Thread: 300tdi drive/serpentine belt shredded

Originally Posted by hitch

edit : P.S. why am I a fossicker ?!

Your status changes as your post numbers go up.... If you don't like being a fossicker get involved with the silly word association game we play on here. Your numbers will increase dramatically. How do you think I became a forum sage??

As for the belt, try using a straight edge to see if any of the pulleys are out of alignment. I had a similar issue and mine was because the new bearing didn't have the same thickness, meaning the pulley was about a mm out of alignment. Just a thought.

its possible to get the pump in out of alignment, my method for finding the culprit is to mark the edge of an old belt with slow drying paint as I slowly turn the engine over.

the ribbed pully that is scrubbing the paint off is the culprit, if no ribbed pullies are doing this mark the back edge of a small section of the belt, watch how it gets rubbed off on the smooth pullies, the one that "smears" the paint is the one thats out of alignment.

Sometimes you'll spot it on a new belt, on the ribbed pully its easy to see, on the smooth you're looking for a non symetrical spacing of the belt on the pully.

Good luck.

Check for play in the ps pump, on the way to failure the shaft walks and puts the alignment out.
This is how I found mine was failing.

All of the previously mentioned issues can affect drive belt alignment. Just 1 mm out on a ribbed pulley will give serious squealing, 2 mm can cause the belt to jump and shred.

Trial and error is one way of determining where the problem is but a better and more positive way is to use one of these.


Gates 91006 Serpentine Belt Alignment Tool: Amazon.com.au: Automotive


Using this tool it is easy to check the alignment of each ribbed pulley accurately.

If you still have problems replace the tensioner with a new one as this is a high probability suspect in skewing the belt alignment.

Deano

Thank you for your input.
so , with the power steering pump which was replaced a couple of years (2-3 thousand kms) ago the belt does run off center but there is no play in the shaft or any other pulley for that matter.
I rebuilt this engine about 4 years ago (5 thousand kms) and my other thought was have I mounted the alternator with its spacers incorrectly( if this is possible) which then drags the belt across the p/s pully. I have not found a diagram to illustrate the proper arrangement (on the interweb thingy) and keep forgetting to look in my manuals which are in my workshop 5 kms away.
With the straight edge technique ,is it lined up along the bearing surface with the grooves on it or against the outer edge which presumes the belt edge is the same distance from the outer edge of each pulley.
merci , grazie, arigato, gracias ,khop khun mak kha , danke (ie many thanks)
hitch

p.s. for us raw recruits , what is the list of titles and number of posts required for each level !

I was unable to see any obvious problems , despite noticing the asymmetric spacing on the power steering pulley, as the 300tdi disco paddock ornaments pulley also looks like this too .So I thought it was all down to putting a used belt on in reverse and so with some misgivings I tried out a new belt . Now I have a new belt with a frayed edge ! Great!
After spending more time peering into two engine bays repeatedly and comparing gaps here and there I noticed the shaft of the power steering pump was visibly shinier on the defender . After removing the pulley I still had no indication of any movement but after I gave the shaft a bit of a tap with a hammer it moved back into the pump . Not a good thing .
I guess the disco is about to donate its power steering pump to the defender ! (as well as the injector pump it gave up on the weekend !)
Can the power steering pump shaft be 'put back into position' or is this terminal ? I did replace the gasket to repair a leak a couple of years ago, but I have not seen any posts regarding fixing the shaft problem .
loanrangie , you were right on the money !
blackknightaus and his asymetric belt position hint kept me looking at the power steering pump .
thanks for the comments people.
hitch

Originally Posted by hitch

After spending more time peering into two engine bays repeatedly and comparing gaps here and there I noticed the shaft of the power steering pump was visibly shinier on the defender . After removing the pulley I still had no indication of any movement but after I gave the shaft a bit of a tap with a hammer it moved back into the pump . Not a good thing .

Seriously? I can't remember, but I don't think a PS pump is that dear. Mario ( Roverlord, vendor on here), will give you a good price. If you have any doubts, now is the time to change it.

As for the list of titles, and number of posts needed, I have been on here for over 10 years and I am yet to unravel that mystery. Incisor might tell you. But, you can get some idea by looking at the number of posts people have made vs their 'title'. But there is definitely some kind of arcane weirdness going on. Enjoy.

can be fixed but not worth it.

moderately high failure rate on repair, not usually long lifed and a replacements not that dear.