My 2000 XK8 had been running fine. ON the way to work today my test driver (GF) said that it did 3 things:

1. Volt meter guage went down with a message saying "Battery Not charging"
2. Power Steering stopped working
3. Water pump stopped - overheated sightly (there is a "Low Coolant" message for the moment. She only drove for 200 yards with it hot.)

I'm thinking it threw the serpentine belt , but it seems to be in place (it is new, maybe 10,000 miles on it). No squeals or howls.

I'm stuck at work with it...

Any ideas?

 

That sounds exactly like a serpentine belt failure. If the belt is in one piece maybe the tensioner failed. Does the belt seem taut or is there slack in it? It's pretty easy to see if the belt is moving or not. Just pop the hood and look at it with the engine idling.

 

Also could be an idler pulley bearing or a bearing in any one of the driven parts (power steering pump, water pump, alternator, A/C compressor). Remove the belt and see if anything has excessive spinning resistance.

 

That's exactly it - the belt is tight, but not tight enough. It just sits there while the engine idles. Thanks!

This stuff always happens when I'm 100 miles from my shop. What would be an easy one hour fix will now cost a bundle and require a tow, etc.

Grrrrr.....

 

It spun loose from the crank. It the race is pretty well worn and the crank end has scuffs on it as well. I'm told a new Balancer is in the $1600 range.

Ideas?

 

Ouch, that sucks. Tell your girlfriend it's her fault and make her pay for it.

 

Make whoever was supposed to have torqued the bolt up correctly pay, these things don,t just "Come off" What was the last work you had done that the damper needed to be removed?
Bob

 

It is a really unusual situation, that's for sure. Maybe a first for the forum. Just my luck.

To my knowledge no one ever removed it. About the only thing I can figure to do (with a car this age and value) is to reinstall it, epoxy it to the shaft and see if it hangs in there.

Installing a new one to the old crank has some issues to it besides the high cost. Finding an old one is cheaper but not a step forward, really.

Why are these just press fit on the stub anyway? Even my 1970's Sears minibike had a Woodruff key between the Briggs & Stratton shaft and the clutch. Jeez.

 

Its held in place by a locking collar, believe me they take a lot of force to remove if installed correctly.
Think youv,ve got to get the crank measured and if ok, go for the used part option.
And follow to the letter the instructions on JTIS on damper installation.
Don,t think epoxy is the answer, maybe someone will say different though.

 

To get back on the road and home from work we elected to lightly dress the crank stub, the retaining collar and the pully race (they are not badly scored at all) and reassemble with Loc-Tight bearing adhesive.

I'll keep everyone posted.

 

This is apparently a minor problem with an easy fix. The balancer and crank stub don't typically get chewed up when the bolt and locking collar loses it's torque so the balancer is usable again. The proper fix is to replace the locking collar and the bolt and retorque them after applyng Lock tight. Simple as that.

My repair guys did some dressing of the surfaces and spent some time looking at the tensioner first, so my bill was $211. (2 hours labor plus $38 for the Lock tight itself.)

I'm intending to sell it but while driving it that afternoon I had 2 people (one a car salesman at the Cadillac dealer) comment on what a beautiful car it is...