Ancillary belt pulley fell off after having new timing belt !!

[reef2k]

Had new timing belt fitted yesterday,couple of hundred meters for home this morning,hear a noise,a jerk and engine cuts out.just about got to my drive,lift bonnet and there,sitting between engine and inner wing is the ancillary belt,large pulley and bolt/washer !! The engine will only run for a few seconds ..has it damaged a sensor ?
Couldn't believe it,so the guy that did it came over and had a look.He said yesterday that the pulley was a sod to get off,then showed me the slot on the pulley that has one edge slightly chewed and said that's the only thing that locates it and must have come loose,damaging the edge ..How would it come loose ??

Do you think he damaged it when heating and getting if off ? He's ordered a new one and will fit it tomorrow.

First time i've used this guy i heard of through social media and beginning to wish i'd used someone else :/

[white exec]

On which car?

[RichardW]

1.6 HDi C4 Picasso: https://www.frenchcarforum.co.uk/forum/ ... =3&t=59559

No doubt he didn't tighten the bolt properly (or at all, given that it came off so quick). The crank sensor is on that end of the engine, picks up off the sprocket behind the aux pulley. Hopefully, it hasn't damaged the crank shaft nose, or the thread, or knocked the timing out resulting in a bent valve or two....

I'd be tempted to ask him to recheck the torque on all the critical bolts, like, the tensioners and the engine mount....

[reef2k]

Yes,i'm hoping there's no other damage,but won't know til tomorrow. Apparently,the bolt should also be loctited ,but the thread was very clean. Crumbs on the passenger seat,split on the edge on the plastic inner arch where it tucks behind the bumper hardly instills confidence. He may think i'm taking the p**s,but i will ask if i can trust the timing belt assembly not to come loose.

[wurlycorner]

Sadly this sorta thing can happen.

Good thing is that he came straight round to look at the car for you and is just getting on with putting it right - that's the most important thing, so I wouldn't give up on him or assume the worst, yet.

[reef2k]

He came out yesterday with new pulley,bolt and even ancillary belt. Told me he used loctite this time,i don't know if timing belt tensioner bolts should also have been loctited. Anyway,it's done and did about 20 miles and ok so far,although i've noticed a very slight 'huh-huh' noise coming from the belt area,not too worried but may send him a video or post one on here. Just need to top up the fap fluid now,but that's not as easy as it sounds :/

[RichardW]

Re the FAP / DPF fluid - it's not difficult....depending on how much money you want to spend! There is a bag on these, depending on the exact age of yours the bag can vary. Cit price is around £150 (up to RP 12166 ) and £196 after, but I got one for about £130 on e-bay - in theory you can refill the bag with the slightly cheaper generic PAT fluid, but the bag was split on ours, so it would have been a no go. Fitting it is easy enough - you can do it with the rear wheels on ramps. You do need a Lexia however, to re-set the warning, and prime the pump.

[reef2k]

i was hoping to top up the existing bag if it's not damaged. i'd only put a litre or two in,as i'm unlikely to cover more than 5k a year.Not sure what the capacity of the bag is. Have a local Citroen specialist who will reset or thought of getting the software for my birthday next month,depending how often i'm likely to use it.

[GiveMeABreak]

Just be wary the 'official' guidance is that they are to be replaced as a new bag, as getting the pouch out of the housing results in splitting the bag.

[reef2k]

As i said,they make nothing easy ..even replacing the battery was a faff. I've always liked to do jobs on my cars whenever possible,but this C4 has already become a money pit when compared with just about every car previously owned :/

[ekjdm14]

Sadly that's the way modern cars are going IMO, they can't legally make it impossible for the home mechanic, but they can make it such a PITA that people just take it to a stealer.