Whoa - Serpentine Belt Failure!

[Fred Munro]

Remember the lister who posted a month or so ago about the new serpentine
belt that failed on his S4, piled up in the timing belt, took that out, and
bent his valves?

Well......

Heard an odd noise in the S4 today after a spirited drive home, kind of a
soft, faint rattle. Not very noticeable, but something new. Popped the hood
and listened carefully - sounded like the hydraulic pump was knocking a bit.
Got out the stethoscope, listened to the pump - nope, nice and quiet, same
with the alternator. The serpentine belt idler sounded a bit rough. Got out
a flashlight - what's this - half of my new serpentine belt is gone!! Yup,
the sucker split longitudinally down the middle. A part of it is wrapped
around the hydraulic pump shaft. 3/5 of it is still on the pulleys.
Brand new Conti belt from the dealer, approx. one month old. The inner
section (closest to the block) split off. Thankfully, it stayed out of the
t-belt.

This does not give me a warm and fuzzy feeling.

Guess I'll be taking the guzzler to work tomorrow and taking to my friendly
parts man. Don't feel too confident in Conti belts,though. They may be just
as bad as their tires.
I've got a picture if anyone is interested (26 Kb).

Fred Munro
'94 S4