tcanact Posted June 19, 2011 Share Posted June 19, 2011 Hi All, Tonight on the way home I had the charge light come on the dash of my TD5 110 County, thinking that either my alternator or aux / fan belt had snapped I pulled into a Little Chef car park which was only a few minutes away. The heavy steering soon pointed out that there was an issue with the belt. Lucky for me, I had the old belt, which was changed 3 months or so ago in the back, but no tools. Calling one of my mates to give me a hand and we had the old belt on, however during this a few questions were raised. 1. Why has the belt been chewed up after only a few months (photo attached) 2. The tensioner bolt has worked loose - not to the point that it was about to drop off, but it was loose. Does this usually happen being left-hand thread, or perhaps its not related to this issue with the belt at all? On point 1, it’s worth mentioning that my power steering pump has made noise (which have been described as a whale mating call) since I've owned the 110 (just over a year) when turning the steering wheel. This is more noticeable at slower speeds rather then faster, but I would have said that this has been getting slowly worse. Could this be related to the belt chewing up? I have been resisting the £150 for a new pump, but if this is the cause perhaps I should bite the bullet? Sometimes when turning the engine off the belt squeals slightly as well, but this isn't every time. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Thanks Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwi_110 Posted June 20, 2011 Share Posted June 20, 2011 If the tensioner is running "out of true", due to the bolt being loose, then it could account for the chafing of the belt. PS pumps can tend to growl at low revs under steering load, more so when the fluid level is a tad low, and a loose belt will influence that too as the pump cannot generate enough pressure due to the belt slipping. Ray. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimAttrill Posted June 20, 2011 Share Posted June 20, 2011 Be careful with TD5 fan belts. If it breaks it can force its way past the oil seal into the sump, be chewed up by the chains, block the oil strainer and seize the engine. The idiot that this happened to insisted that the oil light never came on. Yeah right... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pete3000 Posted June 20, 2011 Share Posted June 20, 2011 Most likely linked to the alternator, with the belt off does it turn freely, my older 110 did this after the rear alternator bearing failed seizing the fan/pulley against the frame. It did a good job of shredding the fan belt and leaving me with no water pump or power steering. The tell tale acharge light was on/off intermittently for a few miles indicating the belt slipping/ or as I found out the shaft was stalling the belt out. Pete Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tcanact Posted June 20, 2011 Author Share Posted June 20, 2011 Thanks for all the replies, tonight I have replaced the tensioner and installed a new belt with new items to see if this resolves the problem. Fingers crossed. One further question though, does anyone know what the tensioner to block bolt torque settings should be? Thanks Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pete3000 Posted June 20, 2011 Share Posted June 20, 2011 Did the alternator pulley spin freely before you put the belt on? i.e were the bearings ok, just going back to your glowing red light above? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tcanact Posted June 20, 2011 Author Share Posted June 20, 2011 We checked that everthing spun freely during the initial 'get me home' repair, don't recall anything being tight. With regards to the charge light, this is the first time this has been lit while the engine has been running. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M&S Posted June 21, 2011 Share Posted June 21, 2011 Was the belt a ****part belt? If so it would have looked like that after 5 mins, you just didn't notice until after three months Mine makes a "chirp" when I switch teh engine off, always has done, given up lookinf for the rerason now and just accept it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tcanact Posted June 21, 2011 Author Share Posted June 21, 2011 Not quite, Allmakes 4x4. But that said, it could have been made by anyone. It'll be interesting to see how the repacement gets on, which is also a Allmakes part. The local company that I use advised me to a genuine tensioner as the pattern bits aren't too sharp. Didn't say the same for the belts though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M&S Posted June 21, 2011 Share Posted June 21, 2011 My Britpart belt squeeked from the first moment I but it on and when I removed it it was cracked. Fitted a Gates belt for just a few ££'s more (wasn't available the first time) and all was good...well apart from the chirp. I did fit a new tensioner and was told it was genuine...but who knows these days Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orgasmic Farmer Posted June 21, 2011 Share Posted June 21, 2011 I have seen the rear bolt fixing for a TD5 alternator shear off (it is cast alloy). This obviously puts the alternator out of true. It is a Right Royal PITA to get in there though to do anything about it let alone to check if that is indeed the problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tcanact Posted June 23, 2011 Author Share Posted June 23, 2011 One further question though, does anyone know what the tensioner to block bolt torque settings should be? Does anyone have any thoughts on this? Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.