Ah balls... Snapped aux belt.

[Ryvita]

Well this was fun when it happened on the M3 at cruising speed... Not a great picture, it's a bit awkward to see. Initial diagnosis is that one of the pulley bearings failed, pulley locked up resulting in friction on the belt, a short period with squeaking followed by a bang when the belt overheated and snapped. Happened really surprisingly quickly.

Full diagnosis tbc, but hopefully it's just a case of replacing the offending pulley (and checking that the others are ok, could have been some misalignment stressing the bearings).

[Ryvita]

Two months waiting for parts from Lotus... Should be back on the road by next week I hope.

[Ryvita]

It's the stuck pulley I've been waiting for and despite a montain of research, it appears that some of the pulleys are Lotus-unique, with no Toyota/Lexus equivalent (because of the supercharger orientation I guess.)

Have done the "order ballasts from Germany" thing. Insane prices from Lotus for standard OSRAM / VALEO parts...

Car is still not home. Not heard from the garage in a few days, so more than a bit worried that the long stationary period, or something from the original incident has thrown up further issues.

Edited by Ryvita on Thursday 25th April 10:18

Update: "Workshop's really busy, should be done next week."

Edited by Ryvita on Thursday 25th April 15:44

[Ryvita]

Update update: Car finally back with me after 3 months off the road. A huge wait but the 6 am drive this morning made it all better. Empty roads and a full tank of petrol and a dry light spring morning in England, driving a British sports car the way it was intended, down leafy green B-roads...

Here's the offending pulley that caused it all, looks like the bearing had a complete meltdown.

Edited by Ryvita on Saturday 4th May 07:52