Hello everyone,

I hope you all doing good.
Last week on friday I had some issues with my car and I thought I'll ask for you opinion.
Spoiler alert, the engine belt snapped on the highway.

What happend:
I've picked the car up on last friday after a service (B1).
So I was driving and 15 minutes later the belt snapped and afterwards I had several errors on the dash including the engine getting hot.
I didn't hear the belt snap so I don't know how long I was driving till the faults appeared but I've stopped immediately when the error
about the water circulation came up (water temp > 138C).

During the service:
They have done some work and also replaced the hydraulic pump during the service.
To do that they had to remove the tension from the engine belt.
Besides that the normal oil change and some other stuff not related to the belt.

So after all that happened someone towed me back to the garage and after the weekend they called me (yesterday)
with some informations about the incident.

There were some curious unlucky circumstances where this happend?:
- They replaced the water pump and maybe some of the coolant hose were leaking on the belt thats why it snapped?
Here he explained why it snapped but it makes no sense?
Like why would the water leaking cause problems...

More logic:
- The belt snapped and during rotating it hurt a coolant hose (this is what happend I think).
On this one he couldn't explain why the belt snapped...

Like no matter how we turn it... a belt snapping 15 minutes after picking it up from a service...
During the service they inspected the belt for sure (also during the hydraulic pump replacement)….

This engine got developed for serveral years and is getting used for longer than 10 years now.
A leaking coolant hose causing a belt to snap?
Do I have to worry now when it rains?

Questions:
- What could have caused the belt to snap?
- Is the garage responsible for this?
- What do you think about the stories he gave me?

Anways I would like to know your opinion about this whole situation.
I've asked several mechanics about this situation and I would still like to hear your experience and opinion.

Thank you in advance and have a good week.
GLEDriver63
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There’s too much of a coincidence in my opinion between the service and the belt breaking. If they didn’t cause the break by over tensioning or physically damaging the belt, they should have at the very least noticed the belt was in poor condition or about to break. How can they not notice that during a service where they physically handled the belt? That’s borderline negligence, especially considering these dealers will up sell anything and everything they can when it comes to the smallest item that needs an expensive service. If the belt was in such a poor condition where it was about to break, you can bet the service advisor would be telling you it’s time to replace it at $xxxx dollars.

I would explain that to them in a nice manner and demand they fix it.

 

That's exactly what I thought...
If the belt was done... they would have replaced instantly.

I'm gonna wait till they repair it and see how it continues.
Thanks for your input Frenetic!

Kind regards
GLEDriver63

 

A coolant leak on the belt could have caused it to not rotate and snap. There could have been hydraulic fluid on the belt which could have caused the same issue as the coolant. There is another possibility they used a harsh chemical to clean up the hydraulic fluid off the belt and it led to the destruction of the belt. The first or second issue are most likely the culprit.

 

I would start by taking tons of pictures and if you still have the vehicle see if you can spin the pulleys. If any are seized, that was the cause.

When replacing a water pump, knowing it may have coolant on it, the belt gets replaced.
The car did not have a belt issue before you brought it in and did afterward. They touched the belt. Examine the belt. How did it break? Did one rib come off, indicating improper install? Did it shred on a seized pulley, or did it melt from liquid and heat from friction?

If the Mechanic Has Not seen the damage, and gave an answer, they are wrong. You can not diagnose a car on the phone. Different types of damage are easily proven.

If the belt had damage and they did not repair, shame on them. They should be only charging for the belt and no labor since they steered you in the wrong direction already. That they replaced the water pump, I hope they recommended and replaced Tstat, and all the brittle hoses in the front or those likely were damaged on reinstall as well….imho

lastly, time for anew mechanic.

 

Engine Belt? You meant the Serpentine Belt?

 

I took pictures.
Just waiting now for more informations and their repair list.
Could be that I'll change depends on what they tell me.

Yes the serpentine belt.
Reading through this board there is people calling it "serpentine belt", "v-belt" and "engine belt".
Whatever makes your boat float .

I'm also not a professional mechanic.
Maybe I misunderstood it.
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Thanks for the answers and have a great evening.

Kind regards
GLEDriver63

 

Sorry, it was still very early for me (no coffee yet) when I got confuse when you say engine belt then I was thinking Timing belt. I was like wait we use Timing chain, lol.

How many miles or kilometer on the vehicle when it snapped?

Did the water pump pulley seized up?