Quote:
Originally Posted by wolftrouble
So it being winter, even here in northern California we don't need the A/C very often, so I haven't been running it much lately. Even still, I'd been noticing a kind of rhythmic, very soft thumping sound from the engine (could even feel it in the steering wheel) and every once in awhile the steering got a bit heavy, but I thought it was just because of the active steering thinking I was driving too fast to turn that hard.
I have an AA pulley and feared the worst. Today when the AC was running the thumping was a lot louder, so I did some tests, turning the wheel hard while stationary... And smelled burning rubber. Effing great.
Sure enough, I pop the hood and check with a flashlight and see that the belt that AA provided for my pulley is coming apart. There's cracks all over it from where I can see and small bits of it chewed away.
The first belt didn't last six months but it was supposedly flawed; they preemptively sent me a replacement that I only put on after the first belt ate itself on a drive down to LA. That was less than a year ago. This one is still functioning, barely, but it's definitely slipping and judging by the thumping sound I'm guessing some parts of it have shredded, I just can't see (the accessories belt is pretty hidden when the radiator fan is in place; at any given time I can see maybe 3 inches of it).
At this point, I'm thinking I'm just going to put the stock pulley back on. At least then I can get belts without having to contact AA.
Speaking of, in the interest of full disclosure I haven't contacted them yet - doing that now. I don't mean to sound like an internet crusader but I do think they need to be called out on this; whether it's a flaw in the pulley design or belt I've already sunk some hours into installing it, then replacing the belt, and now having to go through replacing the belt again. To say I'm not pleased is an understatement.
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Wow, as the others have said...that's not good.
You may want to put the stock pulley back on until you figure out your next move.
Best of luck getting this resolved.