Power Steering and Battery Light and Coolant all went to hell

[danewilson77]

Unfortunate, since now would be an opportune time to replace everything there.

Agree.

HTC Thunderbolt+TT

[tripod06]

i would love to do all that but yeah, the times are tough right now, just being honest. not proud of it though

[llll1l1ll]

Hey man, sometimes you can only do what you can afford. It happens to the best of us. Don't be ashamed. You'll fix the rest at the right time.

[aurelius]

Let us know if your idler & tensioner pulleys are still there. The root cause of these symptoms is often the idler pulley, tho the serpentine belt can certainly shred all by itself.

What's your current mileage?

[danewilson77]

Hey man, sometimes you can only do what you can afford. It happens to the best of us. Don't be ashamed. You'll fix the rest at the right time.

Fix'd and +1. No shame in doing what you can to keep your wheels rollin. Hell....I cheaped out on tires, and put them on BBS rims. Didn't really want to, but the Khumo's fit my budget better.

[Marcus-SanDiego]

Albert, do your best.

[billschusteriv]

Albert - Hope you were able to bring the car to a stop safely and quickly.

You mentioned leaking coolant? Did you notice an overheat? Keep an eye out for continued coolant loss. That symptom could be indicative of moar problems - I had this happen to me. Be sure to keep the coolant level in the right zone (use the float). You can drive like this for a while.

FWIW, while we all like to talk about what fluids and parts we should be putting in our cars - just know that you can limp along with universal coolant and aftermarket parts. My indy mechanic does it on his own cars - but that's based on his resources and skills.

The conti belts aren't too bad - price-wise - depending on where you can find them. AutohausAZ has them for 9.77 (AC Belt) and 18.15 (Drive Belt). Idler pulley is 24.68 (OEM), Accessory pulley is 17.20 - for hydraulic tensioners.

[wsmeyer]

^^ Yeah, what happened with the leaking fluid?

The most likely scenario is that the water pump failed and froze, leaking coolant and shredding the belt.

William.

[danewilson77]

Albert - Hope you were able to bring the car to a stop safely and quickly.

You mentioned leaking coolant? Did you notice an overheat? Keep an eye out for continued coolant loss. That symptom could be indicative of moar problems - I had this happen to me. Be sure to keep the coolant level in the right zone (use the float). You can drive like this for a while.

FWIW, while we all like to talk about what fluids and parts we should be putting in our cars - just know that you can limp along with universal coolant and aftermarket parts. My indy mechanic does it on his own cars - but that's based on his resources and skills.

The conti belts aren't too bad - price-wise - depending on where you can find them. AutohausAZ has them for 9.77 (AC Belt) and 18.15 (Drive Belt). Idler pulley is 24.68 (OEM), Accessory pulley is 17.20 - for hydraulic tensioners.

Yes....his car went into the red. He lost coolant...but upon re-fill, system appeared tight?

[billschusteriv]

Yes....his car went into the red. He lost coolant...but upon re-fill, system appeared tight?

Thanks DW. I missed that.

^^ Yeah, what happened with the leaking fluid?

The most likely scenario is that the water pump failed and froze, leaking coolant and shredding the belt.

William.

Good call. You could fill the system and check for leakage around the water pump shaft or from weephole on the underside of the pump.

Another possibility - if the water pump was fine and the belt shredded, the coolant temperature could've risen high enough to pressurize the system and lift the relief in the coolant cap. You would see some coolant spots around/under the cap area.

Hopefully the rest of the system is intact and you don't have any small leaks around the radiator, expansion tank, upper thermostat (or lower if you have an automatic), or other plastics.

Keep us posted!