This is the 3rd time I am having trouble with belt, belt tensioner, belt related BS. Tonight I was driving down the freeway revving around 5k - 6k and all of a sudden BAM! No power, check engine light, battery light. AAA towed me home... AGAIN! I had the tensioner replaced 2k miles ago. Brand new belt (which is now in 1000 pieces). I installed 15% reduction pulley, and am now heavily regretting my decision. Anyone else dealing with this issue? It is annoying as hell...

 

What kind of belt and what pulley? Also, who did the install? It sounds like the pulley is not aligned thus causing the belt to shred.

 

I would check the pulley.
I have a 15% pulley and original tensioner and have never lost a belt. I had it over 6k several times recently showing off some and no problems. The belt was changed about a year and 12k ago.
Check the alignment of the pulley and if there are any nicks that could be damaging the belt.
Good luck.

 

It was really odd, the belt just came off and POOF, pure disintegration. :( I hope nothing else was damaged in the process... If I cannot have this 15% pulley figured out, I just do not care about it anymore - I will go back to stock pulley ASAP

 

Check with some of your SoCal MINI friends to see if they can look at your car. There is no reason a 15% pulley should not work with any car.
You don't want to take off the pulley only to find out it is something else, could be the crank pulley gone bad. They tend to do that, the crank pulley that is.

 

Sounds like it was ill installed dude. Go back to the installer and make him go over it with a fine tooth comb. Get yourself a lawyer, just in case. Hopefully there is no further damage.

 

A lawyer, really? The pulley is probably just misaligned. Have the guy check it out, have him fix it if that is the case, and have him replace anything that may have been damaged in the process.

If things start to get nasty, then you can go legal on his ***.

 

WAIT wait wait....check your pulleys CAREFULLY. This may require pulling the tensioner and crank pulleys. When a belt breaks, the tensioner pulley can snap inward and easily dent or chip a "tooth" or guide rail. When that happens it just eats belts and there is nothing you can do aside from replacing the offending pulley or pulleys, then replacing the belt.

We did this for a member at a Garage Day. It doesn't take much pulley damage to eat belts - that belt goes around thousands of times per minute, and it doesn't take too many thousands of little chunks removed to cause a belt to disintegrate.

The "Good News" (like closing the gate after the horse left, but oh well): There's a $20 preventative: I think it's Detroit Tuned that offers a $20 restraining cable that bolts to the tensioner arm. Installed carefully (with some slack, you have to position the cable ends properly, it's obvious when you see it) it will keep the pulleys from bangin' together and causing pulley damage if a belt lets go. It's an easy 2-bolt install, but only after removing the passenger side wheel and fender liner - which you'd do for a belt install anyway. Once the cable is in, put on the belt, put tension on the belt, and check to see that the restraining cable has a little slack in it. If it's not a little slack it won't allow the tensioner to tension. Loosen the 2 bolts, bend the cable, and re-torque. Like I said above, it's easier when you see it.



Note: It seriously may or may not have been the installer's fault. Certainly, if he reinstalled a used belt, installed the improper belt or improperly installed the s/c pulley, that can cause the initial break. BUT... so can a faulty new belt, an old or bad tensioner, a bad after-market pulley (defective or damaged before install), or other factors.

That initial break, though, can absolutely cause the collateral pulley damage described above, and result in an engine with a healthy belt appetite. Talk to your installer and maybe you can get the job re-done at a discount or free. Get the restraining cable though, and check those pulleys!

(Poppa Bear said it better, in less words, below!)

 

After you check the pulley alignments, definitely get a tensioner stop, like this or this, because you don't wanna be like this guy!!

daflake! Nice to see you again! How're tricks?

Cheers!!

 

As above, the pulley sounds like it is not aligned.

Hey Poppa! Things are going well. I am back in the USA now as my contract in Germany was dissolved. So, I'm now living on Cape Cod. It is a blast but I do miss Europe. How are you doing? Maggie still running top notch?

 

bmwg84 -- I hope that this works out for you, sooner and cheaper than mine!!

daflake -- Europe's dead after ya'll left (you, abu and WP4LDU) so I'm making time by going to MINI United in England this year. Maggie's doing fine but there's always something in Holland to keep it interesting. Like getting hit by a pigeon!! Take care and I'll look for you once I DEROS around August 2010.

Cheers!!

 

Just wanted to post a little update.

I had my Mini towed to Pep Boys for the repair. The reason for the belt slipping was the idler pulley seized up. They only charged 2 hours of labor to replace BELT, IDLER PULLEY & Tensioner!! Total Cost was $510 out the door. I am VERY impressed with the professionalism of Pep Boys (surprisingly), and the quality of their work is EXCELLENT. I've never had work done at a commercial shop like this, I've always stuck to small independent BMW specialists, but after this experience I can full-heartedly recommend Pep Boys for service.

I would recommend to all of you Cooper S owners to Replace the idler pulley!!! The difference with a new pulley is tremendous.

 

which Pep Boys location is this?

 

Not all PepBoys are like that. I had them mount & balance a performance tire, and they actually left all of the old weights on, simply adding weights until balanced. WHen asked, they replied "We always do that". S0... say I'm on my 4th set of tires. Would my wheels then perform better with another pound or two of lead attached?

Of course, if you've found a good one, hang onto them!

 

Pep Boys off Pacific Coast Highway in Long Beach, CA

http://pepboys.know-where.com/pepboy...%2C+CA&region=

 

Thanks!

 

I just had my crank pulley break in two. far as I know it was factory one, and it took my belt with it. Worse yet, I was about 400 miles from home, but the up tick was that I was about 6 miles from a Mini dealer.

 

Same crap happened to me 3 hours ago. Had the car towed and now it is sitting overnight at my friend's independent MINI shop. I am really bummed out to say the least.