So the other night when driving home the serpentine belt failed on my drive home. Seeing how this belt drives the AC, power steeringnand the alternator. I tried to drive home...the car shut down about five mile after the belt failed.
I have the new belt on (correctly) but the car will not turn over. The battery has been completely charged. But when o turn the key I just hear the starter try to engage. What could be causing this?
Are all your pulleys free? Alternator or Ac compressor seized? Try removing the belt and see if it will turn over.
Does the starter click but not turn or does it turn too slowly to start the motor?
The pulleys are free. I replaced the starter last summer along with the AC compressor and the alternator was replaced a month ago. When you turn the key all I here is clunk and then nothing...it might be the starter
Standard or auto? If standard put it in gear and give it a bump. Pretty unlikely but it’s possible the starter gear is making contact with a tooth on the flywheel and won’t engage.
It's a standard, it will not engage the starter unless the clutch is in
Quick easy thing to check, just to eliminate:
Are the battery terminals clean and tight? A little loose can cause current to drop off when you crank.
Are all the fuses and connections in the 'battery top' fuse box good and clean?
Volksrodden said:It's a standard, it will not engage the starter unless the clutch is in
Sorry, my direction was vague. Put the car in 3rd gear. Then push the car forward and back a bit to move turn the engine to a slightly different position.
In reply to 1SlowVW :
The "bump" is to manually push the car backwards while in gear. This turns the engine backwards and can free the starter gear if that is the problem. Note: don't put the transmission in reverse.
If the starter gives a solid clunk but nothing spins, you could have a connection problem only on the major power wire to the starter.
Thanks for the feed back guys, I am really hoping that it's just a connection problem.
Later on I will add it in the readers rides. Even with the lager turn to I should be getting close to 50mpg. I had the 5th gear swapped put for a taller one.
If it's anything like my old 01 golf TDI 50 mpg will be standard . Mine got 48 in the winter time and 50+ the rest of the time, no matter how I drove it. The alternator has a one way roller bearing on it FYI. Mine tossed the belt when my alternator went out going down the interstate. The only time it left me walking and it had over 250k on the clock. Replace alternator and pully at the same time.
Did the belt also drive the water pump? And did the car overheat before you shut it off?
The water pump is driven by the timing belt. I had those replaced about 9k ago. I did need with the connections from the batter this morning...still got the same clunk sound from the ole girl. I will have more time to mess with it on Monday
I know you are adamant that the pulleys are free and the car needs the clutch to be depressed to start, but I would do as 1SlowVW suggests:
1. Try to bump start it. You dont need the starter for this. If it fails try 2:
2. Remove the belt and make sure that all pulleys turn freely.
Does your battery charger work?
Why did the belt fail? Maybe because the compressor seized? Take the belt off and try again.
Did the flailing belt knock an important wire off something?
There's a bunch of tests you can do at this point involving voltage drop on the big wire from batt to starter, voltage coming out of solenoid when it's engaged, taking belt off etc. But none of it is easier than trying to roll start it, or at least enough to find out if the engine won't spin.
Tomorrow I will be taking the starter off and have it tested. With some other research I have done I have heard they fail with out my ch notice. I pretty sure the belt has a lot of miles on it.
You are really making your life difficult. Roll start it before removing the starter, please.
You do not need a starter to roll start it! Let the plugs warm-up, have someone push you while you are in 2nd with the clutch depressed and once you have some speed let go of the clutch. You can do it in reverse as well.
Slippery is really trying to help you here. Just the other day Lil Stampie noticed I parked on a slight incline at the metal store. He didn't miss a beat and challenged me to bump start it when we left. I only needed to roll back 2 feet to bump it in reverse. Hell when I was a poor 27 year old I drove my Saab a few months with a bad starter. I just made sure I parked on a hill every time.
Please do try to bump start it. I did the hill starts when my battery went bad in cold weather so it does work. I'd say your alternator and or clutch may be bad and the reason the belt jumped off. Unless you where driving at night the battery should last a while.
I will see if I can move it from where I parked it. The bad thing is, it's parked at an uphill slope..ugh
It should roll start in reverse. My trucks and both miata have at least. Until I put the kill switch on the truck, that's how I got it running most days.
Well, turns out it's the starter. The starter should be here the same day the glow plugs wire harness. Thanks guys
Good to hear. Please keep us posted.
Well apparently it's not the starter. I have rocked the car while it's in gear. And this evening just to rule out the battery I put the batter from my b5 wagon in it...same ole clunk noise.
You'll need to log in to post.
