Serp belt issues

[79rustyk10]

OK, last night there was the company christmas party. I leave my car at the establishment and get a ride home because I should not be operating a motor vehicle anymore that night.

Today there was snow, Not quite a blizzard, but there was a good 8-9 inches of snow on my car.

Well this afternoon I get a ride back to pick it up, and about 2 miles down the road the battery light comes on. I figure great, the alternator crapped out, and very shortly thereafter I start losing power quite rapidly. I make it a mile from when the battery light came on to where the car stopped dead.

I get out and pop the hood, to see the belt is off. It seemed like I had power steering still, but on snow I guess I couldnt tell, and I didnt go far enough to have the thing get hot.

All the pulleys and idlers are still there. Visually everything seems to be in order. Could busting through some snow at an intersection cause that somehow? I've never heard of anything like this without something else obvious that caused it. Any Ideas?

The wrecker should be dropping it off here shortly, hopefully I can get the thing going for tomorrow. I managed to get the belt back on actually, after having my uncle look up the belt routing and sending me a pic.

I Sure hope I never have to put a belt back on an Escort ZX2 on the side of the road during a snowstorm again.

 

[454Sub]

Could be a loose item, p/s pump, alt, idler ect. Or possibly a bad belt. Or the idler is getting weak and not keeping good tension.

That being said I have tossed brand new belts hitting water at high RPM, and it never would toss it otherwise at any RPM doing anything else. Could just have been a perfect storm.

 

[Blue85]

How old was the belt? It may have just been it's time. When the belt was off, did you grab all the pulleys to make sure everything was tight? Do all of them spin freely? Is it leaking power steering fluid, coolant or anything? Any strange noises?

 

[diesel4me]

Its not all that hard to make a belt de-rail ,all it takes is a chunk of ice,a branch,or stone to get under the belt and make it come off the pulleys...with a spring loaded idler the only thing keeping the belt taught,its even easier to de-rail a serpentine one compared to a V-belt thats adjusted tight,then bolted firmly in its tightened position...but a v-belt can flip over in the sheaves and come off fairly easily too..once a belt gets chucked off,chances are it'll do it repeatedly too,because the cords get twisted in the belt and they will never let it ride flat in the sheaves again...I would buy a new belt if its a ballbuster to replace for this reason,after ensuring the idler and pulleys and bearings on them are OK...you might want to be sure any plastic gaurds or sheilds are still there and intact,they are important to prevent snow ,rain and ice from getting on the belt............................................................................................................................................................................................................I dont like the newer cars with serpentine belts,you lose everything if the belt fails or comes off!...and 99% of the ones with serpentine belts cant be easily replaced on the side of the road like old vehicles with v-belts...my Ford Contour requires a lift to get the belt on or off,and a motor mount,an idler pulley and several other things had to be removed to replace it,and up and down on the lift 5 times ,and about 45 minutes later,it was finaly on!...I cant imagine ever being able to fix it where it fell off!..youd have to rent a car and leave it at a shop for a day,if it failed on your way to an event you had tickets for,if you wanted to get there on time...I'd prefer to be in my old 82 truck if the fan bet decided to fly off,at least I might have a prayer of fixing it right there....or it could be limped along if another belt was still turning the water pump and P/S pump..

 

[ktmoutfront]

Ice on the belt or pulley. Daughter had the same engine. Happened twice in deep freeze.

 

[82355]

My buddy had an '89 Camaro with a healthy 406, and pretty regularly when he would hit the nitrous, it would spit out his serpentine belt. He didn't think it was as funny as I did.

Martin

 

[Deuling]

My buddy had an '89 Camaro with a healthy 406, and pretty regularly when he would hit the nitrous, it would spit out his serpentine belt. He didn't think it was as funny as I did.

Martin

 

[TerryD]

I Sure hope I never have to put a belt back on an Escort ZX2 on the side of the road during a snowstorm again.

We had a ZX2. Twice it slipped the belt off when hitting a little rain puddle. TWICE I was laying in the rain, trying to get the belt back on. The second time, I successfully fought the urge to beat the headlights out of it and burn it to the ground where it sat. It immediately went up for sale when we got it home and I don't miss it one stinking bit. You have to almost pull the motor to put the idler pulley on it (ask me how I know).

My 89 Cavalier ran 230k miles without losing a belt through creek crossings, blizzards, fields, and where ever else we decided it needed to go. The Escort is a piss poor design, plain and simple.

 

[eagle mark]

You can definatly throw a belt off a Blazer in the snow, mud, off roading from debree, done that, been there. Not sure about a Escort but I'm guessing the same.

 

[79rustyk10]

We had a ZX2. Twice it slipped the belt off when hitting a little rain puddle. TWICE I was laying in the rain, trying to get the belt back on. The second time, I successfully fought the urge to beat the headlights out of it and burn it to the ground where it sat. It immediately went up for sale when we got it home and I don't miss it one stinking bit. You have to almost pull the motor to put the idler pulley on it (ask me how I know).

My 89 Cavalier ran 230k miles without losing a belt through creek crossings, blizzards, fields, and where ever else we decided it needed to go. The Escort is a piss poor design, plain and simple.

QFT. If my lighter wasnt in my other jacket I might have.

Ive had pretty good luck with the thing so far, but theres all of two inches between the engine and the frame on the belt side.

Ive also driven through water upto the bottom of the doors with it, and almost 12K+ miles with no other issues than a vacuum leak.