btsrbsbts

2nd 996, and I'm 14 years older now than with my first one. My current 996 is a DD but also a second car, which means I can do some DIY work under no timing pressure. I'm enjoying it so far. I've always wanted to learn about how engines work.

A week ago, the following happened
- I hit the breaks hard enough to engaged the ABS
- A few blocks later, the battery warning light went on
- 5 minutes later, the ABS failure and Brake balance warning lights went on

I drove it home, parked it, and have been digging into the forums here, pelican parts writeups, and youtube videos since.

Here's where I am

1. I had AAA come and check the battery.*
2. I don't know what the issue is, but at this point I'm not super worried about that -- I'm enjoying learning about the 996, engines, etc.
3. I decided to go down the alternator rabbit hole**

* AAA came and

• tested the battery -- battery was fine, and it's <1 year old
• they did a "charging system check" and it showed up deficient. The charging voltage was <13 (assuming I remember the terminology used correctly)
• the AAA person also removed the negative line from the battery and the car died immediately; this I was told was a bad sign (from internet research, it may be that this wasn't a good idea to do, but I'm not concerned at this point)

Alternator rabbit hole

• I started down this path under a hunch that the ABS engagement had knocked the alternator cord loose. I now know that is not likely, but still, I've enjoyed going down this rabbit hole to learn the engine.
• Specific to the alternator, I was not able to push the rear bushing back, despite quite firm banging, and using a 2x4 to get a bit of leverage from outside of the car.
• I paused on the alternator rabbit hole, however.
• I do however have access to the alternator, and my next step might be to test it with a multimeter -- once I get the belt back on. I don't know exactly what I'm looking for when I do that.

Accessory belt -- can't get back on

• I took off the belt. I can't get it back on.
• I've determined the issue may be the tensioner pulley is not moving back enough.
  Here's a video
  .
• Based on other videos of people putting the accessory belt back on, posts here, and the pelican parts image #3 here, I suspect that this may be why I can't get the belt back on.
• Any ideas for what is going on here, and how to get the tensioner pulley to close more?

Idler pulley shape

• I did the spin test on my idler pulleys. They spin a bit more than I'm seeing in some videos, although no noise.
  Video
• What do you think?

Thanks in advance!

Botsy67

Hello, Regarding the tensioner pulley & serpentine belt, looks like you got enough tension off in order to slip the serpentine-belt back-on. Make sure that the belt routing is correct on all pulleys and then try to slip the last part on the idler pulley on the left of the tensioner. I think it's much easier to slip the belt on the roller-pulley then a ribbed one. As for the sound of the 2 idler pulleys, they do not sound too bad but since you are already there, you should just replace both of them, they are relatively cheap. Good-luck, cheers,

btsrbsbts

Thanks! I've tried having the pulley to the left of the tension pulley is the last one I route, but I'm still coming up pretty short. I'll try harder Good call on replacing the idler pulleys while I'm at it.

exduluthian

It's been a while since I had to replace the belt/pulleys/tensioner on my 996, but I had exactly the same problem with the belt not wanting to go on. It turned out I had routed it incorrectly, even though it looked good and logical. You may want to double-check the routing.

btsrbsbts

Good to know! I checked it a couple of times, but I did think to myself: ya know what, get someone smarter to come look at the before picture you took, and what you've done. Sadly my wife was busy last night...Tonight!

wdb

https://www.pelicanparts.com/techart...cing_Belts.htm

2mAn

I had a similar moment with my car a little while ago. Wont get into the whole story (check my thread if you want it), but check your ground. Mine looked perfectly fine on initial inspection, but then we discovered it was totalled severed inside. Poor securing of the battery over time meant the ground was the only thing securing the battery.



$25 Solution

btsrbsbts

interesting! I’m on it! Thank you. Did you just slice off the insulating sleeve to see how the thing was doing? The part that I’m pointing to here: