Broke down on M1........

What a nightmare...arghhhhhhhhh! Driving southbound on the M1 last night from parents' home when, first, the battery indicator light pops up on the display. Nothing seems wrong, so I press 'OK' and proceed. Minutes later, an 'Engine temperature too high' warning comes on and I see smoke billowing out the back I stopped on the hard shoulder at 9.30pm and let the engine cool down and poured in some more coolant and proceed; it's ok but then minutes later had to stop again as the same warnings flash up yet again. My cousins were in another car ahead of me so I call them and they stop at the next service station 7 miles away and call the AA for me. I managed to limp into the station forecourt at about 10pm and the steering is as heavy as hell. The AA come along and points out that the tensioner belt has worked itself loose! The guy showed me the belt hanging loose in his hands and explains to me there is no water pump, no power steering, no alternator being charged up because of this. I didn't know whether to laugh or to cry as the car had an 111pt check the day before and I would have thought that the OPC would have picked up on a loose tensioner belt, wouldn't they? Has this happen to anyone else? AA got me home at 3.30am today with the car on the back of the truck. Needless to say I was shattered. Can anyone suggest how my tensioner belt might have worked itself loose? If it does come loose, what should I be aware of? Have I caused damage to the engine? ~ Maxie :shock: :?

that's awful, get on the phone with OPC west london as they just did that 111 point check !

Thanks Admin. Just spoken to West London OPC on your advice. They say that as part of the 111pt inspection, the tensioner belt is subject to a visual check only, as opposed to a physical check to see whether it's needs tightening or not. :shock: ~ Maxie

A Visual check? How much is an out of warranty 111 point check??? :twisted: :twisted: Hope you soon get it sorted it for minimum outlay and pain.

Shocking. 111 point check can cost up to £200, bit of a rip off if they don't really check things.

Whats the latest Maxie?

Thanks for your interest guys. First of all I'd like to point out for those who didn't know (including myself) that a 111pt inspection does not cover 111 points if a road test is not performed. I got the ticked checklist back from the garage last night. A road test covers 19 of the points, the rest are allocated to a check on the premises. I spoke with Noel at West London OPC (a seemingly reasonable chap) who is looking after my case and he reiterated the point of the tensioner belt only being subject to a visual check and not a physical one :evil: . The question begs to be asked how can a mechanic look at a tensioner belt and not feel for its elasticity - surely the clue is in the name of the belt.....? He could only apologise for my mishap that happened on the M1 on Sunday night. The car is booked in tomorrow for the tensioner belt to be re-fitted and also for the dreaded RMS to be fixed (detected at my 92pt inspection check). I've been given a quote for the RMS which I can live with; does anyone know how much a tensioner belt costs to fit and how long it takes? Dave - a 111pt inspection normally costs £200 (I believe). As it was a PCGB event, a limited number of these were done for free. Sundeep, Adrien, Kish and myself plus a few other faces I hadn't seen before were all there to take advantage. The sales staff and mechanics were drooling over Sundeep's and Adrien's GT3's; made me feel my Targa was quite inadequate! ~ Maxie

Maxie can't remember if you have a warranty or not. If not, and probably a bit late now, it would make sense waiting until your clutch needed replacing before you got the RMS done. A faulty RMS can go a long time before it has to be replaced. Would save a few hundred on labour costs. And as for the mechanics drooling over the Manthey'ed cars, I reckon that SD and Ade paid them bribe money in advance to make themselves feel better :wink: Nothing wrong at all with the Targa especially if its pink Hope everything works out with the car and look forward to seeing you on the next Chavley run.

Sorry to hear about this Maxie and hope it doesn't become to costly to get her back on the road again......

more than likely one of your belt rollers is at fault .you should changed all the rollers and the belt and get the waterpump checked.the belt will never come off by itself unless there is a fault with any of the above

Thanks for the empathy guys - makes me a feel a little bit better . Thanks for the tip Sid. I'll raise that with the OPC. This is now sounding to be an expensive proposition.....! Porsche GB are contributing a percentage towards the cost of the RMS (I think they have finally realised it is a design fault as its fairly common). PM me if you guys want to know how much. Otherwise the full cost is £1008 including parts and labour. Car is a 2003 model and has done 19k miles; I had already enquired about fitting a new clutch at the same time the RMS is done. If the cost is reasonable I may get it done anyway. I am not a heavy user of the clutch (no traffic light GPs for me anyway) but I don't know how the previous owner treated the car. Dave - I bought the car from an indy so I only have an indy-based warranty (I think it's by Aon). It's half the price of an OPC warranty but then it only covers engine and gearbox. Reading from threads on this forum will probably dictate that I upgrade to an OPC warranty in March when the existing policy expires. Btw, did you find out where your old Targa now resides :?: And when is the next Chavley Run? I can't make your tapas evenings because it's always midweek and too far away! ~ Maxie

OK chaps - back with this story again. I collected the car from the OPC this afternoon. The total bill for the Rear Main Seal, replacement clutch and tensioner belt plus odds and sods came to £738 incl Vat and all labour charges. What do you think? ~ Maxie PS. Clutch action is very soft now......not meaty as it was before. That'll take a bit of time getting used to. Next job is to join a breakdown recovery agent.