Tentioner pully broke while driving

[FizzyMints]

First of all I have a 1996 eagle talon TSI AWD.

So I was driving on the freeway and all the sudden my power steering was lost and all the lights came on on my dash. All i heard was a loud grinding noise, engine still runs. Got off freeway about half a mile from where i was headed.

Found out my tensioner pulley broke off and the two belts were off of their pullys

What could be damaged other then the pully, and should that be too difficult to replace.

Heres some pics.

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[Bluesideup]

The belt that is off in your picture is tensioned by the power steering pump. Is the pulley in the picture flopping around loose? Is the alternator loose? Is your power steering pump loose?

You lost the power steering because the alternator belt wraps around the water pump pulley (pictured) and then around the harmonic dampener. The other half of the pulley drives the water pump. Are both of the belts in the picture off the pulley?

Taking a second look at your pic it appears the pulleys have pulled away from the water pump. Can you see any of the four bolts that are supposed to hold the pulley to the water pump?

 

[FizzyMints]

yea that pully rocks back and forth. Everything is tight other then that pully.

 

[Bluesideup]

Here's a pic of the bolts I'm talking about.

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You can see the power steering pump on the left side of the photo.

 

[Bluesideup]

First you'll need to remove the alternator belt by loosening the tensioner on the alternator itself. Then you should loosen the power steering pump mounting bolts ( I can give you a pic if you'd like) and leave it loose. Then install new pulley bolts since yours are probably long gone, I would consider putting some blue loctite on the bolts. I can't remember the exact size of the bolts, maybe M8 x 15mm? I can pull one and check if all of yours are missing.

 

[FizzyMints]

i cant see the 4 bolts because its so close to the engine mount on the right of the engine.

 

[Bluesideup]

Yeah the bolts are probably on the road somewhere. I'll pull one and tell you the size here in a minute. Pretty easy and cheap fix as long as stuff didn't get chewed up too badly.

 

[FizzyMints]

just went out and played with it a bit and all 4 bolts are still in there. Should that pully rock around like that? Or should it be stationary. Im starting to think that i need a new waterpump and puly.

 

[snowborder714]

Both pulleys (inner and outer) should be solid to the water pump.

 

[SrKegler]

Is it an optical illusion, or is the timing belt twisted about 1/4?

 

[Bluesideup]

I think you're talking about my picture. The timing belt isn't twisted, it's just an illusion. I don't have the timing covers on because I was having a weird squealing noise that turned out to be the timing belt tensioner pulley.


To the original poster I would pull off the belts and check everything out. The easiest way is to put a jack (with a 2x4 to spread the load) under the oil pan to support the engine and remove the driver's side engine mount. That will allow you to jack the engine up a bit and get better access to the bolts.

 

[Hardin]

This is funny. Mine did the same thing on my 3000GT. But @ least i know ahead of time...it was making weird noises.

-Hardin

 

[FizzyMints]

UPDATE:
It turns out that the water pump pulley broke right off from the water pump. We removed the pulley without removing any bolts. Now I've got to install a new water pump but so far it's been really difficult. I've got estimates from a couple different shops but it seems it'll cost around $500-600.

Do you guys think this is something I could fix myself, with little experience, or something that a shop should take care of for me?

Any tips on how to do the job would be great. Thanks guys!

 

[Bluesideup]

You are basically going to be doing all of the labor required for a timing belt change. I would check out vfaq.com and see if the work is within the scope of your ability.

If I was local I'd help you out because it seems a little daunting at first. Maybe a local PNW member would be willing to help.

Depending on your resources you could just replace the water pump $60(?) or if you can afford it I'd look at replacing the timing belt, balance belt, timing tensioner, balance tensioner, tensioner pulley, idler pulley, and the accessory belts. Extremepsi.com has a full kit to do the job and I think it's around $290.