I was getting the LJ ready for a two-day road trip tomorrow, checking fluids and general condition when I saw this, laying on top of the alternator. At first I thought it was a wire that had somehow gotten caught in the works, but then I realized that it was actually part of the fan belt that had been torn off. Also, there was something caught between the belt and the tensioner.
I removed the belt and it became obvious what the problem was - the tensioner pulley had completely disintegrated, taking part of the belt with it. I haven't looked under the hood in a week or two, so it may have been this way for a while. The interesting thing is that everything that runs off the fan belt has been working just fine - A/C, alternator, P/S and the rest of it acted as if there was nothing at all wrong. Although I have no interest in testing things to find out how long it would take for the belt to finish destroying itself I am glad that it held together for as long as it did, however long that was.
After installing a new tensioner and belt all is back to normal, I'm ready to hit the road tomorrow.
Old tensioner compared to new one. Yeah, I guess that the pulley would make a difference...
I removed the belt and it became obvious what the problem was - the tensioner pulley had completely disintegrated, taking part of the belt with it. I haven't looked under the hood in a week or two, so it may have been this way for a while. The interesting thing is that everything that runs off the fan belt has been working just fine - A/C, alternator, P/S and the rest of it acted as if there was nothing at all wrong. Although I have no interest in testing things to find out how long it would take for the belt to finish destroying itself I am glad that it held together for as long as it did, however long that was.
After installing a new tensioner and belt all is back to normal, I'm ready to hit the road tomorrow.
Old tensioner compared to new one. Yeah, I guess that the pulley would make a difference...
