Guys,

Was waiting for my son this week*in hot weather with the AC running. *As we left our destination and I began to drive away, I heard a loud pop, followed by grinding and squealing. *The battery generator warning light came on and being only 2 miles from home, I shut off the AC and made it to the garage. *Upon inspection, my serpentine belt is fine, but I have an obvious problem with the tensioner. *I have searched this site and the internet for a DIY. *Anyone have anything they can share?

I am thinking in need to replace the tensioner completely. *I also, reluctantly, noticed what looks like a sheered bolt. *(pictured)

Would appreciate any input!

 

I took an excerpt from a photo another Rennlister had posted on a different subject. It shows that area pretty well. The arrows he had drawn point to the tensioner pulley and the tensioner itself. It certainly appears that your car is missing an assembly that appears to the left of the yellow arrow. I'll try to hunt down the part. Back in a while... but this gives you something to compare against in the meantime.

 

Before you panic, you should probably wait for someone else to confirm my guess here... but here is what I think I see:

After looking a little more, I see that the bolt that the head of the bolt that the tensioner pivots on is backed out and the tensioner is no longer in the right position. I'm pretty certain the tensioner bolt has snapped off and the tensioner pulley has dropped down to the lower right. Sorry for the bad news!

If you are lucky, that broken off bolt isn't actually tight in the hole and can be backed out if something can grab the edges, or it a slot can be cut across the head. This may be very hard to get to. On the possible good news front, if you remove your license plate there is an access hole behind it that is normally used to turn this bolt to put on a new belt. Maybe something long can be inserted in that the get friction against the bolt to back it out.

 

I guess you can verify this easily enough by using reaching down or using a long tool to see if the tensioner pulley arm is no longer attached and can be easily wiggled back and forth. The shock-like tensioner device might be the only thing holding it from falling out at this point. Unfortunately I see no other threads about this.

 

I did NOT know that!!

Thanks!

 

Yes unfortunately it is positioned just to remove the spacer between engine and carrier. No way you can use this for the tensioner. However if you remove the bumper cover, you might be able to use the other holes in the engine carrier to access that sheered bolt. But grabbing with locking pliers if possible is an idea. If you can drill or get an easy out, these are options too.only real problem you have is space!

 

Thanks for the correction slicky rick! My memory had failed me on that.

 

For what it's worth, I heard a slight rattle from the back of my car and found the tensioner bolt you broke was starting to back out on mine, or my friendly Porsche dealer forgot to tighten it. I'm guessing that's what happened to yours and eventually it beat itself into submission.

 

Thanks everyone for your reply's. I have been traveling and for whatever reason, have not been getting notifications on your postings. StormRune, your assessment is correct. The tensioner is no longer in the right position and the tensioner pulley has dropped down to the lower right and wiggles excessively. The hydraulic pulley (red arrow) is the only thing in place right now. The bolt within the 24mm section is loose and can pull out. Something has caused this to suddenly occur. I was sitting stationary with the AC running in 105 temps for about 10 minutes. I wonder if my AC compressor seized? The AC pulley still turns, as do all of the other accessory pulley's. Surprised the belt did not break with this, but something of force caused the bolt holding the water pump housing to the engine block to shear the bolt to the left of the yellow arrow. Can it possibly be that all that needs to be replaced here is a new tensioner??? I see no DIYs on this either...

 

All of my accessory and crankshaft pulley's seem to be in tact. *Wondering, if through some research, the loud pop I heard was the high pressure relief valve of the AC unit. *Can anyone comment on whether or not the tensioner can simply fail on it's own? *Could it be possible this is all I need to replace, and would anyone care to comment on a DIY or if the engine needs to be lowered to accomplish?

Thanks in advance!

 

I would imagine that your local service advisor would answer the high level question about any known common causes for this for free. I know my local one would for a known customer, at least in hopes of getting the repair work. If anyone has seen this before it is likely them.

Since rfojr has said that he found this bolt loose on his car once, it probably isn't unreasonable that it may have just been that coupled with a normal tug from the AC cycling being enough to finish it off... but that is just a guess of course.

 

I similarly lost my upper idler pulley resulting in the same need to extract a stud broken off down in the block. It's been about 4 days of thinking how to attack. Porsche quoted two days along with new engine mounts and shift cables plus transmission carrier. Can't quite get level with the bolt. Otherwise I'd give an easy out a shot.

 

How did you remove broken bolt?