Can anyone advise me please? - Land Rovers Only

mdecent · 03-06-2005, 05:08 PM

I have an imported 1994 FXi 3.9i Petrol Discovery Automatic.

Last night whilst driving on the motorway, I heard a loud clunk sound that appeared to come from the dashboard.

Following this, the rev counter immediately dropped to 0 (although I was still driving along the motorway), the battery indicator light came on and the steering became heavy (the power steering stopped assisting). Then the temperature started to rise quickly.

Obviously, I immediately pulled the car over to the hard shoulder, even though it was extremely heavy, I managed to get it there okay. It was very hot and I noticed it had dumped all the coolant.

I then called the breakdown truck, who brought me and the car back home as it was late Sunday night.

The car starts fine, the brakes are okay, but the steering is still heavy and the battery light remains on continuously.

Before I call someone out tomorrow to look at the problem (I am not an expert on cars!), could it be something straightforward like a belt? I noticed the car had been noisier when I started it earlier in the day, like a belt was struggling to turn.

I checked all the fluid levels on Saturday, oil, water, hydraulic fluid, brake fluid etc and they were all fine.

I would be very grateful for anyone's input on this.

Kind regards.......Mark

TerryS · 03-06-2005, 05:16 PM

So, I'm guessing by the way you are asking questions, that after the 'incident' you didn't bother to open the hood and see that you've lost some belts. Can't say I know what your model is exactly, but everything points to loosing a serpentine belt. Common man, pull yourself together, go out, and have a look.

mdecent · 03-06-2005, 05:26 PM

I am told the model is the V8 petrol Saudi spec.

Apologies for my ignorance, I only considered a fan possibility after I returned home an hour ago (it is 2am now), and thought I would come here to see if anyone here with more experience than me felt it also a possibility.

If you think this might be something worth considering, I will certainly look in the morning when I can see better.

Please excuse my ignorance once again, where should I find the serpantine belt?

dent · 03-06-2005, 09:15 PM

it's at the front of the engine, you'll see abunch of round things which the belt should wrap around.
take care
sam

mdecent · 03-07-2005, 01:07 AM

Thank you all so very much for your fast responses.

You were "spot on", I looked under the bonnet this morning and found the belt hanging loose. I know what to look for, and where, should the problem arise again.

I will get the belt replaced and hope normal service will resume shortly.

What a great idea this forum is.

Thanks again...........Mark.

02disco2 · 03-07-2005, 06:09 PM

Interesting.. is this a common occurance with the LR? I can honestly say, I have never had a vehicle that lost (or slipped off) the serpantine belt. I have racked well over 1.5 million miles on all my cars, never to have had this happen.

plastic · 03-07-2005, 06:20 PM

the only time i've seen it happen to a well maintained vehicle is when one of the bearings on the pulleys went. Stalled the engine, lost control of the vehicle and tore the belt. But otherwise, it's was probably just a worn out belt that was ready to go.

mdecent · 03-08-2005, 01:36 AM

"the only time i've seen it happen to a well maintained vehicle is when one of the bearings on the pulleys went. Stalled the engine, lost control of the vehicle and tore the belt. But otherwise, it's was probably just a worn out belt that was ready to go."

I am told this is what caused my problem. It was quite a scary experience as I was driving at speed when it happened. Fortunately my brakes remained working, but the power steering went which was no joke!

The belt was actually less than a year old (still with the code numbers printed) and seemed to remain intact. I am now working again.

Thank you all for your assistance.