Josie2209

Hi all,

Looking for some advice. On Friday I had a B124 service completed on my 2006 TL at an Acura dealership. They did oil change and tire rotation. More importantly they replaced timing belt, water pump and drive belts. They also replaced the timing belt tensioner as it was leaking.

Today I was driving and suddendly lost the ability to control my car (power steering went). Looked under the hood and saw a snapped belt. Had it towed back to the dealership.

Looking for some advice as to what could have happened here as I don't know much about cars and don't want the service guys to think I don't know what I am talking about....

Any thoughts? Someone mentioned it could be an issue with the tensioner.

dinks07

iTrader: (4)

They might not have put in on right and it rode off the pulley seen that happen

Turbonut

iTrader: (1)

Take a look at the belt and the way it broke/wore. Did it snap cleanly through a specific area or is it frayed?

jda123

Probably a bad install. It could have been damaged during installation - sometimes forcing them on with a prybar or screwdriver can put a cut in them. There is a small possibility that it was a bad belt.

If it was a bad install, the question is how do you trust the timing belt? There is more at stake with it.

Josie2209

Just got off the phone with the dealer. They are claiming the pulley system that controls the serpentine belt seized due to a bearing causing the belt to jump off. They are saying this is something that they did not touch on Friday but are replacing free of charge.

I thought serpentine belts are the same as drive belts. They did replace the drive belts on Friday. Any possibility they put it on too tight causing this issue? They are also saying no other damage has been done to my car. Anything I should be asking/concerned about because this happened? Other unintended consequences? I have had no issues with my car and I've had it for 109,000 miles and now I'm worried. I did ask about the timing belt and she that was fine. I am getting everything in writing.

I appreciate the feedback.

nfnsquared

The serpentine belt is the drive belt. It goes over a number of pulleys, but I assume the pulley they are referring to is one of the auto-tensioner pulleys.

You should ask them exactly what pulley was replaced. They may have replaced the entire auto-tensioner as these have been known to go bad on occasion.

And I'd say they are full of crap if it is the AT and they claim they didn't touch it. It has to be removed to do the timing belt change...

jda123

Yup.

Did it have any noise or anything? Although possible, it is not very likely that a bearing seized all at once. They usually make noise for a while and give you plenty of warning.

I hate cars

I wouldn't crucify them yet. One thing I ran into when I did lots of these was bearing failures mostly of alternators and idler/tensioner pulleys after the belts were replaced. I assumed it was from removing the tension from an old high mileage bearing for the first time ever. Don't know exactly what caused it but it was a very real problem when replacing the belts on a high mileage car.

I'm usually the first one to say the dealer is full of BS but this might not be their fault. I agree to look at the belt and see how it broke. It will be obvious if it cleanly broke or if it melted from a frozen pulley.

Josie2209

Got off another call with the dealership and received more specifics. It was the bearings on the idler pulley that seized. The bearings on the tensioner were stiff. This all caused the issue with the belt being damaged and coming off. They have assured me that everything is fine and double checked and will be good. I am honestly very concerned about driving it again. Maybe trade it in?

Josie2209

Sorry..forgot to add one more thing. The auto tensioner is different than the timing belt tensioner..right? They replaced the timing belt tensioner on Friday due to a leak.

pohljm

^ OMFG Yeah you should trade it in!

honestly its not a big deal! keep it and enjoy it

I hate cars

Agreed. Its just a belt and pulley. No big deal. I remember when you had to tighten v belts at certain intervals and tossing a belt was not uncommon. They found the cause and fixed it, what more could you want? As I said it happens from time to time when belts are replaced.

jda123

I would want to see the seized pulley and belt, but otherwise, I would be fine with it. That being said, I have a high distrust for the dealership and this is probably not necessary.

Josie2209

Thank you everyone for your feedback. It has really helped a lot!! I'll keep the car and be happy..which is all I really wanted!!

nfnsquared

Yes, there is an auto-tensioner for drive belt and an auto-tensioner for the timing belt.

OK, so it appears that both pulleys on the drive belt auto-tensioner went bad and were replaced (I assume they just put a whole new AT on??)

The drive belt AT has to be removed to replace the timing belt. So when they told you they didn't touch the drive belt AT, they were full of crap. Does that mean they screwed up the AT? Not likely, although if they over torqued the big bolt it may have impaired the bottom pulley. The pulley bearings can and do go bad.

How many miles were on the car when they did the TB change? This must be a high mileage 06 because it's pretty early to be replacing a TB for that year group.

You should be good as new. My only concern would be if they didn't properly torque the big bolt on the AT. The spec is 33 ft-lbs.

Josie2209

I have about 109,000 miles on the car - a bit over on when they recommend the TB change. I will double check tomorrow when I pick up my car exactly what they fixed and I will ask about the big bolt on the AT and make sure its good.

Thank you for helping me understand all these parts to the car...I honestly have no clue.

Josie2209

Just left the dealership. I have to say it was one of the best experiences I have had with them. They were very honest about whether or not it was caused by them..just like everyone said in the thread. He couldn't be sure if it was something that happened because the belt was changed - as I Hate Cars - mentioned above or maybe something that happened while removing the AT to do the TB change. In any case they fixed everything (replaced the AT and belt) free of charge and also gave me a credit towards my next service. If anyone is looking for a good dealership in the Rhode Island area go to Inskip in West Warwick.

Thank you for everything. Have a good day!

nfnsquared

Did you confirm that they torqued the AT to 33 ft-lbs?

Like I said, you should be good as new for another 110K on the ODO. Enjoy!!

Josie2209

I sure did. I almost sounded like I knew what I was saying. Thanks again. I appreciate the help.