Had a strange problem with my 78 240D last Thursday - was on the Interstate
doing 70 or so when I heard a bump and noticed the dash lights on and water
temp rising - knew a belt was gone so I switched off and coasted to a stop.
The AC belt was off its pulleys and laying on the engine bay - the alt/water
pump/ crank belt was no where to be seen. I saw it a 1/4 mile down the road
in 2 pieces! Anyway - couldn;t get the PS belt loose to remove so I cut it
and got my spare belt from the trunk - didn;t have proper wrnech to adjust
the alternator so the belt would fit so I managed to pry it on over the main
pulley - it was a little loose but it got us home.
All new belts (the old ones were only about 5 years/30,000 miles old) and
now all is well - but it has emphasized the need to do a detailed check of
the belts more often than I did. I usually check things over about once a
month but since becoming disabled and no longer driving to work the 240D was
being used less & less & I obviously wasn;t checking things often enough.
It always starts instantly (without block heater) in weather to the
teens - but it seems quieter now that it has new belts. Anyway - take a few
minutes to examine your belts - it ain;t NO fun to work on the side of the
road! I feel *very* fortunate to have been able to wrestle the belt back
over the pulleys so we could get home without a tow. I've also updated my
tool kit to include wrenches needed to loosen & retighten the alternator. I
can easily get along with out AC and PS - but we ain;t going NO where
without the water pump. Oh yeah, I'm glad I had a razor to cut the PS
belt - made life easier -
Sincerely,
Larry T ('74 911, '67 MGB, 78 240D - 287k)
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