Chilling in South Dakota (broke down)

MA

markb5900

Senior Member
Joined
May 30, 2013
Posts
1,410
Location
Missouri
Sitting here at a campground about 20 miles from Mt Rushmore.
Heard a noise in the truck yesterday late afternoon. Planned on being here 2 days so figured I would look at it this morning. Well much louder this morning, narrowed down to water pump or fan clutch.
Truck is still under certified warranty. Luckily I found a Chevy dealer that can get it in tomorrow.
So now I’m sitting here just chillin waiting till 8am tomorrow.
 
Well you picked a fine place to chill. The Black Hills are one of my favorite places to be. Good luck with the truck, I hope it's an easy fix and they treat you right.
 
The fanbelt idler pulley is a more common failure that can sound like the water pump going out and if so, it is quick and easy to replace. In any case, if the fact that the dealership can get you in without delay is a good deal. It is also good to be somewhere you can relax instead being on the side of the road for sure. ~CA
 
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craigav said:
The fanbelt idler pulley is a more common failure that can sound like the water pump going out and if so, it is quick and easy to replace. In any case, if the fact that the dealership can get you in without delay is a good deal. It is also good to be somewhere you can relax instead being on the side of the road for sure. ~CA
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Was hoping it was the idler myself. Popped the belt lose and bearing seems good.
Oh well, will get it fixed and move on up the road.
 
How lucky was that to get it in the next day. Here in Fl. at certain times of year your looking at weeks.
 
Rapid City Chevy is the place to go.
Less than an hour diagnosed and repairs being made under warranty. Be out of here by 10.
 
Markb5900 said:
Was the idler pulley and replaced the belt.
All under warranty so no charge.
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I had one seize on me while towing many years ago. When that happened I purchased a spare pulley and fan belt and after many many years, never needed either. But, I did have a bit of peace in my mind knowing that I had spares. lol ~CA

Good deal they could get you in so quickly. :)
 
craigav said:
The fanbelt idler pulley is a more common failure that can sound like the water pump going out and if so, it is quick and easy to replace. In any case, if the fact that the dealership can get you in without delay is a good deal. It is also good to be somewhere you can relax instead being on the side of the road for sure. ~CA
Click to expand...

Idler pully or tension pully?
 
Dan50 said:
Idler pully or tension pully?
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Generally speaking, both commonly fail in regards to the bearing itself as most often the bearings for either are the same with the tension pulley being spring loaded as the primary difference. My comment was not specific for any particular engine and many engines only have one idler\tensioner pulley which when there is only one it is most often a tensioner pulley (which also serves as an idler pulley). The bearing on either an idler or tensioner pulley will often fail and make noises when they do and the main reason I suspect they fail more often than other belt driven components\bearings is that the pulley is often very small in circumference and therefore spins many times faster than the engine itself is turning. In fact, I would say that idler\tensioner pulleys are the fastest spinning bearing(s) on the entire engine (perhaps the alternator is or close to the same on some engines and turbos when equipped spin very fast). Also and again not particular to a specific engine, many tensioners use the same pulley which can be replaced separately, although many tensioners (likely most) are sold as a bearing and spring tensioner together as a unit. The failure rate of either should be very similar. ~CA
 
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Just a thought to add, serpentine belts last a very long time, often 50~100k miles or even longer. Most recommendations are that when replacing a serpentine belt due to age and wear that it is a good practice to also replace all the idler and tensioner pulleys at the same time as when replacing the belt. ~CA
 
My experience is most dealers will be very accommodating if they know you are traveling.
I said most, some are not.
Paulb12
 
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PaulB12 said:
My experience is most dealers will be very accommodating if they know you are traveling.
I said most, some are not.
Paulb12
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Yup
The GMC dealer across the street told me Wednesday next week, maybe. Called the Chevy dealer, 8am tomorrow ok?
 
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