[cinnabar]

Ok back in November I replaced the serpintine belts on my 97 Corolla. This morning on my way to work noticed that one of the belts (I'm assuming the crank pulley coming from the motor) had a hard time of working. If I start the car occasionally I hear a screeching and then it catches suddenly and no problems. This morning however, it sounded worse and while I was driving I heard a bump and then something leave the car. The rear view mirror confirmed that I had lost something. I didn't know what it was until I got to work and popped the hood. The double pulley at the bottom of the motor was missing and all I could see was the rubber padding which looks extremely smooth.

Question:
#1 I thought that pulley is bolted not fitted so even if the belts were misaligned the belt would break first?

#2 What do I do now that the cog seems to be delaminated. Can I replace it?

#3 Can I still drive this thing around even though I have no pwr steering, AC, etc. because when I opened the hood I saw a bit of smoke and the smell of burnt rubber coming from the opposite side of the engine.


THANKS!

 

[94_Rolla_Guy]

1. the pulleys delaminate its just a fact of life with these corolla's it has nothing to do with the belts being mis alligned they just come apart like you described

2.Yes you have to replace it theres no way around it

3.No DON'T drive the car because the water pump uses those belts too you will overheat which it sounds like already happened, also no alternator so your battery will die

 

[Puffie40]

This is the first time I heard about "Laminated" Pullys. What are they? I guess it's to help with vibration?

Other question related to my corolla: My belts been squealing for the past few months when it is cold out. I was going to check the belt tension, but should I watch for this as well? How do I check the pully?

 

[cinnabar]

Well I sort of had to drive it to get it to my local garage which it did overheat so I pulled into a coffee shop and let it cool down for about 40 minutes before I continued my trek. The double pulley I talked of is called the Harmonic Balancer and had to be replaced. The rubber is bonded to the pulley from the start so once it's delaminate it's done and needs to be replaced. The misalignment I talked of only helped the process along- wasn't a direct cause because it was probly already on it's way out (which is strange because my brother has a 94 which 170k on it [mine has 82k] and hasn't been touched once).

My new problem now is that the temperature gauge fluctuates wildly, esp. when I'm at idle sitting in an intersection. It's climbs into the redzone and past but once I start up again it drops after a few seconds to normal levels. I'm hoping it has something to do with the low levels of fluids, oil and coolant, that I burned off when I overheated. I'm going to change them tomorrow and I'll see.

 

[Bitter]

that sounds like a symptom of a blown headgasket or a bad water pump.

 

[cinnabar]

I'm exactly sure though: I filled the radiator with coolant on a cold engine, started it and then refilled it once it warmed up. I think I'm burning the coolant because I can see the white smoke but my oil levels are fine and the coolant resevoir is clear.