Serpentine Belt shredded and twisted up on fan shaft and dumped radiator fluid (1 Viewer)

[DRACO 911]

Hey Fellas,

So I drove to Fresno (300 miles) to drop off Mom's 97 LX450 and luckily 15 miles from home, all of a sudden I got a ploom of white smoke and radiator fluid dumping out as soon as I got off the free way. Strange thing is, I did not hear or feel a thing.

Looked under the hood, sure enough V belt shredded and twisted up around fan shaft, fluid sprayed everywhere and dump fluid right on to the street. No visible hose damage from up top but will check more closely under the car. Towed it to Mom's.

Fudge, I suspect my great idea of washing the engine bay may have done her in. I normally never use high pressure but I was trying to get rid of all the gunked up debris. I installed the DAYCO belt over 2 years ago without issue, very strange.

Any of you fellas go thru this? A few of the Tacoima group had this issue with their serpentine belt and one reported the shaft seal would need replacing. Do we have something similar?

TIA,

 

[BILT4ME]

Yes. Use Mr. T belts.
Toyota Parts | Toyota Online Parts | Genuine Toyota parts | Toyota Parts Online

I had this happen and it exploded my radiator. Belts snapped during a WOT with AC on event, when I back out of the hrottle a little, the AC kicked back in, the belts snapped and wrapped, temp spiked, blew the radiator.

Check your top and bottom tanks on your radiator.

Mine sounded like I blew a tire, but if yours was close, it may not have made noise.

It looks like Toyota RED coolant. Confirm that is COOLANT before you move forward.

It's on the opposite side of the truck as transmission and PS lines, but just in case.......


I would also inspect the (2) radiator hoses on the lower right (passenger side-US) of the front of the engine to make sure one did not split. Maybe a clamp came loose.

 

[DRACO 911]

Yes, Toyota Red Coolant.

Hoping it isn't the radiator, but no big deal just a little more work, funny both radiator and belt has warranties

BTW, love your sig quotes, I am a believer too

 

[NLXTACY]

And thats a v-belt not a serpentine

 

[MoJ]

It's possible that the belts were fine but instead one of accessory pulleys seized which in turn caused the belts to break. Dayco is a good brand largely made in the states. If the belts were correctly installed 2 years ago I'd be surprised they failed on their own.

 

[Marine7]

I'd second Moj's advice..... make sure no components that share the belt seized up. Weird for a "newer" belt to just let go.

 

[1973Guppie]

by the title I thought you had a supercharger. I would too check that all the pulleys that touch that belt spin freely. How many miles on the water pump? I am guessing that the pump seized and caused this, especially if there is no hose or radiator damage. The water pumps usually go out catostraphically and dump coolant all over the place.

 

[inkpot]

Looks like you lost 1 of the 2 belts on the water pump and alternator. Remaining belt must be loose or it should be able to keep everything turning by itself. I have seen several rigs that were quite able to operate normally with 1belt missing.

 

[Tools R Us]

Yes. Use Mr. T belts. ...

IMHO their big advantage is; they are cheap, like most other cheap belts, they are smooth in the inside, so they don't make noise on the silly idler pulley (if it's still there). With tuned clutches we have noted short life, but most last to just past warranty, good for Mr T, the one that shredded in warranty, we didn't claim replaced with aftermarket.

Right now mine has Gates Green Stripe, with the silly pulley, makes noise but they work. Both sets of dealer belts that I have had, have blown off in less than 30K mi, aftermarket have gone over twice as long. They cost twice as much, but don't have to change them as often.

 

[Tools R Us]

It's possible that the belts were fine but instead one of accessory pulleys seized which in turn caused the belts to break.

Agree.

Dayco is a good brand largely made in the states. If the belts were correctly installed 2 years ago I'd be surprised they failed on their own.

Agree, they make cheap belts and not so much, have seen good life from them.

 

[Dave 2000]

There can be a problem with the lower alternator mounting bolt. If the bolt is not tight after belt adjustment, the movement allows the normally round hole on the alternator AND the mounting bracket to become elongated, see post 47 on my thread.

https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/my-lc-80-thread.365673/pag

The end result is the alternator pulley turns inwards and pulls the belts out of line, also rarely the bottom crank pulley harmonic balancer can also move, again upsetting the alignment.


Regards

Dave

 

[DRACO 911]

Thanks Fellas for your input, much appreciated, heading up to Fresno to fix it and look for the leak. Hopefully is not a shaft seal or radiator blow out.

 

[DRACO 911]

Update: GREAT NEWS, No Radiator Blow out or Shaft Seal Leak.

Confirmed, there are 2 "V" belts for the Fan, Alternator and Power Steering. So the rear belt FAILED, I can only guess why, maybe a piece of metal debris on the road? Can't imagine my engine wash was the culprit. Like I mentioned it was installed over 2 years ago without issue.

Replaced both belts, just to give a fresh start on the set.

The LEAK, well that failed belt smacked the transmission cooling rubber line that connects to the bottom of the radiator. I found the fitment was loose and I checked all fluid levels ( except transmission, cold and did not want to run it too long to check level) when I started the car, sure enough that loose fitment started to leak out transmission fluid not radiator fluid.

Started to dismantle to find the fitment was out of round due to the smack. So my inner voice started to talk to me and I had a choice, another 600+ mile round trip due to the wait for a new radiator or attempt to fix the brass fitment and pray it works.

Prayer later:

So I straightened out the brass pipe and flared flange, Lucky it is a compression fitting. BINGO, it worked, Topped off transmission fluid hot and no leaks for over an hour of driving up and down the steep hills. Lucked out the hose did not rip or the smack damaged the radiator.

Bonus, I was going to do a ATF flush but the mishap dumped close to 2 gallons of ATF. Gently rinse down the engine bay as the ATF is corrosive.

 

[TheRareElement]

Did you find out the cause, or was it just a failed belt ?

 

[DRACO 911]

Just a failed belt. I do have to say the pulley adjustment bolt end does sit pretty close to that belt. maybe 1/4 of an inch. If belt loosened due to decel, I can see it may hit it but that would be an extreme situation for sure