My daughter who lives 1400 miles away was leaving for the airport this morning, backed her car out of the driveway and herd a pop and the car stopped. Appartment maintenance person came and told her he thought her timing belt broke. This is a 2002 sunfire with a 2.2 Eotech. Would a broken surpentine belt cause the engine to shutdown immediatly?? She says sounds different when she cranks it??? Anyone give me any clues? If its the belt I can talk her through the repair when she get back from her business trip....
2002 Sufnire Belt
- Thread starter Kans_Geo
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ericv1984
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Should be able to still drive a car with a broken serpentine belt, but very slowly and for only short trips since it runs the water pump (a long with other things) so it will make the engine overheat if on for to long which also might damage other engine parts.
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In one sentence you say "timing belt" then "serpentine belt" so what exactly did the maintenance person say. A broken serpentine belt should be pretty obvious since it is external to the engine. The engine internally does not use a belt but a chain and tensioner which can fail. Can she take a picture of the area where the serpentine belt is located and email it to you to confirm what you are dealing with?
Belt....
Sorry folks...
The yard maintenace person told her HE thought it was the timing belt..I am assuming he thought the surpentine belt was the timing belt....but my question is would a broken surpentine belt shut down the car???? It won't start etc....Is their some sort of safety which would shut it down immediately when the belt brakes (prevent someone from driving without the water pump)... Thanks for your comments/help!
Sorry folks...
The yard maintenace person told her HE thought it was the timing belt..I am assuming he thought the surpentine belt was the timing belt....but my question is would a broken surpentine belt shut down the car???? It won't start etc....Is their some sort of safety which would shut it down immediately when the belt brakes (prevent someone from driving without the water pump)... Thanks for your comments/help!
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Unless the battery was in marginal state and the serpentine belt is no longer turning the alternator, I would think it would start. I would ask her if she heard any clattering noises the last few days before this happened which would indicate a chain or tensioner failure. If failed she can do major damage to the engine while trying to start it.