OK so I came home from work today and when I tried to turn in my driveway I felt something 'happen' for lack of a better word in the engine and I couldnt turn my steering wheel! It is in the street about to get towed off. I really cranked on the steering wheel and nothing Thank GOD it didnt happen on the freeway...Any ideas? Also when I go over bumps, railroad tracks etc, I hear major noise coming from the wheel area in the front end like a strut or something going out and I planned on taking it in next week for that and a whining noise when I press the accelerator. Any ideas what these problems could be? The other day at a drivethru where you can really hear engine noise off the walls I heard a clanging, turned the truck off and the clanging went away, maybe had something to do with what happened this morning.. Also this morning I MAY have smelled a burning smell when the steering QUIT. Thanks all! Hopefully it wont be too much, going to a very good shop been doing business with years.....truck has 115xxx miles and is an 02 5.9L 4x4...

 

Opened the hood and the pulley on the idler I believe sheered off and was sitting on top of my engine and the serpentine belt torn to shreds, so hopefully it wont be that much money. Also may explain the clanging in the engine but not sure about the whining....We'll see tomorrow about the noise in the strut area...

 

well the whinning coulda been a spun bearing in that pulley and it just finally gave and went you can go pick up a pulley and belt for about $80 at the local parts store and do it yourself for free in about 20 minutes with that belt toast and that pulley gone would have caused you not to be able to steer cause the powersteering went when the belt went ....i would try this first that way you dont have to spend a boat load at a shop....good luck

 

Might be a pita getting the broken bolt out if you're not a DIY kinda guy.

 

Wow, i'd like to hear how it goes. It could also be that your power steering pump was going bad, hence the whining when you turn. If it locked up, it would put a lot of pressure on everything else on the belt system. Hopefully for you, it's just the tensioner. Good luck.

 

Alright got the truck back and it rides SO much better than before and its noise free. Had to replace the tensioner assembly, new belt and the sway bar links/steering stabilizer links in the front end both of them as they were dead and making tons of noise. So looks like for now we are back to standard, Im glad I own this truck!

 

wow you had some work done

 

Yeah it ran me about 690 for everything but this shop I took it to is top notch. Had some brake work a few months back and they said it didnt need anything but some grinding to take the glaze off. Dealers and others would tack on a bunch of unnecessary crap. I hadem do some preventative maintenance as well while it was there. Like I said, all the noise is gone and it is so much smoother with the stabilizers replaced. At 115xxx miles I guess I can expect stuff to start going bad cause I have never done any work like this prior to today on this truck. Anyway, I am at peace now...until next time...

 

aslong as you trust them keep going back to them .

 

Hey, to be honest with you, at 115 thousand/plus miles $690 for the repairs and preventive maintenance isn't bad at all to be honest with you. I agree with ramhunter as long as you trust 'em and they do good work I'd keep goin.