blkstealthpaid4

I have owned LS' for the past 9 yrs and so I know most of their symtpoms.When I had my 1990 there was a sqealing sound coming from the Serpentine belt everytime I cranked it, and the belt finally broke because the belt adjuster/tensioner for the serpentine belt gave up(bearings).

In my 95, I was driving and I kept hearing sounds(not a squeal) coming from the front.I parked the car and checked the belt and everything seemed fine.I then start driving again and smell the belt burning.A block away from parking, the alternator light and other lights come on but I am still able to drive.I popped the hood and I realised the serpentine belt broke.I then spin all the pulleys to see which one was stuck.All seem to spin freely, but the one that perplexes me is the fan clutch pulley.We all know the fan itself spins freely, but my quetsion is:IS THE FAN CLUTCH PULLEY SUPPOSED TO SPIN?If so then I know my problem is the fan clutch pulley that broke the belt.This pulley is held by four nuts and it doesn't seem to spin but then again it may be normal.I wanna know the reason for the belt breaking before I call my roadside mechanic.I am not talking about the radiator fan itself but the pulley on which the belt rests on.

blkstealthpaid4

I am realising this may be a stupid question:If the belt rests on it then it should spin.

trukn1

Only dumb questions are the ones never asked. The very same thing happend to me. Clutch fan pulley, in my case, completely seized and snapped my belt. I was able to drive for almost 15 minutes to a friends house to have him help me to change it. What commonly happens is that the bearing, as you said, go bad and will either completely lock up or just totally free spin with no tension to the pulley at all. It does lock up for a brief second, which caused your belt to snap. My car was still under warranty from the private dealer who sold it to me so I made him fix the pulley. The belt itself is not hard to do. Have a friend assist you, so your both of your hands are free, by having them apply tension to the idler pulley. YOU, take the new belt and snake it around the main fan and then thread it around the pulleys as specified and then release the tension. Viola,,, done. But yes,, the fan pulley is toast. Replace this and new belt and ya done.

PS,,, the pulley is suppose to spin but only with tension when on the car. In your hands, will spin free, when on the car, not suppose to spin unless belt tension is applied to it.

blkstealthpaid4

It sounds like I have to remove the whole fan clutch to get to the clutch fan pulley.This seems true from looking at www.lexusls.com.


This is an off topic.
TRUKN1, this is an off topic but it sounds like you're a trucker.2 yrs ago you responded to my post and this was when you mentioned being a trucker.
I am an O/O leased with LANDSTAR RANGER and I am pulling a stepdeck
www.classadrivers.com and www.bcoforum.com are forums I hang out at besides this forum.

PureDrifter

iTrader: (10)

lexls.com
not lexusls

trukn1

Class A for life is how we do it!!! Yes I am a trucker, hence the screen name, LOL!!! I pull for Decker Transport (owned by PAM Transport)out of NJ and am a Co. driver/trainer. Will be switching to Summitt out of Indiana prob next month for more money and less headache.

blkstealthpaid4

So I get home from OTR and start taking down things to fix my problem.This was after I recieved the pulley from Carson Toyota.I take off the broken belt, the fan shroud,the fan clutch and finally the pulley on which the belt rests on.I ordered a part that wasn't the problem.All the pulleys do spin except the water pump pulley as I mentioned above.Before taking things apart I thought the pulley on which the watter pump rests on had it's own bearings, and those bearings went out.I then called my uncle who has a shop to find out if these toyota/lexus water pumps should spin freely when they are spun without the engine being on.I asked because I thought the pump was driven separately by gears that only spin the pump itself.He said the pump should spin freely no matter what.My problem is the watter pump itself because it is frozen and not the black pulley/cover attached to the pump.I wish I had known this before I ordered the pulley/cover.The pulley/cover on which the belt rides on can never go bad as it has no gears or bearings.Now every shop in town have to order the part.Being stuck at home is no fun.

blkstealthpaid4

Oh one more thing trukn, my fan clutch pulley itself or the fan itself spins freely.I guess I didn't describe it well enough.My watter pump is not spinning at all.

damon

Toyota speeks in their own language & part #'s are always helpful.

In Lexus parlance the part on which your fan clutch is connectected/attached to is a fan bracket support. The bearing in it is large & heavy & will fail. I have punched out a failed one with a press but broke the cast housing in the process. No big deal since there is no available bearing to re-install.

The vast majority of timing belts & serp belts break to do the failure of this part. And it is not replaceable unless you purchase the full cast housing that makes up the support.

The water pump ofcourse has its own bearing & can also fail. This seems to be more rare.

If we were talking UCF-10's I would be able give part #'s.

blkstealthpaid4

http://www.lexls.com/tutorials/engine/timingbelt.html
in the site above please take a look at step 20.
"20) Remove 4 bolts, 2 nuts, and fan bracket."
Do you see the pic with 4 bolts sticking out?Is that whole housing not the WATER PUMP?After removing the pulley mine looks just like that and I cannot spin that particular pulley(those 3 inch bolts sticking out with 4 nuts ).If so, is that not the water pump that needs replacing?

damon

That is an excellent pic of a fan bracket support!

Behind the 4 studs that hold the fan clutch is a 3 1/2 bearing (non-replaceable!) that will sound like a salt shaker when it totally fails.

In addition to holding the fan clutch it spins with the accessories on your Serpentine belt: Alternator, AC fan clutch, etc.

The water pump & its impeller spin on the timing belt along with the Crank Sensor & 2 cams & idler bearings #1 & #2.

blkstealthpaid4

After 2 weeks of the car sitting, my uncle came and helped me fix this thing.I got the part from the yard for 150 since no one had it and the dealer wants $320.$150+$15 for belt.
The new belt was so tight I had to use a crow bar to lift it up on the idler pulley(even with the tensioner puller back).

kwikrnu

That doesn't sound good at all. You are not supposed to have that much tension on the pullies and may break something because of it. Are you sure you have the correct length belt?

blkstealthpaid4

It went on and it has been working since.I know after a few weeks this belt should loosen up and release the tension on the tensioner.I bought it from Autozone and it may have been the wrong one but it is working fine.

steph

on my 91LS i just had a problem today with the top idler pulley bearings went out.. it was making alot of noise which I thought was the ac compressor. It was so cold today that the belt didnt get hot enough to melt when it was rubbing against the stuck pulley. I made it almost 10 miles with the pulley locked up.
Not bad for 240k miles on the ole' girl. this is pretty much the only non-maintenance problem i've had wtih the car since i started driving it last summer. I just need to get the exhaust gasket after the cat replaced and the ticking valve shim taken care of then she'll be purring like a kitten.