Serpentine/Accessory belt failure on a very wet, dark MI road in the middle of nowhere...

[Longtrail]

We had an interesting night last night, having just gotten the truck back on the road after replacing the transmission fluid!

I decided to take two of the kids and a friend out for dinner; I like to explore new places and so we ventured out. During dinner we got hit by a huge thunder and lightening storm and on the way home broke down. The initial symptoms were heavy steering followed by an electrical fault followed by the engine temperature rocketing up. I pulled over but got freaked out as we were literally in the middle of nowhere and so tried crawling to the next town but noises got bad enough that I pulled over a second time (I was worried about the crossover pipes and driving at about 25 mph!). We ended up calling AAA and after a few hours got towed home on a flat bed; luckily my mother-in-law was able to come and rescue the kids. It was the first time I've ever broken down and was scary being partially pulled off the road in the middle of nowhere with constant heavy rain pouring down and complete darkness!

When we got home the tow truck driver reversed the truck down the ramp and said it's most likely the accessory belt drive based on the noises we're hearing. We popped open the hood and sure enough the belt is gone!

Obviously I need to change the belt(s). Given it was a cooler night at about 45F and very wet what do folks think about my chances of the engine being OK? It seems to start OK but I'm keeping that to a bare minimum, this morning I just put it inside. Curious to hear what others think? Thanks.

 

[jlglr4]

Depends how long you were running hot, but your temp shot up because the water pump stopped circulating which is very different from losing all your coolant and running dry (as happens with the crossover failure scenario). In your case, I expect your temps were not near as high, so if you kept it short, probably okay.

Not sure what model year you have, or how many miles were on that belt, but I’d check all the pulleys and make sure they are in good shape, smooth, not too worn, and running smooth without slop. In the scv6, there was a problem with some idler pulleys going bad, and they could shred the belt. Also, make sure the tensioner pulleys are still giving enough tension. Something caused that belt failure and best to figure it out.

If your worried about the crossovers, and haven’t had them done, better do them. This might have been your warning from above.

 

[Longtrail]

Thank you, keeping my fingers crossed! Luckily we weren't on a highway going fast so I'm hoping it's OK. The model is a 2012 LR4 with the 5.0L V8 and 102,000 miles. On my radar (as mentioned in previous posts) are the timing chains and crossover pipes... I will double check the pulleys and idler pulleys; my quick initial inspection they seem to be running smoothly with no slop but I'll know more once I get in there. I'm not sure what the right tension is for the tensioner pulley so I may opt to swap this out as preventative maintenance. Obviously with the timing chains I'm going to be back in there shortly but I think I should get it running first and see how it behaves.

Agreed - this was my warning from above... Just mentally gearing up for this next big project!

 

[Jimmy Brooks]

I had an AC compressor lock up my serpentine belt and rip it into pieces. I doubt the belt tore from just old age. My assumption is either oil leaking on it which caused it to deteriorate or a locked up pulley. When you say noises do you mean like belt squeal?

 

[Longtrail]

The noise was more like the broken belt wrapped around something and rotating/slapping something else or potentially knocking on the fan. There was no warning, or any weird noises prior to the failure. I did read about AC compressor locking up; I'm hoping it's not this! I've yet to get in there and really take a look, I'm waiting for it's to dry and get my momentum up!... Also, looking for good YouTube videos to figure out a good procedure.

 

[Jimmy Brooks]

The noise was more like the broken belt wrapped around something and rotating/slapping something else or potentially knocking on the fan. There was no warning, or any weird noises prior to the failure. I did read about AC compressor locking up; I'm hoping it's not this! I've yet to get in there and really take a look, I'm waiting for it's to dry and get my momentum up!... Also, looking for good YouTube videos to figure out a good procedure.

Usually if the AC compressor, or any pulley for that regard, locks up you would hear loud belt squeal. Sounds like the belt must've come off the probably due to a bad tensioner. It is possible that the belt could've just snapped but I feel like this is less likely. Was the belt completely gone or was there shreds of it left in the engine bay?

 

[ftillier]

If it's the original belt, 12 years is a good run IMO. From what I read the fan belt needs to come off to get the serpentine belt in, so you might as well replace that one too while you're there. Consider doing the water pump now too since the belts will be out of the way (though that requires draining the cooling system). The crossover pipes you can do later (at the expense of draining the system again). "If you give a mouse a cookie"...

 

[Longtrail]

Belt is mostly gone, there are bits of rubber all over the place and a few remnants of longer strands! There was no belt squeal, there never has been... It's always run very nicely until Saturday; it could be that the belt was old, my line of thought has been to get in there this fall and replace hoses, timing chains, crossovers etc. This failure has sort of forced my hand! I just took a quick look at lunch time but really need to start pulling things off to get better access and vision. This will be my first time working on this part of the truck so I need to figure out how to do it... Anyway, I did see this which is obviously a little scary! It's not as clean or as dry as I was hoping to see.

 

[ftillier]

Is that the vacuum pump?

 

[Rover Range]

Check all your pulleys and make sure they don't wobble.
Any pulley that is out of alignment, will throw the belt.