[Dana J]

Started my 2006 forester yesterday and power steering was not working, plus battery light was on and e-brake light would not turn off (even tho e-brake did release) I replaced the 5 year old battery and power steering still not working. Battery light still turns on and weird noise comes from engine when it’s running. Plus, brakes are very noisy all of a sudden. Any ideas? I’m taking it in for an inspection in a couple days but the more insight the better. Don’t want to get ripped off.

 

[Remco]

I'd first inspect the drive belt to the power steering pump and alternator. If it has slipped off or is broken, it would do what you describe.
Use this video to identify where your belt lives and see whether it looks ok.

If that's all it is, it is a fairly easy DYI job but, should you need to have a mechanic do it, it shouldn't be an expensive job. They'll probably charge you an hour for labor because one is usually charged in hourly increments but no more because it only takes 10-15 minutes to do.

 

[Dana J]

@Remco thank you!!!! Immediately noticed the remnants of my ac belt that was shredded and the alternator belt had slipped off. Heading out to get new ac belt and going to fix it with help from my dad. I’ll come back and check in when that’s done!

 

[Remco]

@Dana J Excellent! Yeah, that's likely the problem.

 

[Dana J]

So I picked up a new ac belt and we went to work replacing it. In order to loosen the lower bolt (we couldn’t get the right angle to loosen it with a regular socket and couldn’t find a short 12mm socket ) we ended up having a neighbor who is a metal worker trim down the socket and weld it to a long metal piece. I know this sounds crazy but hey, it worked. After we got the new ac belt on I started the car and it worked perfectly, maybe even steered better than before and warning lights turned off. Five minutes later both belts slipped off again. So we went and bought a new alternator belt thinking the old one must have worn down too much. Then while we were putting the belts back on we realized the harmonizer crank pulley thing was totally falling off. I just ordered the part online and hopefully that will solve the problem. Frustrated but certainly learning a lot in this process!

 

[Remco]

@Dana J Glad you got to the bottom of the reason for the belt shredding. That bolt holding the crank pulley can be quite a challenge to tighten because it has to be really tight and the crank will want to turn as you do it.
It wants to be like over 150 ft/lbs so borrow a torque wrench to make sure. You don't want that thing to fall off while driving.

There are special tools that can hold that pulley in place but there's a "Poor Man's Solution" that works equally well by locking the crank.

As you pull the old pulley off, notice that there's a small block of metal (called a "woodruff key") that sits in a slot on the crank. It matches a slot in the pulley, That woodruff key may fall out as you wrestle the old pulley off and drop down so watch for it Make sure you put it back where it belongs as you put the new one on. It makes sure the crank positions the pulley so it is allowed to spin at speed.

 

[2.5x_sleeper]

@Dana J I changed the "SOLVED!" to "Updated!" on your thread title, as it appears your issue wasn't resolved with the drive belt replacement. Once you get the crank pulley replaced & everything is good, update your post to let the forum know your DIY repair was successful.

Bobby...

['07 FSXT Member Journal] ['03 X Member Journal]