As I was driving my 2002 Volvo s40 home I heard a sound like a large snap under the hood. The battery light came on in silhouette and suddenly the car became very hard to steer.

I was able to get it home in spite of difficulty steering. but I am sure that something is wrong.

What could it be?

Any help appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

Newport_j

 

Broken serpentine belt.
Loss of power steering results.
Also your alternator cannot charge your battery with the belt broken.

 

I do not think it is the serpentine belt that broke, that would cause a lot of engine damage. I had mine replaced about 30,000 miles ago. They are good for 110,000 miles.

It is not the engine that is having problems it is the power steering and battery.

There must be some other belt in there that broke.

Any thoughts.

Respectfully,


Newport_j

 

NJ, what he means by serpentine is your accessory belt, not your timing belt as you may have thought.

Have you checked under the hood yet?

 

I agree, sounds like the serpentine belt.

 

I have not checked under the hood. I just drove the car home when this happpened. Thanks you for reassuring me that is may be the accessory belt not the drive belt.

I am a little more comfortable now.

Where can I get this needed belt and how much does it cost?
Did I damage the engine (I only drove it 2 miles after the incident)?

Is this belt hard to replace?

Any help appreciated.

Thanks in advance.


Respectfully,


Newport_j

 

Accessory belt, drive belt, serpentine belt... all the same. Either way, if the car was running, it is not the timing belt and that's good.

An auto parts store should have it and if not, the dealer would. Not hard to change.

Nothing is damaged but the battery may need a charge.

 

No damage. The water pump is run off the timing belt so it will not overheat.

 

Okay, sounds good to me. Since I must replace the serpentine belt should I also replace the tensioner when I do it. I will already be down there in the area working on it. So should i replace the serpentine belt tensioner will I am at it?

Any help appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

 

NJ, I would not replace the entire tensioner if it still feels tight. But once the belt is off try to rock the pulley side to side and see if you hear a click. If the bearing in the tensioner pulley is worn you will hear it clicking side to side and may even be able to feel it. In that case you can just replace the pulley itself, or an even cheaper way would be to replace only the bearing in the pulley. If your car has over 100k I would replace it no matter what it felt like. Also I'm a cheap-a$$ so I usually just replce the bearing in them if I can.

 

I once had a tensioner break which caused the serpentine belt to come off. Did you check the belt? Is it snapped in two? Check the tensioner while you are in there.