Dont Let this Happen to YOU
 

Ok track day yesterday at Motorsports Ranch Cresson Texas on the 1.7 CCW. Temperatures are 100+ degrees and turnout was relatively LIGHT because of it. Anyway there were ten of us in the ADVANCED group and I was booking it pretty good for the conditions in the second session and I got the dreaded REDUCED POWER MODE

So my first reaction is WTF??? This EXACT issue is why I am NA and not running a supercharged engine like I had in my ZL1 1LE. Anyhow, I quickly checked the water temp and that was just slightly above normal so that was OK. The car at MOST runs only about 10 degrees normal when NOT racing it and that was where I was at.

So I pull the car into the pits and I take it over to GSPEED which is a race shop at MSR and they try to clear the codes with NO SUCCESS. So upon further investigation we found that apparently what happened is my DAMN AC belt broke and in the process wrapped itself around harness that is attached to the timing cover and literally tore the wires out of the VVT and CAM Position sensors. I guess it also affected the oil pressure sensor as well.

So with the car in REDUCED POWER mode I was able to drive the car home after I determined that AAA was going to NOT come out to TOW me after saying they would (this has happened THREE other times, HORRIBLE service).

A word here about reduced power mode. The best thing to do is to manually shift the car keeping the RPMs between 2000-2500 RPM. The track is about 47 miles away and MOST of the time I was in M7 at about 60MPH. Car was happy here.

On a side note, why the hell GM would have a harness close enough to the AC belt that breakage MIGHT entangle the harness is beyond me. Afterwards I went on-line and found that this type of thing while uncommon is not unheard of. I guess it also depends on how fast the belt is spinning when it breaks (LOL).

The MORALE of this little story is to occasionally change the belts out on your car even if they look like they DONT need it. From now on, I am changing these things out at least once a year.

How many miles were on that belt?

probably 20K

Thanks for the warning, I'm still on the original belt. I have a new one sitting around already but read that it is a pain to install because it is stretch to fit.

Hello guys, is this belt for all Camaro trims, or just the LT1?

EDIT: I meant to ask, is the belt setup the same for all Camaro trims.

:happy0180:
Geoff

You have AAA and they refused service, I would think that would be and issue.

No, they didnt refuse service. They said they would show up and they didnt. This has happened THREE times. Perhaps it is a regional problem, I dunno. I was told when I finally got a hold of the tow service that committed to take the call that they cancelled and informed AAA of the cancellation. AAA then said they would dispatch someone else and they DIDNT.

Of course they will use the standard excuse that the pandemic has caused all these service issues which is BS. The truth is they just cant manage it properly.

i replaced mine a few years ago when my tensioner went bad dealer said they wouldnt cover it so i had to pay for it so 35k and belts have already both been changed thank god lol

Back in the late 90's AAA sent me a letter saying they would no longer tow me from the Baytown Raceway. This was after the second time I scattered the 10 bolt in my '72 Chevelle. The trick from then on was to get the car outside the front gate, tell the dispatcher I what road I was on, and not ever mention the words "raceway" or "drag track".

lol my buddy totalled his old car at autoclub speedway in cali and they came all the way into the paddock put it on a flatbed and towed it back to his home and left is in his driveway who knows anymore its weird

what codes did you get hit with? having some issues after my ac belt ripped off during a pull at some point

I think the ZL1s automatically turn off the AC during WOT am I right?

Yeah it disables the compressor clutch so that it disengages at some RPM point or it may be controlled with input from the throttle position sensor so that when car sees full throttle it disengages the AC clutch but of course that dont stop that belt from spinning on its pulley LOL

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Well we were getting LOW VOLTAGE codes on the CAM position sensor and VVT sensor mainly because the damn wires were ripped out of the sensors they were connected to.

I didnt see the code numbers myself.