extended family, etc, but his has been one of those jobs that I do every now and then that confirms I made the correct decision 22 years ago to change career paths. I was going to school to be a mechanic and realized that although I love cars I didn't want to do this crap every day. I still work with cars daily (BMW's specifically) but from the parts side of things.

 

Well at least you figured it out.

I too almost went the mechanics route. Then realized fast that doing that shit all day everyday would kill me.
Hey. You have a yota to keep you busy anyway.

 

Hey fellas, Ifigured why replace the pulleys? They are normaly fine. It's the bearing! I had the idler tensioner pulley (bearing) go bad. Went to Aoutozone got a Timken 203FF, pressed the old bearing out, emory cloth and fresh grease on the pulley, pressed the new bearing in.

Works like a champ!