Auxilary drive belt shredded 2 days after service

[CarpeDiem]

Hi,

 

Had my car in for a service on Wed in a well known Nissan dealer. Had booked a hotel at Loch Rannoch on sat night for a anniversary weekend away with my partner. On the road to the hotel I heard a noise coming from the engine bay, the steering died and the battery light came on on the dash. Luckily we were on a straight bit of road at a caravan park and managed to park up in the parking bay.

After inspecting the engine could see that the auxiliary drive belt had totally shredded itself.

Surely this shouldnt happen 2 days after a service. Especially when one of the checks on the service is checking all drive belts. The car is only 2 years old and 14000 miles on the clock.

The car is getting delivered via AA back to garage today and I have arranged for a independant inspector to look over the car before the garage is allowed to work on the car.

This is a scary thing for me as the roads we were on were narrow and had sheer drops to the side. If this had happened on a sharp corner I might not have been here to type this message.

Anyone got any thoughts or advice for me before speaking to the garage?

[Chris`I]

Looks like you had a close call there mate. I dont have any advice, but await what they say about yours. I looked at mine a while back and it appeared to be perishing. I asked especially for the garage to look at it and they said it was fine. Hope it doesnt go the same way as yours

[CarpeDiem]

Car has been delivered to the garage and inspector is going to look at it this afternoon.

[Johnny A]

Just noticed this thread when reading through the Warranty Issues part of the Forum following a similar failure on my Z a week ago.

 

Circumstances were a bit different in that it happened while the car was stationary at the time. Turned the key, started the car, charging light came on, no power steering, and voltmeter not moving. Opened the bonnet to find the smaller aux belt that drives the aircon compressor totally shredded and the larger aux belt that drives the power steering, alternator etc frayed on one side and loose on its pulleys. Had the car picked up and taken to my dealer who could find no underlying fault, so replaced the belts and road tested the car. All fine.

 

No formal warranty claim possible as the belts are not covered and nothing else was found to be wrong, but I have written to Nissan GB asking for an 'ex gratia' refund of my costs given the failure occurred without any warning, the car is less than 2 years old, has done less than 10,000 miles in total, and has covered less than 4,000 miles since its P1 Service at which the belts were a check item (and I've got the ticked off service sheet). Will see what happens.

[rtbiscuit]

to be honest mate i doubt you'll get much out of them, they are tighter than a gnats arse.

 

did you buy from a nissan dealer, if so you might be in luck, have to see what happens

[Johnny A]

My Z was bought second hand from a Nissan dealer when 6 months old.

 

I thought it was was worth writing to Nissan in the circumstances. As you say, just have to wait and see how they respond.

[Tarmac@TarmacSportz]

Good luck buddy - lucky escape

[IanS16]

You were lucky, when my AC belt snapped it also cut through the nearby hoses.

 

Good luck with Nissan

[Ebized]

Are both CarpeDiem and J ohnny A cars last generation 350z's with the 313ps engine? if so the coincidence seems worrying - any more on here had that problem, which might indicate a faulty batch of belts

[Johnny A]

Yes, mine is a September 2007 GT with the 313ps engine.

 

In my letter to Nissan I've suggested that, in the absence of any other apparent cause, it was probably a faulty aircon compressor belt which failed catastrophically and took the alternator/power steering belt with it.

 

As you say, very interesting to hear if anyone else has had a similar failure to Carpe and myself.......

[Johnny A]

Got a call from Nissan GB yesterday. Very sorry etc but can't reimburse me for a failure not covered by warranty. Predictable I guess, but thought it was worth a go.