Ok ,so last week I get informed by work that I would be laid off for essentially the rest of the summer. So I took the insurance off of the Camaro. By mid week they called and told me there was a good chance I would be back to work by mid July,so I put the insurance back on the camaro again. I had a dentist appointment today so I decide to take the camaro. I get to the dentist and notice the car is making a weird noise.No time to look at it because I was running late. So after the dentist appointment i drop the top and head home(I figured I would look into this noise in depth in my garage). Well I get on the on ramp to the 401 and all of a sudden my power steering is gone. I pull over pop the hood and find out that my sepentine belt is missing. Upon closer inspection I find out that the new Altenator/power steering pump bracket I replaced 2 months ago has broken again and this time it took out the belt and left me stranded.WTF???? What is causing this braket to fail?Had to have the car towed home. The only good thing about it was that the tow truck driver was a 3rd gen camaro owner(has 3 of them) and will probably join this site soon.

 

Sorry to hear about your bad day!! but that is what happens all the time.... your car never breaks at home!!

 

Damn, sorry to hear about that...where abouts did it leave you stranded...?

 

My car has broken down before but it has ALWAYS taken me home. It knows better.
Sorry to hear about the breakdown. My dads malibu did that for some time. Found out the tension pully was causing the headaches.

 

it died on the eastbound onramp to the 401 just off of Thickson road in Whitby, right under the overpass. I'll have to check the tensioner pulley as that could defenetly cause problems.

 

Where are you getting the bracket from?!? GM? That would be very worrisome!

 

I've replaced the tensioner straight from GM only once and that was because the pulley bearings had died and were grinding. In retrospect, buying a whole new tensioner was more costly than a pulley, but also in retrospect, the new tensioner is made of aluminum so a small gain. Haven't had a problem save for when I first installed it. It vibrated and caused a horrible squeel. I found a great solution though. Brake disc quiet. B/w the tensioner and the bracket it worked great. always make sure that when the belt is tightened that the little marks on the tensioner state its ok. That it is in a good tension reading. I've known a lot of people to put on a belt and not give second thought to reading the tension marker. If it reads too much pop goes a bracket or too little and a tossed belt. Check the reading next time you replace the bracket and put on a belt. you may find that your tension reading is way off and too tight causing unnecessary strain on the whole setup. Another thing to do is always make sure your pulleys are well lubricated and spinning well. You could have a pulley that has shot bearings and is putting so much strain on the system that it litteraly tears the bracket off.

 

Yes, the new bracket is a genuine GM replacement part. Slade 1,thanx for the info I'll pay close attention to that when I put my new belt on. I believe I may have found the problem, My altenator casing is cracked at the bottom. This allowed the altenator to twist under extreme load, causing the bracket to break which caused the the belt to fail.