Shredded belt
 

I just shredded my alternator belt and I pulled over at a mcdonalds. Can i make the 5 mile trip home without damage?

How big is you cars battery. I did over 20 miles on the battery in my Opel a several years ago and 6 in my old SE-R. I can't think of any long term damage. Short of a dead battery when you get home/destination.

I'd drive it and charge the batt when you can. New battery might be cheaper than a tow bill depending on local rates.

My understanding is the "reserve" on a batt is the length of time on battery alone. This varies on vehicle and what you're running. Drive with NO radio or accessories. YES you need your lights if it is dark, but no high beams. Keep the rpm's low. I've also driven Jeep's and the like back to camp on just a battery.

Ok I got home but tons of bad things happened. My ABS light came on, my temp gauge would go from maxed out to cold. I had the heater on max but it stayed cold until I was right outside the garage. Then I popped the hood and immediately smelled an overheated engine. WTF. The coolant overflow tank cap popped off and now the engine is covered with coolant. So now what do I need to do? Im going to get an alternator belt in the morning but what else do I need to do with all the crazy stuff that just happened?

The alternator belt also drives the water pump, which is why your engine overheated and spewed coolant everywhere. The coolant was just sitting in the engine, boiling away like mad. Hard to say about the ABS light and so forth.

Best case scenario is that everything is fine and you just need to replace the belt, top off the coolant, burp the engine, and drive. Worst case scenario is that you overheated the engine sufficiently to warp the head, meaning it'll need to come off and be re-surfaced.

No way to know until you replace the belt and take it for a drive, and not much else you can or should do at this point. Fingers crossed. If it runs well and isn't consuming coolant or blowing bubbles into the catch tank (typically the first indicator of a warped head or ruined head gasket) then you're probably fine.

^This, and a bit bad on me for not mentioning the water pump part. I will go hurt myself for having beer and posting.

Oh god damnit.

To obad I wasnt on when you posted. I would have suggested that you make a makeshift belt using mcdonalds straws.

Yikes!

Good luck Brandon. Hope it's OK.

Pulling the head isn't that bad if it comes to that.

Yeah, it's too early to be freaking out. You're not the first person to do something like this.

Replace the belt, re-fill the coolant, burp the engine, and drive it. If it's fine, then it's fine. If you notice that you're losing coolant, then it's time to start thinking about plan B.

Sorry bro, but that made me lol.

Here's to Joe's suggestion and hoping it works out for you! :bigtu:

And obviously this would have worked and everyone would have burst into song. Requesitng mt.net Macgyver Hotline please.

Was the belt completely shredded? Sometimes if it starts shredding but doesn't break you can take some scissors or a knife and trim it up. Then you may limp it home on a fucked up belt. Doesn't help now hopefully nothing was severely damaged. Also must point out when your needle starts to get to the hot section you need to pull over STAT. No matter how bad you want to go home and not deal with car issues....

These motors do not tolerate running without the water pump, and certainly not for 5 miles. You may get lucky, but it's probably time to start shopping for a head or a longblock.

my life.

This is good advice.

I mean, not as a first reaction. By all means, get out there and run the engine. There is a non-zero probability that it may be just fine. Check the catch-can for bubbles, check the oil for contamination (it'll become milky if coolant is leaking into a cylinder after shutdown and then draining down past the rings into the block), and if everything seems clean, consider yourself lucky.

But if it is warped, it's not the end of the world. Unless coolant is literally pouring into one of the cylinders, you can probably drive it as-is for a little while, giving you time to purchase a used head and take it to a machine shop to have it checked out.

Even in a worst-case-scenario, you're only looking at a couple of hundred bucks. Think of it this way: you're probably way over-due on the timing belt anyway, so this gives you a good excuse to replace it. If you do go that route, add a water pump and a main crank bolt to your shopping list as well- cheap insurance.

Oil seems to be fine. I got the belts replaced (I went ahead and replaced the power steering/AC belt as well) and filled up the coolant. I started the car and it ran fine. I'm not sure how I "burp" the system though?

I'm going to start a new topic on something that came up during all the stuff today.

How do i burp the car?

Pat it on on the back with an open palm.

Jack the front of the car up as far as you can safely get it, secure it, start it, remove the radiator cap (remember: its cold) let it run or give it a little RPM until the thermostat opens and it starts burping coolant out the top of the radiator. In my somewhat limited experience, you may need to rev it up a bit/or for a while to really flush the air out.

Search " magic funnel " and read all 8 threads that result for more clues.

The goal is to get the radiator cap opening as far above the engine as possible, and use gravity as your friend.