[jaspal singh]

Originally Posted by Ikonification

Hi Gurus,

I have uploaded an image which I took from Google, and the part seems exactly the same.

Frankly I am a bit worried as to how can a car just 2 years old get a broken pulley all of a sudden. Has any of you members ever faced such a similar problem?

Hi,

i had faced the same problem last year with my 2012 make i gen i20 petrol. car was under warranty that time. Car had covered 19385 kms in 1 year.
During inspection it was found that the Crankshaft Bolt which secures the pulley has broken because of which the pulley had fallen, along with Belt. This was a big shock for me as i considered it as a serious manufacturing defect. The workshop incharge assured replacement under warranty but could not give a convincing answer to explain the failure.
Reason for engine overheating was that once the belt breaks down, the water pump stops working and there is no coolant circulation.
Any ways, repairs were carried out the same day and the car was delivered in evening in perfect condition.

Car has covered 48000 kms now and the problem has not reoccured

You can check http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-d...i-gen-i20.html
for more details

[DWind]

While we are here making predictions of how a pulley could fall off from the engine it would be great if the OP can post pictures of damaged pulley with inside thread and Axle if you can. Seems strange that it could come off just like that and not cause any other damages.

[Sutripta]

Originally Posted by Jeroen

I would be really interested to understand how this could have happened in the first place.

In ships, do propellers never fall off!

Regards
Sutripta

[Jeroen]

Originally Posted by Sutripta

In ships, do propellers never fall off!

Yes, they do fall off, but not very often. In fact it is extremely rare. Happens more often on yachts and also on outboards. We once lost a prop when we were bringing a trawler motor yacht back from the Grenadines to Barbados.

That's when you are glad you have two engines, two props shafts and two props.
All of sudden, vibration, the engine RPM raced up and that was it.

Jeroen

[Ikonification]

Hi Everyone,

Got my i20 back on Sunday evening (apologies was tied up yesterday). Seems the pulley bolt in the v-belt system driving the alternator had broken (and that explains why the battery indicator was continuously glowing).

The service guy just could not offer any explanation as to how the pulley broke. A lame excuse he gave was the car must have met with some impact causing it to break. When I countered his excuse (since I am a very safe driver and can vouch my car has never met with any sort of impact), he couldn't offer any explanation and simply kept shrugging his shoulders.

Fortunately they covered everything under warranty, and I had to shell out only the labor charges (1700 + service tax = 1900). I have the receipt in my car as to which parts they have changed. I will post a screen-shot of it once I am home tonight so you guys can get a better idea.

By the way I am planning to highlight this to some higher authority in Hyundai, since such poor manufacturing practice is absolutely dangerous. Any particular platform that you guys can suggest?

Cheers

[avdhesh15]

Would suggest that you try and purchase 2 years extended warranty (I recollect you had mentioned that your original warranty is about to expire). That way if there is something mechanically wrong with the installation, at least it won't leave a major dent in your pocket.

(Disclaimer: I always take max warranty in my cars and sell them before the extended warranty expires)

[dass]

Originally Posted by Ikonification

Fortunately they covered everything under warranty, and I had to shell out only the labor charges (1700 + service tax = 1900). I have the receipt in my car as to which parts they have changed. I will post a screen-shot of it once I am home tonight so you guys can get a better idea.

Since it was replaced under warranty, they should not have charged you the labor charges either. Ask for a refund of this too when you write to the higher ups.
This is highly ridiculous of things falling off the car, we are not talking of cars made in 1900 here.

[RSR]

Originally Posted by dass

Since it was replaced under warranty, they should not have charged you the labor charges either. Ask for a refund of this too when you write to the higher ups.

I guess it was replaced under goodwill warranty, but he can (and should) try to get a refund as this seems to be a known issue.

Originally Posted by dass

This is highly ridiculous of things falling off the car, we are not talking of cars made in 1900 here.

I think any kind of external impact is highly unlikely, considering the position of the pulley (from jaspal singh's photographs ). It's the engine oil sump that looks quite vulnerable to get damaged by a stone. Negligence by mechanics during a routine service can also be ruled out.

I'm wondering whether it was a batch of defective parts that is to be held responsible, or whether it is an issue with the design. The former seems more likely at the moment, as the replacement pulley has had no issues so far over a longer distance on jaspal singh's car (touchwood!), which was also manufactured in 2012 (March 21st, to be precise).

India definitely needs a stronger recall policy, otherwise manufacturers may take such serious things too lightly.

[chatto63]

I had a similar problem with my less than two year old i20 where the Crankshaft Bolt which secures the pulley had broken , this happened when the car was being driven out slowly from the colony by the driver and when I asked at the workshop ( official Hyundai) as to the reason for breakage ,no convincing answer was given. I was lucky it was still under warranty and thus was fixed without any charges. I was wondering after reading the other posts as to whether I could go in for an extended warranty now or can you do that only when the car is new?

[Herbie98]

This very same problem was faced in my friend's i20 last year. The car was a 2012 model, around 17K kms old then. Strangely in their case also the Pulley broke as soon as they started their car from parking lot.

It was fixed in warranty in 3 hrs flat. But on asking for the root-cause for the failure, only lame reasons were given like stone might have hit the pulley while running the car and etc..

Clearly this seems to be a design / quality problem in the i20 1.2 engine.

[Sunsh!nes]

This seems to be some known problem which the company knows but are keeping the customers in the dark. Why dont call for the faulty batch/lot of cars and change the part instead of letting the customers face the risk of a untimely break down or can cause a accident as the driver would lose control over the car in such cases. Dont leave this issue just like that, make sure you ask for enough explanation which answers why the part fell off, that is really a very dangerous and strange thing to happen when there is so much of modernization in every industry.

No Car company would just change any part just like that unless they know whats actually wrong, they dont leave a single penny why would they change a part without giving proper reasoning. That itself should ring the bell.

[Mr.Boss]

Someone who faced this issue and got the bolt (or along with any other part) replaced, have you confirmed the part number of old and new parts? Or do we have any comparison snaps? Asking this to confirm if Hyundai is just replacing the bolt as a temporary countermeasure or replacing it with a improved (or corrected) part?

If it is the later, why Hyundai is still feeding only the crying baby? Or if it is the former, is there a case of recurrence?

[Ikonification]

Thanks guys, seeing that quite a few fellow BHPians have faced the same issue, I am definitely going to take it up with some higher officials in Hyundai. This seems to be some faulty batch altogether.

Will keep you guys posted on what transpires. Thanks again!

Cheers!

[Soham Sen]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

Wow this is totally weird indeed!

Is it that all these blessed manufacturers are using one set of quality standards for India and another set for their exports?

This certainly gives a new dimension to the term "built to a cost".

Im a little worried now, since we bought an I20 ten months ago, for my Dad and I hope such things do not happen to that car!

Well, honestly speaking the i20 is a reliable car. I am saying this because I have been owning an i20 over some years now. No major problem has appeared yet. It depends on a person's driving style and at the same time the level of maintenance. If you love your car and show it, probably it will accompany you for a really long time.

[Mr.Boss]

Originally Posted by Soham Sen

It depends on a person's driving style and at the same time the level of maintenance.

Partly agree with you, but the cases like pulley falling out has got nothing to do with any level of maintenance. Bolt got snapped and pulley comes out, what regular maintenance should we do with this case? Unscrew and inspect the bolt for every service? Then each and every fastener in the car to be inspected on the same way which is next to impossible.

This case is either related to a design flaw or a quality issue. Either case, manufacturer should replace the faulty part through recall campaign or atleast during regular service (I don't support option 2, but even that is one of the way)