damn idler Pulley!

SoCalw11w123 · 01-13-2011, 08:51 PM

I highly recommend ANYONE doing their water pump service to also replace their IDLER pulley (as well as a new serpentine belt!)

My original pulley melted at 138k miles and caused my belt to fail and rip into shreds!

No Belt= no alternator, no power steering, no A/C and no WaterPump! the car immediately started to overheat after 5mins of Idling w/out a water pump working.

the CLK stranded me 200 miles away from home in the middle of nowhere! Nowhere near a Napa or other import parts house!

thanks to BMAparts.com ill have my parts expedited and should take an hour of wrenching, but cost me an extra night hotel stay (and emergency tool purchase)

just venting.....

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sonnyhoang · 01-13-2011, 11:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SoCalw11w123

I highly recommend ANYONE doing their water pump service to also replace their IDLER pulley (as well as a new serpentine belt!)

My original pulley melted at 138k miles and caused my belt to fail and rip into shreds!

No Belt= no alternator, no power steering, no A/C and no WaterPump! the car immediately started to overheat after 5mins of Idling w/out a water pump working.

the CLK stranded me 200 miles away from home in the middle of nowhere! Nowhere near a Napa or other import parts house!

thanks to BMAparts.com ill have my parts expedited and should take an hour of wrenching, but cost me an extra night hotel stay (and emergency tool purchase)

just venting.....

damn i am sorry to hear what happened, were there any symptoms before the car overheated? my car has been running at about 90ish degrees for the last 2weeks but hasnt really show any problems, even when i added coolant, the temp doesnt go down.

jbenz2001 · 01-14-2011, 12:16 AM

Damn bro that ****ing sucks,I will def note that.I'm hitting 130,000 nowi will def put that under my pms to do list.was there n e warnig that it was go n bad?

SoCalw11w123 · 01-14-2011, 11:14 AM

no real warning! I did the Water pump like 5 months ago.....
the Idler pulley appeared to be in perfect shape.

I got a ride to Orange County, picked up the Escalade, took off the 26" wheels, installed the 22" then got a Uhaul Car Transport trailer.

200 more miles and Im home!

bobbyjo9 · 01-14-2011, 12:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sonnyhoang

damn i am sorry to hear what happened, were there any symptoms before the car overheated? my car has been running at about 90ish degrees for the last 2weeks but hasnt really show any problems, even when i added coolant, the temp doesnt go down.

Hey Sonny... just a heads up, remember if you have too much coolent to water ratio, your temp will rise no mater what. Try cking the ratio bofore you go anyfuther and could be as simple as draining out fluild and adding plain water.

bobbyjo9 · 01-14-2011, 12:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SoCalw11w123

no real warning! I did the Water pump like 5 months ago.....
the Idler pulley appeared to be in perfect shape.

I got a ride to Orange County, picked up the Escalade, took off the 26" wheels, installed the 22" then got a Uhaul Car Transport trailer.

200 more miles and Im home!

Guess its a good thing we have one belt... its hard to miss all those accesories going out at the same time but just a water pump?? Miss that temp gauge and things get ugly fast! Cool you still had a nice ride to save the day!

SoCalw11w123 · 01-14-2011, 01:40 PM

My theory on how it all happens:

Idler Pulley bearing fails, gets SUPER HOT then that causes the ABS plastic pulley to melt and desintengrate....thus causing the belt to snap.

a FAilure of a 24.00 dollar Idler Pulley ruins a 50.00 dollar Serp. belt, and the snaping belt breaks the 80.00 dollar fan clutch blades and then a 70.00 dollar fan shroud.

on my message display i got a RED MESSAGE: BATTERY VOLTAGE warning (i guess the alternator out indicator) then i felt that the power steering was gone!

bobbyjo9 · 01-14-2011, 04:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SoCalw11w123

My theory on how it all happens:

Idler Pulley bearing fails, gets SUPER HOT then that causes the ABS plastic pulley to melt and desintengrate....thus causing the belt to snap.

a FAilure of a 24.00 dollar Idler Pulley ruins a 50.00 dollar Serp. belt, and the snaping belt breaks the 80.00 dollar fan clutch blades and then a 70.00 dollar fan shroud.

on my message display i got a RED MESSAGE: BATTERY VOLTAGE warning (i guess the alternator out indicator) then i felt that the power steering was gone!

Still... coulda been worse, aluminum is not very forgiving when you overheat. Thats a price tag that will ruin more than your day! LOL.. Im kinna surprised that the belt didnt start screaming when the pully froze... or did ya have the tunes cranked?

da_guitarist · 01-15-2011, 10:12 PM

Happened to my 55 at only 55k miles. That's a cheap part just asking to fail! All my lights dimmed and power steering went out....I said uh oh!

dlbehrns · 01-16-2011, 10:29 PM

there was a recall on that pulley for my 99 a few years ago. dealer replaced for free.

alexander12m12 · 05-02-2012, 02:59 PM

Sorry to bring up an old thread but this similar issue happened to me at 76k Miles in my 430 I just replaced it with another OEM Pulley..... I was wondering if there is another aftermarket idler pulley that I could use instead to guarantee that this won't happen again?

Thanks,
Alexander

dlbehrns · 05-02-2012, 04:55 PM

not that I am aware of.

alexander12m12 · 05-18-2012, 01:07 PM

Thanks for the response I guess I have more studying to do about this issue

01-14-2011, 11:14 AM	#4
SoCalw11w123 Senior Member 1996 BMW 8-Series Join Date: Aug 2005 Posts: 405	no real warning! I did the Water pump like 5 months ago..... the Idler pulley appeared to be in perfect shape. I got a ride to Orange County, picked up the Escalade, took off the 26" wheels, installed the 22" then got a Uhaul Car Transport trailer. 200 more miles and Im home! __________________ DROP&DESTROY!!

01-14-2011, 01:40 PM	#7
SoCalw11w123 Senior Member 1996 BMW 8-Series Join Date: Aug 2005 Posts: 405	My theory on how it all happens: Idler Pulley bearing fails, gets SUPER HOT then that causes the ABS plastic pulley to melt and desintengrate....thus causing the belt to snap. a FAilure of a 24.00 dollar Idler Pulley ruins a 50.00 dollar Serp. belt, and the snaping belt breaks the 80.00 dollar fan clutch blades and then a 70.00 dollar fan shroud. on my message display i got a RED MESSAGE: BATTERY VOLTAGE warning (i guess the alternator out indicator) then i felt that the power steering was gone! __________________ DROP&DESTROY!! Last edited by SoCalw11w123; 01-14-2011 at 02:18 PM.

01-16-2011, 10:29 PM	#10
dlbehrns MBWorld Fanatic! Garage is empty, add now Join Date: May 2007 Location: Nebraska Posts: 1,281 Drives: 99CLK320,	there was a recall on that pulley for my 99 a few years ago. dealer replaced for free. __________________ 99CLK320-One day I woke up and my slab had morphed into a McLaren MP4-12C INMotionusa Chip Tune, Sprintbooster, VIPclk320's cold air ram intake and front & rear strut bars, Ghostrider's short tube headers and rear camber kit, MB front control arm camber bolts, Vogtland Springs, Bilstein Sport shocks, Goodridge stainless braided brake lines. Wish list: SuperSprint resonator and muffler, seconary cats deleted.

05-02-2012, 04:55 PM	#12
dlbehrns MBWorld Fanatic! Garage is empty, add now Join Date: May 2007 Location: Nebraska Posts: 1,281 Drives: 99CLK320,	not that I am aware of. __________________ 99CLK320-One day I woke up and my slab had morphed into a McLaren MP4-12C INMotionusa Chip Tune, Sprintbooster, VIPclk320's cold air ram intake and front & rear strut bars, Ghostrider's short tube headers and rear camber kit, MB front control arm camber bolts, Vogtland Springs, Bilstein Sport shocks, Goodridge stainless braided brake lines. Wish list: SuperSprint resonator and muffler, seconary cats deleted.

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01-14-2011, 12:16 AM	#3
jbenz2001 Super Member Garage is empty, add now Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: springfield,mass Posts: 657 Drives: 2001 clk 320	Damn bro that ****ing sucks,I will def note that.I'm hitting 130,000 nowi will def put that under my pms to do list.was there n e warnig that it was go n bad?

01-15-2011, 10:12 PM	#9
da_guitarist MBWorld Fanatic! Garage is empty, add now Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Atlanta Posts: 1,765 Drives: 01 CLK55, 00 ML55	Happened to my 55 at only 55k miles. That's a cheap part just asking to fail! All my lights dimmed and power steering went out....I said uh oh!

05-02-2012, 02:59 PM	#11
alexander12m12 Newbie Garage is empty, add now Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: SOCAL Posts: 8 Drives: W208 CLK430	Sorry to bring up an old thread but this similar issue happened to me at 76k Miles in my 430 I just replaced it with another OEM Pulley..... I was wondering if there is another aftermarket idler pulley that I could use instead to guarantee that this won't happen again? Thanks, Alexander

05-18-2012, 01:07 PM	#13
alexander12m12 Newbie Garage is empty, add now Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: SOCAL Posts: 8 Drives: W208 CLK430	Thanks for the response I guess I have more studying to do about this issue

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