Heya folks,
Long time listener, first time caller!

I was just getting up to freeway speeds when my '06 MCS suddenly lost power and the dash lit up.
As I was pulling over to a safe spot I noticed a huge wet spot in the rear view where she lost power and a big trail and eventual puddle of coolant where I stopped. Engine temp was getting hot but gauge said I didn't overheat.

Trailered home,

First observations are: starts, runs, no serpentine belt so no pwr steering,ac,alt,etc but it does run and drive.
Ringy sound that I'm guessing is a loose belt pulley.
No white smoke. Oil looks good. (I had checked oil the day before too, same and fine).
Brand new coolant res. tank is blown at the seems (new oem, like a month old new).


I'm considering myself lucky that it doesn't appear like it's going to be a big repair., but I could be wrong. At a minimum, I'll be replacing the belt, finding/fixing the coolant leak and getting yet another res. tank.

I haven't torn in yet to look for the leak and before I do, I wanted to ask the group for opinions as to what may have happened or if anyone else has had a similar or any other words of wisdom from the sages out there.
Thanks guys! .-James

 

If the belt blew than the ECU should have shut the engine off. When it does this the car overheats and the usually the overflow tank cracks. I would not run the car until you have a new belt installed. During the belt installation should verify that the crank pulley is not shot, that all the idler pulleys are good along with the alternator and ac compressor. Once the belt is on, the tank replaced and the coolant topped off, you should watch the oil to make sure the head was not warped and now coolant is getting into the oil.

 

Thanks for the great info ,
The ECU did not shut the car down and even now, without a belt it will start off of the battery.

You mentioned not running the car until repairs have been done, I just wanted to mention that I've only run it to get it on the trailer and again back off and into the shop. Mind you there is no belt and it's running off the battery but she had life.

I'm keene to the overheating issue that's why I'm a little peeve'd about the res. tank I had just installed. Would you recommend one of the aftermarket tin can res. tanks instead of oem plastic?

I'll make sure to read the serp. belt install threads and how-to's then after install follow the rest of your recommendations.

I'm still puzzled as to what actually happened. Chicken or egg? Did the coolant dump because of the loss of belt or did the loss of belt cause the leak? (I'll know more after getting in there).

Thanks!

 

 

SC is fine and the car is running better then I've ever had it running before. Ever.

After tearing into things and a couple days of research, I found out I have the 15% pulley AND the 2% reduction pulleys from Alta. So that explained a lot. (I've owned this car for 5 months)

The belt was the OEM for my MCS and with the reduction pulleys, was too long. Lots of slipping.
After finding a shorter belt and installing. Things are running amazing. Continental makes one just about the right size

Oh, The ECU non shutdown upon belt blow? Yeah.. I found I have some really weird German 'go-fast' software installed that I can't really find any info about.. so I can pretty much toss any 'factory correct' settings out of the window.

This was once a 'street & track' car. I purchased it VERY cheaply from the second owner who probably thought it was a lemon after blowing the OEM belt and looking at the shop prices to fix it.

This pretty much concludes the repair work and story. I'm just waiting for my tin can coolant res. tank to arrive. (she drives fine with the little seem leak from the OEM but lets replace it anyways).

Lots of other go-fast goodies on my MCS to blow up so I'm sure I'll be back to asking questions sooner or later.

Thanks again!

 

Find out why it overheated. Crank pulley could've been stuck or slipping on its way out? Check possible damage on both tensioner & crank pulley from losing your belt. A dead crank pulley can cause that & won't drive your alternator. This can kill your fan & cause the overheating.

 

Thanks for the additional info. I forgot to mention that while I I had everything off I went ahead and replaced the whole tensioner apparatus with a new one. It didn't feel too sloppy but it made me feel better about the noise.
Also felt around all the pulleys, everything 'felt' normal.

 

Check the crank pulley for cracks. Best viewed from the right front wheel well w/ wheel removed.