X3 Shredded Power Steering Belts In 6 Weeks?

[spranga]

I bought my R32 GTST about six weeks ago and the power steering belt seemed fine. After about two weeks I noticed it was badly shredded to about half width in some places. It was then professionally replaced by a well regarded workshop that does lots of work on skylines. After about four weeks the replacement belt started to shred again. I took it back to the workshop today and they could not find anything much wrong. All the brackets were in order and pullies correctly aligned. They kindly replaced the belt free of charge and tightened it as firm as it could safely go. The only hint of any problem was some possible excessive movement of the belt at the midpoint between the crank and power steer pullies at high rpm. This movement could be normal as you would not notice it unless you were staring at it a 6500rpm.

I trust the skills and knowledge of the guys doing the work but I am surprised there is not a logical solution. If it happens again they have suggested the installation of an additional idler pully on a fabricated bracket. It is a fairly straight forward bit of the car but there is nothing obvious to look at. Changing belts every few weeks could be a real pain....

Any ideas???? I have done a search and a few people have had a one off situation like this. Has anyone else had repeated belt failure???

Thanks

[GTR-32U]

I had a failure because an idler pulley seized and then died....

[wlspn]

Hey mate, yeah I had the same thing happen on my R32. Not quite as often as you, but at least every 3-6 months I would find my belt had suddenly chewed itself in half. Once even snapped because of this as I hadnt popped bonnet in a while & didnt realise it was wearing... Bits of belt everywhere!

Have now fitted an RB25 & once Ive sorted the problems & can actually drive it am hoping this will have gone away.

No explainable reason on my car either so unfortunately cant help you more than letting you know youre not the only one...

If you find a reason drop me a PM,

Cheers

[GTR-N1]

Put a wooden dowel between your ear and the bolt at the end of the pulley - any pullies; and listen to the differences in noise.

Wood is better than a long screwdriver, as it localises the offending noise better. But you can try both.

'just be careful'

[spranga]

Ha ha.. hopefully I don't have to do an engine swap to fix it.

Thanks for the replies. If I find a solution I will let you know. I was thinking that maybe increasing the depth of the channel on the pully may fix it.

Anyone else?

Hey mate, yeah I had the same thing happen on my R32. Not quite as often as you, but at least every 3-6 months I would find my belt had suddenly chewed itself in half. Once even snapped because of this as I hadnt popped bonnet in a while & didnt realise it was wearing... Bits of belt everywhere!

Have now fitted an RB25 & once Ive sorted the problems & can actually drive it am hoping this will have gone away.

No explainable reason on my car either so unfortunately cant help you more than letting you know youre not the only one...

If you find a reason drop me a PM,

Cheers