Sometimes your engine starts making a noise, and the only way to make it go away is by turning the stereo up louder. Time passes and the noise under the hood has progressed into a dull roar. With a simple clockwise spin of the knob, the stereo volume increases by an equal amount. This seesaw of events continues until your tweeters are nothing but static and you feel like you are trapped inside the woofer. The racket from your engine bay is completely unbearable, and jerking the wheel seems like the best option. Knowing that bad news awaits under your hood, you reluctantly pull over and take a peek. In the spot where your tensioner bearings once lived is an empty pit of nothingness. Sadly, the bearings are long since scattered along the roadside, never to be seen again. Your miles are officially numbered. I’m not a gypsy, but I’d say a Belt Tensioner is in your future.
Real life? You bet it is.