Car smoking on start up near pulleys. Ideas?

Burks21 · Post by **Burks21** » Fri Jun 18, 2010 5:04 pm

Went to start my car yesterday and a belt was squealing. No big deal, I'll just drive the other one.

So I try it again today, same thing but now it is smoking. Shut the car off, look at the belts, don't see any problem. Try to start the car....won't start. It just stumbles like crazy. So I push it into the garage to get a better look at things.

My buddy comes over and we start looking. Everything looks ok. The PS/AC and alt belts are a little old, but they don't show any signs of recent damage. We finally get the car started by giving it some throttle while cranking. Starts to smoke immediately from near the crank pulley and smells of burning rubber. Check the belts again, they still look ok?

Any ideas here? All the pulleys move and so do the belts. I don't think it's the timing belt since it was replaced 50k miles ago and it looks brand spanking new. Could one of the pulleys be seizing, causing strain on the engine, making it hard to start and causing the belt to "rub" on it rather than spin? With two people, one starting, the other looking, we can't keep an eye on everything at once.

Just wanting some ideas so we know what to look for when we get it on the lift sometime next week. I'll be pulling the AC (doesn't work anyways) and putting on a MPX UDP as well.....since we'll be down there anyways.

Posted over at the .org as well, so answer here or there. I'll cross post my posts and any other posts with quotes so we can get a consensus.

DOHCRT · Post by **DOHCRT** » Fri Jun 18, 2010 7:12 pm

You probably have a seized pulley. Pull the belts off and spin each pulley.

Burks21 · Post by **Burks21** » Fri Jun 18, 2010 10:34 pm

That's pretty much what we've been thinking, and exactly what is being thought of on the other forum.

Won't get a chance to until Saturday next week.

Now lets say it is the crank pulley. Do I have to worry about the timing belt at all if I have to remove and replace that pulley? Just as long as the cam gears stay put? Never dealt with this so I apologize if I am way off base here.

DOHCRT · Post by **DOHCRT** » Sat Jun 19, 2010 11:43 am

If the crank pulley was seized, the engine would be seized. You may be able to determine which of the two belts is the problem by spraying silicone on the belt. If the noise stops, you've found the problem belt.

The only problem I can foresee with the stock crank pulley is that it is a two piece design joined together with rubber. If the rubber cracks, the outer half of the pulley can slip over the inner hub. This is pretty unlikely, so I would speculate that either your A/C clutch has locked up or your alternator is seized. PS pump can lock up, but they have proven to be pretty durable.

Echoalpha23 · Post by **Echoalpha23** » Wed Jun 23, 2010 2:23 pm

DOHCRT wrote: This is pretty unlikely, so I would speculate that either your A/C clutch has locked up or your alternator is seized. PS pump can lock up, but they have proven to be pretty durable.

what are these parts you speak of?? A/C?? P/S???

DOHCRT · Post by **DOHCRT** » Wed Jun 23, 2010 6:00 pm

Air conditioning and power steering. Pretty basic acronyms.

Echoalpha23 · Post by **Echoalpha23** » Thu Jun 24, 2010 4:32 am

i wouldn't know since my car doesn't have p/s or a/c!

DOHCRT · Post by **DOHCRT** » Fri Jun 25, 2010 10:47 pm

So the alternator is your only accessory? Having only 1 belt and 1 acc. pulley kind of narrows it down.

Burks21 · Post by **Burks21** » Mon Jun 28, 2010 10:09 pm

Decided not to tear it apart yet. Bought a SRT-4 on Friday, so the NYG is just sitting there until I get around to it.....maybe never.