Idler Pulley

[benkoau]

Recently my car has sounded like a rusty chainsaw and on my way home on Thursday night my car stopped and i had to have it towed.

I had a family friend who's a mechanic look at it and he said the idler pulley had been set too tight consequently the belt finally snapped after 5 years of ownership.

My question is ive had problems with erratic idle and if i had the air con on for too long the car would simlpy die what other problems could occur, like increased fuel consumption due to the idler pulley set too tightly any ideas or thoughts would be appreciated as i'm not too mechanically minded.

[Duncan]

Did you mechanic friend tell you the bad news about timing belts and "interference" engines. Basically the motor is stuffed, you will need at a minimum to have the motor removed and stripped and some valves replaced. May need all valves replaced and some pistons too if you are unlucky.

for what it's worth, the timing belt was not a cause of any other issues (unless it was on wrong all along), so there must be at least 1 other problem as well.

From here, depending on how keen you are, it is either throw in a second hand motor, or rebuild the one you have. The first option is a little cheaper but more risky because you don't know how the motor is.

[benkoau]

i just had the cam belt done the mechanic has written that the idler pulley for the a/c has seized.so do you think that the idler pulley has seized do to a bigger problem. the cam belt itself hasnt snapped

[Duncan]

lol I didn't see the "a/c" anywhere there

not related...something else is wrong. air con pully only affects the air con!