Belt has come off

[jamesvx]

Last night driving down the motorway I put my foot down a bit to over take, all of a sudden I have no power and the alternator fault comes up on the dash, two seconds later the comes up engine too hot so pulled over and had a look. The belt has come off the front of the engine, from looking at the engine the top left pully looks like it has moved and smashed against a bit of metal which has cracked most of the plastic part off causing the belt to come off. It's booked in at the garage for Saturday. Is this a common thing? Why could this of happened? I have the tvs supercharger. Theres a brand new belt in the boot under the wheel, last owner had this happen a few times maybe?

Also does anyone know how much a new pully will be roughly? Is it a big job for a garage?

[snowwolf]

Sounds like the tensioner top left? best to give Monkfish a call, they will have the parts you need, is it a Monaro or VXR8? easy to do if you can work a socket set.

[jamesvx]

It's a vxr8. The bottom right pully has a bit of play, is this normal or should it be solid? Why would this of happened do you think?

[monkfish1]

Does the crank pulley wobble when its running? Thats the usual cause on VXR8.

[snowwolf]

The top left is the tensioner, both pulley wheels do have a bit of play in them, I can't see what the pulley has hit to to cause the breaking of the plastic, I can only assume like Roger has mentioned that the bottom pulley has a wobble or has come loose and that's what has sent the belt off which in turn has stressed the plastic and broken it.
Take a few photos of tensioner and SC pulley.

Edited by snowwolf on Monday 26th January 17:53

[jamesvx]

Sorry about picture quality it's dark out and had to use flash. You can see what it has hit, luckily it did no damage

[snowwolf]

good sign in a way that pulley broke as it hit the bracket, next thing check crank pulley ok and not loose, how old was the belt that was on there?

[jamesvx]

Not sure it looked newish though. But what I find weird is there's a brand new belt under the spare wheel, I'm wondering why the last owner had it in there

[jamesvx]

Which one is the crank pulley? The biggest one in the middle? Do you think it's an expensive job? Is the new pulley expensive?

[snowwolf]

The belt that came off, was it snapped? or just come off? also can you check that the air con belt is still on, it sits behind the belt that came off and a quarter of the size, sometimes that can come off and then take the larger belt off, the crank pulley ids the very lowest and will have grooves on it, you will need a torch.

[jamesvx]

I'll have a look soon but I remember one of the pulleys having a little bit of play, looking at the engine bay it was the top right one. Yes the smaller belt has come off too and they are both fine, not snapped. When I put my foot down (it was wet) the traction control kicked in as it was spinning a lot then it got grip, pulled for a second then this happened

[snowwolf]

All looking like the air con belt came off and took the bigger one off, one last question, does your air con belt have the double pulley mod which is needed on the vxr8 with a SC fitted

Edited by snowwolf on Monday 26th January 22:01

[jamesvx]

Took a pic. Doesn't look like I have that mod? Also the top right pulley has slight play

[R8OMG]

jamesvx said:

I'll have a look soon but I remember one of the pulleys having a little bit of play, looking at the engine bay it was the top right one.

That's the power steering pulley, mine also has a little movement

[snowwolf]

I would guess the air con belt came off when you accelerated as that's when it's likely to happen and then took main belt off, replace both with new belts, you may find the one in boot may be an original belt that could be to small, call monkfish and get two new belts, I would suggest leaving air con belt off until you have the modification done and replace all pulleys while your at it. What's the mileage of the car?

Edited by snowwolf on Monday 26th January 23:20

Edited by snowwolf on Monday 26th January 23:22

[jamesvx]

Belt in the boot is still in its wrapper. I don't ever use air con tbh. So does it look like I don't have that mod? Does the mod have 3 pulleys? Or is one of them the adjuster or something? Looking at mine it looks like I have two pulleys?

[DRC72]

I have a bit of wobble on my crank pulley at idle but goes away as soon as a few revs are on.

There is nothing wrong with the bonding and it is making no noises.

[snowwolf]

It does not look like you have the mod, if you don't ever use air con then leave the mod to a time when its in for other work, just fit a new tensioner from monkfish, let them know you have a 2300 fitted as it is a different tensioner to standard and make sure the belt in the boot is the same as the one that come off just in case it's not.
Monkfish sell just the pulley or the whole tensioner with pulley, I would say just get the new pulley, really easy to change, if you are in AA or RAC get them to do it if you have home start.

[jamesvx]

Well it's booked in at AAS in Newcastle for Saturday. He said he should have a pulley in stock but you say I need a different one for this charger? so should I get AAS to order one from monkfish?

[snowwolf]

jamesvx said:

Well it's booked in at AAS in Newcastle for Saturday. He said he should have a pulley in stock but you say I need a different one for this charger? so should I get AAS to order one from monkfish?

They are all fairly standard, nothing stopping you calling MF tomorrow and getting the right one delivered to yourself, they deliver next day.