drive belt and more?

[hucqym]

I have a 2001 boxster. I've been having this problem with the headlight - it doesnt turn on immediately but only after the engine runs for a bit. I was guessing some battery problem but was lazy to check.

yesterday it got a little bad while driving, the battery warning light came on briefly and went off and right then i also found the steering go stiff (power steering disabled?) and some groaning coarse sound. I was just round the corner from home and so decided to just drive home. By the time i stopped I saw faint smoke billowing out of the air inlet on the side and that continued for a good 10 minutes.

After the engine cooled, i checked and oil/coolant levels and they were normal. Reading a bit from the manual, the symptoms I saw is apparently due to one the two reasons:
1) problem with battery charging unit
2) broken drive belt.

I opened up to check the drive belt and found that it was not broken but had slipped off partially from the water-pump pulley. I yanked the tensioner and slipped it back in place. Turned the engine on, this time headlights came on instantly (although it also worked fine occasionally earlier so cant say it was a fix for sure). The drivebelt was spinning fine and I dont see a visible damage. However I still hear a rough groaning sound. I dont know if it is the engine or some other part. Any clues?

I would take it to a service shop for sure but want to understand the problem myself before I do. I also have a service manual to guide me through. Any quick ideas on what i should be looking at?

[stateofidleness]

might be a bad bearing in one of the pulleys (idler pulley, water pump, etc.)
the fact that it was slipping off means something isn't as "tight" as it should be. im guessing it's a bad bearing allowing the pulley to "wobble" letting the belt slip.

let us know what it turns out to be

[hucqym]

yup! nice guess. It does look like the bearing on the cooland pump drive pulley is gone. I removed the belt and felt it by hand. It seems to wobble a lot. Bearing right?
Thanks for the suggestion!

Also can someone let me know what the part number is. I hope I dont have to change the whole water pump part #996-106-011-55
I would need to work from underside as well I presume? which would mean lifting and hence I cant work on it myself?