[Guest]

I recently had the cambelt changed on my car and along with that I had the auxiliary belt done too (as well as other bits like the variator).

When I got the car back I noticed the belt was squeaking a little first thing in the mornings but thought nothing of it, until there was a horrible clattering noise and the belt shredded itself. So I took it back to the garage who checked out all the tensioners, replaced the belt and off I went again.

One week later, driving along minding my own business, and the new belt shredded itself.

The cars back at (it's new home) the garage, but I'm just wondering if there is some blindingly obvious reason why these belts only seem to last a week?

 

[symon]

You say they checked the tensioners... Thats not really good enough as they should be replaced with the belt.

If the belt is squeaking in the mornings then that indicates that it is not quite tight enough. The moving tensioner should take the slack up if it is in good condition.

Has the car got aircon? If so there is an additional fixed tensioner, which needs changing too.

The moving tensioner is around £60 and the fixed one around £15. if the belt is slipping it will wear out very quickly.

 

[Guest]

Aaah, I guess that would all make sense. I'll ask them to change them and we'll see what happens.

Thanks for the advice.

 

[Guest]

I thought perhaps I should update this post, in case someone has a similar problem in the future.

After the second auxiliary belt snapped and was changed (and the tensioner replaced), it turns out a piece of the broken belt had found its way under the cambelt cover.

Of course I only found this out when this caused the cambelt to jump (don't know the technical term I'm afraid) and bent all the valves in my engine.

Now I have a very poorly car sat at a garage and a lot of arguments about who's responsible and who's going to pay to fix it.

So if you're auxiliary belt snaps, don't drive your car until it's been thoroughly checked out.