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    something broke...

    **STORY**
    i was on my way home from work on the freeway and i heard something break. it sounded like something hit the bottom of the car, so i checked my mirrors to see if i ran over something, but it was gettting dark and hard to tell.

    then i saw my brake, ABS, and battery lights were lit up. a couple seconds later, i see me temp gauge climing fast and almost in the red. i quickly get in the slow lane, turn the motor off, turn my harazd lights on and coast off to the shoulder.

    at first, i had no clue what might have broke. i thought maybe some kind of sensor or something popped off and bounced off the underside of my car. i opened the hood to see if i could see anything, but it was too dark. i could tell the coolant level was normal.

    i let the car sit for a couple minutes until the temp dropped to midway and i started it again to see if i could get off the freeway. i made it to the offramp, but had to stop again to let it cool down. then i drove it to the shop of a mechanic i know. i parked it there and with the help of a streetlight, i saw that a belt was gone. i left the car in the shop parking lot for him to look at when he gets a chance. i could tell i lost my power steering as well when i was parking.

    **QUESTIONS**
    is the water pump, alternater, and power steering all on the same belt?

    my temp gauge got just into the red before i had a chance to pull off. how likely is it that i may have damaged anything else?

    how hard is it to replace the belt? could i do it on a slope in a parking lot?

    should i have anything else inspected before driving it, or if it drives like normal, everything should be fine?

    #2
    Power steering is on a separate belt completely.....

    The alternator is on a belt Separately....
    The water pump is an internal belt,, i think it is the timing belt.. not sure... if you overheated, then I don't know exactly....


    Chances are you DID NOT damage anything permanently. Good thing you turned it off in time.. Would have gotten bad if you didn't...

    The belt is not hard to replace, all you have to do is drain the coolant, remove the radiator and loosen the (power steering/alternator...whichever component needs a new belt)... and replace the belts, retighten the component brackets for a good tension... then installation is reverse of removal...
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      #3
      Sounds like you lost all your belts. Maybe your fan clutch seized too? Anyhoo, when one belt goes they all go. 3 accessory belts, AC, PS, and Alt.

      Ive never broken a timing belt, so I dunno on that one. I always get mine replaced before they could even start to be an issue :)
      sigpic

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        #4
        your timing belt is internal, and if the engine was running that didn't break.

        your PS belt is independent, and AC is independent, but water pump and alternator are the same belt.

        my alt/water belt snapped recently and in the process of snapping and flying around it whacked the PS belt as well, destroying it - that may have happened to you. My temp also got to near the red zone (about halfway from tick#3 to the redzone) during that debacle, but i haven't noticed any side effects thus far.
        Jay

        Comment


          #5
          thanks guys. i guess i'll just have my mechanic do it since i can't get the car home.

          i know it wasn't my timing belt. its only ~4k miles old anyway.

          Comment


            #6
            you don't need to drain the coolant to replace the belts! also, the water pump is indeed driven by the same belt as the alternator. all you have to do is move the adjustment mechanism on the alternator inwards ("loose"), and *maybe* remove the clutch fan - but you should be able to slip the new belt around it. you also have to remove the belt for the a/c.
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              #7
              If you've never replaced the belts on that car do yourself a favor and order replacement belt tensioners and the nuts with the teeth that engage them. They have a funny way of getting mangled by people who don't understand how they work or are overzealous in tightening them. Cheap parts that will make putting the new belts back on so much nicer.

              Comment


                #8
                you probably just broke the PS belt. I believe that drives the clutch fan also which explains your loss of power steering and the engine overheating.

                Comment


                  #9
                  Originally posted by X2theZ3
                  you probably just broke the PS belt. I believe that drives the clutch fan also which explains your loss of power steering and the engine overheating.
                  Nope - its the water pump and alternator belt that turns the clutch fan (assuming the clutch is engaged properly.)

                  But, I agree, its just a busted belt most likely. And if your description of how long it got "hot" is accurate, you should be okay. (Crosses fingers).
                  Current Cars
                  2014 M235i
                  2009 R56 Cooper S
                  1998 M3
                  1997 M3

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                    #10
                    Originally posted by X2theZ3
                    you probably just broke the PS belt. I believe that drives the clutch fan also which explains your loss of power steering and the engine overheating.

                    Read above.

                    There are 3 belts on the M20.

                    1) Drives the AC
                    2) Drives the Power Steering
                    3) Drives the Alternator and the water pump.

                    You only really need #3 to run the car.

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Originally posted by eighteight325is
                      If you've never replaced the belts on that car do yourself a favor and order replacement belt tensioners and the nuts with the teeth that engage them. They have a funny way of getting mangled by people who don't understand how they work or are overzealous in tightening them. Cheap parts that will make putting the new belts back on so much nicer.
                      if i was doing it myself, i would, but my car is not moving from the shop so i'm just gonna have my mechanic fix it. the motor was built less than a year ago by a mechanic at Autowerks (autowerks.com) so i'd think it was done correctly.

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Originally posted by fretburnr
                        my alt/water belt snapped recently and in the process of snapping and flying around it whacked the PS belt as well, destroying it - that may have happened to you. My temp also got to near the red zone (about halfway from tick#3 to the redzone) during that debacle, but i haven't noticed any side effects thus far.
                        yeah, now that i think of it. this is exactly what happened to me about a year and half ago.

                        Comment


                          #13
                          why let your mechanic rip u off for labor on something you can do yourself in ten minutes?

                          w/e nevermind not my place to say

                          '89 Alpine S52 with goodies

                          Comment


                            #14
                            Originally posted by Adrian_Visser
                            why let your mechanic rip u off for labor on something you can do yourself in ten minutes?

                            w/e nevermind not my place to say
                            if the car was not on a hill and 30 minutes from home, i would do it myself. but since i don't know if anything else is damaged, and my mechanic is a long time friend, i would rather just have him do it. he is not going to rip me off. he's the type of guy that will open his shop on a saturday if i am looking to buy a car so i can get it on a lift and thoroughly inspect it.

                            thanks though. i do a large majority of my own work on my cars.

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