brink's unfortunate events.

[brink]

So im driving along today, after hearing first off that i have a leaking intake gasket and its leaking a little bit of antifreeze, estimated price of $500 for labor charges to get it fixed, and my parents said they would get it fixed for me on monday. So blah blah, my step dad drag races and has 4 z28's in the driveway (2 97's and 2 78's) says ill be fine as long as i keep antifreeze in there until Monday.

On my way home i notice my 'check gauges' light comes on.. and im thinking . o ****!.. shortly after, my engine gets to half way hot and i just pull over and turn it off so i dont **** anything up royaly. I call my parents and im checking out under the hood, when what do i notice? My belt is completely off, no, no broken, off. And its all in one piece.

So here I am 1am in the morning on my way home, its raining and pitch black outside. My first thought was that my idler pulley broke off or something, i check, using the light off my cell phone, all my pulleys are in tact. I did notice when i was pulling over that my power steering wasnt working. So then i realized my problem: the alternator. I got in my car, turned the key to see my battery power...completely gone. My alternator was dead and the pulley stopped, thus causing the belt to be thrown off without breaking.

My parents call a tow truck and its in the driveway now.. at least ill have everything fixed on monday when we take it in to the shop, so im happy.. But isnt that a *****? 500$ to put a gasket and now what.. 200$ more to get a new alternator put on?

Just wanted to share that little story with you guys because well.. im bored.. ;)

-Torre

[vanbibber]

200 for a new alternator? try like 80 at the most. i dont think that the altenator going out would make the belt pop off... it will still go even if it dies. i went through 3 alternators in a week and half time period and never had that happen.

why not save the money and do it yourself?

[brink]

probably will end up doing that -- yea with the antifreeze leak and the alternator stopping , im pretty sure its enough to make a belt slip off.

(the antifreeze getting on the belt + the pully stopping)

[vanbibber]

the alternator pully shouldnt stop though

[brink]

well if the alternator dies on a 98 camaro then it will discharge the battery, and make the pulley stop.. i mean if the alternator is dead.. the pulley will obviously lock up..

[brink]

wait a second, obviously if my belt is off the alternator isnt going to work.. so what i think happened is that since it was sqeeking earlier today, the belt mightve been half way off and in one of the grooves of the belt stuck is one of the sides of the pulleys and thats what kept it running.. So basically my alternator probably isnt even bad.. it just didnt have anything pulling on it to make it run..

Wow i feel like an idiot .. rofl

[vanbibber]

yeah it discharges the battery becuase the battery becomes the main power source. the battery is really only used to start the car.its not meant to power the car normaly. the altenator takes over after the car is started and powers everything and charges the battery. the alternator should never lock up and cause the belt to come off. why else would you need the alternator. im almost positive that the alternator shouldnt lock up and cause the belt to come off. like 99% sure of it.

[vanbibber]

Originally posted by brink:
wait a second, obviously if my belt is off the alternator isnt going to work.. so what i think happened is that since it was sqeeking earlier today, the belt mightve been half way off and in one of the grooves of the belt stuck is one of the sides of the pulleys and thats what kept it running.. So basically my alternator probably isnt even bad.. it just didnt have anything pulling on it to make it run..

Wow i feel like an idiot .. rofl

eh.... it happens :D saved yourself 200bucks

[brink]

haha yea thanks for making me realize that man.. i aprreciate it... i guess when i was going 120 on the interstate + the antifreeze, the belt by some freak accident slipped into the groove of it or something.. eh how knows, everything should work out fine

[vanbibber]

good luck with it man.

you might want to check your tensioner pully though just in case.

[brink]

aite i will remember to do that tomorrow.. if its not that hopefully we'll just be able to put the belt back on..

[phoenix6]

Brink ur on here too? LOL Im shinji2k3 on LS1.com I saw this post there to, :-P anyways, good luck with it man, hope all gets fixed.

[brink]

yea i think we're going to put the belt back on today and see whats happening.. and then they're fixing the gasket tomorrow

[brink]

what are some others reason my belt wouldve came off like that without breaking?

[asdf1234]

Originally posted by brink:
i guess when i was going 120 on the interstate

HPTuners?

And i'm not sure if the antifreeze would have caused the belt to slip off, but I had a power steering leak once and power steering fluid (more oily) got all over my belt and it slipped off while i was doing donuts so... its possible?