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YACT: Lost both belts at once on my Van

dmcowen674

No Lifer
98 Caravan, 6 cylinder 3.0

1 serpetine belt and one other regular V-belt.

Driving along and serpentine started coming apart whipping the hood. I pulled over and saw it was shredding. I figured I could limp it home (5 miles). Started it up and both belts came off immediately.

Going to try and limp it to a shop tomorrow morning (about 15 miles) . No Power steering, no alternator no nothing.
 
Can you say overheating on the way to the shop? Well probably not and yes it is likely one belt took out the other.
 
Originally posted by: dmcowen674
98 Caravan, 6 cylinder 3.0

1 serpetine belt and one other regular V-belt.

Driving along and serpentine started coming apart whipping the hood. I pulled over and saw it was shredding. I figured I could limp it home (5 miles). Started it up and both belts came off immediately.

Going to try and limp it to a shop tomorrow morning (about 15 miles) . No Power steering, no alternator no nothing.

Don't do that. Your car will overheat and possibly cause a lot more damage than a couple belts. Warped heads are not cool. Have it towed.
 
Originally posted by: fredtam
Can you say overheating on the way to the shop?

It did very well with the 1/3 the way today. Figuring maybe turn Heater blower all the way up if it starts to get hot as I get into town.
 
Originally posted by: Black88GTA
Originally posted by: dmcowen674
98 Caravan, 6 cylinder 3.0

1 serpetine belt and one other regular V-belt.

Driving along and serpentine started coming apart whipping the hood. I pulled over and saw it was shredding. I figured I could limp it home (5 miles). Started it up and both belts came off immediately.

Going to try and limp it to a shop tomorrow morning (about 15 miles) . No Power steering, no alternator no nothing.

Don't do that. Your car will overheat and possibly cause a lot more damage than a couple belts. Warped heads are not cool. Have it towed.

I could pull over and let it cool down a while too. Going to head to the shop a good hour before they open. They are expecting me too.
 
Doesn't sound like a good idea at all. Why not take a crack at installing them yourself? You'll see right away if another component is screwed up.
 
if one of those belts goes to the water pump, the turning-on-the-heater method won't work too well. Think about it...if the heat isn't being transferred from the engine to the heat exchanger, how will turning the heat on help?
 
Originally posted by: dmcowen674
Originally posted by: fredtam
Can you say overheating on the way to the shop?

It did very well with the 1/3 the way today. Figuring maybe turn Heater blower all the way up if it starts to get hot as I get into town.
That isn't going to do anything since your water isn't going to be circulating.

Don't do it. 15 miles with no circulation is too far, unless you want to let it sit for 30 mins every 5...

Or you just don't care about your engine, lol.
 
i guess your car needs no water and no power to get it there

if your battery doesn't die after 2 blocks your engine seizing will surely end it all

why not shell out the $30 bucks for both belts and then get it to a garage to see if something else is messed up
 
Originally posted by: Ladies Man
i guess your car needs no oil, no water, and no power to get it there

if your battery doesn't die after 2 blocks your engine seizing will surely end it all

why not shell out the $30 bucks for both belts and then get it to a garage to see if something else is messed up
Fortunately, most(all?) car engines' oil pumps aren't powered by the external belts. 😛
 
Originally posted by: dmcowen674
Originally posted by: fredtam
Can you say overheating on the way to the shop?

It did very well with the 1/3 the way today. Figuring maybe turn Heater blower all the way up if it starts to get hot as I get into town.

that won't do sh1t if the water's not getting pumped anywhere
 
Originally posted by: Eli
Originally posted by: Ladies Man
i guess your car needs no oil, no water, and no power to get it there

if your battery doesn't die after 2 blocks your engine seizing will surely end it all

why not shell out the $30 bucks for both belts and then get it to a garage to see if something else is messed up
Fortunately, most(all?) car engines' oil pumps aren't powered by the external belts. 😛

he's talking about the water pump.
 
Originally posted by: Pepsi90919
Originally posted by: Eli
Originally posted by: Ladies Man
i guess your car needs no oil, no water, and no power to get it there

if your battery doesn't die after 2 blocks your engine seizing will surely end it all

why not shell out the $30 bucks for both belts and then get it to a garage to see if something else is messed up
Fortunately, most(all?) car engines' oil pumps aren't powered by the external belts. 😛

he's talking about the water pump.
He said "no oil, no water".. 😛
 
A serpetine belt takes all of 2 mins to replace you wussy man 🙂. If you want to be a pansy and not do the V belt you could still slap the serp belt on if it goes to the waterpump and make it to the garage fine.
 
Don't be surprised if there is more wrong than just a belt. Have the mechanic check the pulleys for wear and alignment issues before replacing the belts.
 
Hey Quix, how much do you want to bet that the water pump shaft is flailing around.
 
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