I was driving home making a left turn when all of a sudden I hear Clunk clunk clatter coming from the engine bay..... it was loud!!! I pulled over and as I was pulling over I noticed that when I stepped on the gas I would hear this Awfully loud screeching noise whenever I'd step on the gas.

I get out of the car and look what drops out of my engine bay!






so I'm like crap its my pulley for my serpentine belt.... but I look in the engine bay and the serpentine belt seems to be on just fine, no problems from what I can see. I'm like WTF, so I think maybe it was someone elses car that lost their pulley and hit my car... so I turn on my car again and no sound.... everything looks good, no burning smell.... but as soon as I step on the gas a bit the most loud and annoying screeching sound would appear.

 

continued...


So I turn off my car and look around the engine bay for a moment.... nothing!

I decide to idle my car all the way home.... well about 2 miles later I get home... funny thing is I'd idle my way till I get faster and I can step on the gas barely and it'll be ok.... but when I step on it harder it would squeel.

about 1 mile down the road.... i step on the gas and notice no squeel.... i step harder and harder and nothing. I get to a stop sign and figure, ok now that I'm stopped when I step on the gas it will happen again... but to my surprise NOTHING, not a sound.


I get back to my house..... break out the flashlight and do some inspecting... i cannot find anything.... i turn my car on again and as soon as I step on the gas it squeels again! nothing seems to be leaking either and I dont smell anything nor does the temperature go up.

someone please help out! I hate this feeling..... here are some pics of the serpentine belt.

 

could this be a tranny related problem? I wouldn't think that the tranny has this part....

 

Looks like you might need a new belt. It may be slipping, that's why you get that loud squeeling sound. Looking at the picture, the belt looks a little glazed. Check out the pulleys, one of them may be seized or is about to go bad. Take off the belt and try spinning it. It might not move at all or there might be some resistance.

 

But what the heck was that thing that came out of his engine bay? Where did it come from??

 

I would like to know too. It either came from another car, which could be likely because it has all these scrape marks on the back of it showing that it has been dragged around the concrete quite a bit before it got caught up in his engine bay, or it could be from his car and broke off and somehow the belt stayed on.

Maybe this is the problem. The piece that fell off may have been part of the pulley that I circled

 

I'd have it towed to your mechanic to be on the safe side & prevent any possible damage from driving. Let us know what the part was. Good Luck!

 

Wish I could be more helpful, but that part ain't from your tranny!!!

 

I think it's actually this one - circled in blue.

Amazing that the belt didn't come off. It does appear glazed and need replacement.

 

are you sure it's the blue one? it looks like the "smooth" side of the belt is in contact with that pulley whereas the one that fell out has grooves in it.

test the tension of the belt and see if it's really lax.

 

I agree. The one in blue contacts the smooth side of the belt, so there is no need for the grooves on the pulley. It looks like the belt isn't sitting fully on the pulley circled in blue, there seems to be an extra 1/2 inch that's not covered. The belt is not aligned on it, that's why half the belt is glazed on one side.

I agree with what Harrier says, the belt looks pretty glazed.

Uptown, any updates yet?

 

On second thought, it may not be the blue one. Thanks for pointing it out.

 

I inspected it shortly before I left today, and the crank pulley (RED) has small visible scratches against the body.... it doesn't look right but the belt is defintiely on tight... .maybe I over tightened it before.... anyways it started smoking and now as soon as I start the car it makes the noise....

will work on it in an hour or two.....

 

I'm not sure if the belt could be overtightened because the tensioner is spring-loaded. If the belt is smoking, that means something is slowing it down. The crank pulley will always spin because it's being moved by the engine. If one of the pulleys are stuck or doesn't spin freely, it will stop the belt from spinning and the belt will start smoking on the crank pulley (which is always moving). Take off the belt and see if the pulley tensioners spin freely.

 

I would remove belt and better inspect pulleys. that's weird...you sure that part didn't fly off the crank pulley. causing the belt to slip now and become loose?