What a morning!

So, my story actually starts out Saturday night, ,but culminates into a headache this morning. We were having a killer time at Jon's wedding and even closed the party down. So killer in fact, that my cousin drove us home in my truck. We took off and I hear a whining noise coming from somewhere in my Duramax motor. I wasn't in a state to really care, so I brushed it off. The next morning we run over to Knott's for a car show and still hear it. It goes away on the drive back to Agua Dulce, but I still check it out. Everything looks fine, PS fluid a little low. I add some fluid and start working on the Tacoma. Results in my other thread. I leave to go home and the steering is still feeling a little sluggish and the whine comes back. I make it to within a couple miles of my apartment and hear a loud thud under the hood and feel the steering get real heavy. I'm freaking out thinking I lost something in the steering system, but to my surprise I make the last corner to turn down my street muscling through without power steering. I pull over and pop the hood, happened to be in front of Power Chevrolet. I see the serpentine belt broke and is entangled in my fan and pulleys. I figure it's still running so I can limp the mile back home.

I take off and slow for a stop sign only to realize that my power brakes are completely gone! As I roll through the stop sign, I'm double footing it and throwing the E-brake, which has been all but useless since I bought the truck, and bring it to a stop in front of a Nissan dealership. I shut her down, pop the hood and start pulling the belt out. I find it stuck behind the idler pulley, so I grab the tool kit I happenedto have and unbolt it. The bearings are completely locked up, the cage is mangled and I have 3 balls missing. Turns out this was the cause of the noise and of the breakage. A salesman comes over to survey the situation, mentions they have $10K off of new Titans, I respond politely that they have no idea how to make a truck and I would never be caught dead buying one.I call my wife and get a ride the .75 miles home.

This morning I woke up, called in sick, and ride my bicycle down 1.25 miles to Power. They have the belt, $83, but not the pulley. Van Nuys has one though. I ride back to the truck and start snaking the new belt in. All 10 feet of it! No joke, 119.5 inches. I get it in correctly on the fourth try and realize I need a 1/2 drive to unload the tensioner to get it in. I call the next closest auto parts store, NAPA, and he says they have one in stock. I figure I can get my street bike running on zip down there so I ride the .75 miles home.

I haven't ridden my streetbike in almost a year and the battery was dead when I parked it, so I knew this would be fun. I hook my R/C charger up to it and find it too dead to charge normally. I trick it by charging in NiCd mode for a couple minutes and back to Pb mode, it works. I ride my BMX around a little to pass the time and end up railing my shin on my peddle, joy. So I pump up both flat tires. After a half hour charge I try to start it and get nothing. Called a couple friends for a jump, and no one is home. Figure I could try to push start it, maybe. Throw it in 4th gear, run along side, jump on release the clutch and no hope. Try again in 3rd with similar results. Try 3 times in 2nd, it's getting better. Try 1st once and almost end up on the ground, so go back to 2nd. On the umpteenth time off running along side my 700lb streetbike for 30 yards and dragging it back, it finally starts to fire. It hesitantly lopes along for a half dozen rounds of our parking lot before it finally settles down and starts to run right-ish. So I take off to NAPA.  

I get to NAPA leaving the bike running while I'm inside since the battery is dead. The counter guy I've known forever, but finds he had the wrong part in his hand when I called up. None of the right ones there, 3 days out. He calls up Parkway Chevrolet and they have it. They are within walking distance of my truck. I pick up a 1/2" breaker to unload the tensioner, $20, and head out to find my bike near over heating from idling for so long. Head over to Parkway and find that I got a discount from Sherm at NAPA, score $23! Ride back to my place to grab my bicycle again.

Ride the .75 miles back to my truck, bolt on the pulley, unload the tensioner to install the belt and breathe a sigh of relief when it fires up, everything works and the belt is staying on. I drove home happy to have reliable transportation again thinking this crap day is over. I get home, pull my bike out of my truck and set it in the garage. I accidentally bump my wifes bike, it falls back and starts a Rube Goldberg machine like I've never seen before. I knocks over a lamp, which bumps a tool box that falls and turns on a TV. The lamp lands on a speaker box, breaks the glass shade, tips the box over, sending my BMX bike into my helmet, which lands on my Airtronics M8 R/C radio, scratching the screen.

I am done for the day since I really don't know what could happen next. I truely hate Mondays.  

Holy crap that's a bad Monday! Time to spend the rest of it on the couch.

"I am done for the day since I really don't know what could happen next."

Bad things happen in three's... Belt - Battery - Knocked Crap Over ...you should be done for the day lol

"I take off and slow for a stop sign only to realize that my power brakes are completely gone!"

Oh the joys of Hydroboost... don't you love having a diesel!

You know, in hindsight, we probably should have checked that before you left on Sunday... we dropped the ball on that one.  
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Long Travel 4 Wheel Drive - The Best of Both Worlds!

Questions? Comments? Concerns? PM Me!

Only problem is I had no idea what to check with the noise it was making. The belt was cracking so it was time for a new one, I just didn't really want to do it on the side of the rad in front of the Nissan dealership, lol. I do plan to spend the rest of the day on the couch. I'm afraid to go outside.  

Well we were already thinking either belt/pulley/pump so how knows, we may have seen the idler pulley not moving and could have fixed it.

But, like they say, hindsight is 20/20, oh well.  
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Long Travel 4 Wheel Drive - The Best of Both Worlds!

Questions? Comments? Concerns? PM Me!

Brian
At least you had a little warning...My duramx sheared the ps pump shaft as i was on the E10 to S405 overpass...lost most steering and all brakes....was very eye opening.
Glad you got it worked out with no lasting damage.....  

geez i thought i had a bad day haha YOU WIN  
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02 TJ with lots of extra junk

"Respect my authority"  (cartman)

when i started reading this story i thought you had just bought a scout or something like that, that totally sucks tho glad to hear it was an easy fix.  
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1975 Scout II XLC Built with used parts
1999 Diesel powered F250 Superduty Lariat

"MAN NOW IM STARVING!!!!  I COULD EAT THE ASS OUT OF A NINE FOOT CHICKEN RIGHT NOW!!!
SORRY ABOUT THE CAPS JASON!!" (Rawkon)

as the saying goes...S#%! happens and be nice cause it will happen to you. i love those kinda days, feal your pain man  
[X] Give Er Hell [X]

Baawahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!!

I know you weren't waiting for this, but that's pretty funny! especially when the lamp started knocking things down.

that sucks man, that's how it goes sometimes. btw, 700lb street bike wtf? must be a cruiser huh

p.s. get a dual sport. you don't need a battery when you have a stator!  

Dang salesman, like your really going to walk away from the truck and sign the contract for a new Nissan right then and there.  
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2004 WJ-My Jeep talks to me

Can't blame him for trying though, I'm sure there are some people out there that would do that.  
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Long Travel 4 Wheel Drive - The Best of Both Worlds!

Questions? Comments? Concerns? PM Me!

Yeah, that was a bad morning. It turned out pretty good tho. I got my license plate swapped out on the D-max for a correct one, rotated my tires, ordered the CPS from NAPA for a good price, possibly got a free NAPA hat for my truck, found an LT with coilover and bypass for my cousin, and hit up the skatepark to learn to extend my manuals. I need to call in sick more often!  

You better get the NAPA hat, that will be SWEET!! hahaha  
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Long Travel 4 Wheel Drive - The Best of Both Worlds!

Questions? Comments? Concerns? PM Me!