Auxiliary belt tensioner trouble
The owner of this 2003 Citroën Relay van had been hearing a steadily increasing whine from the auxiliary drivebelt for some time. Not one to take action at the first hint of a problem, he let the whining continue until he arrived at the point where the van refused to start. The reason for this was that he had been driving at night with the lights on and the slipping auxiliary belt had not given sufficient drive to the alternator to recharge the battery.
The belt itself was not in bad condition, but the problem lay with the automatic tensioner, which had worn and was kicking off to one side instead of correctly tightening the belt. A new tensioner costs £90 and, due to the wear in the belt, this was also changed. With plenty of access on this engine, the job didn’t take too long.