serpentine belt.....

[ecko614]

so i been having quite a few problems wit my beast(power steering pump, heater not blowing out warm or evn hot air,had a problem with a coolant leak that i thought was caused by the freeze plugs) and i ended up finding out my serpentine belt was split down the middle about 60-65% through the entire belt. Numerous teeth missing and a nice amount of fraying on the outside of the belt. Decided id start by getting that changed first. Went with the Goodyear Gatorback belt. After a nice fight with the motor mount bracket on the engine and about an hour later the new belt was on. Started it up...had power steering. Let it warm up for about 10 minutes...had HOT heat. And no leaking....reservoir still full. Would a bad belt really cause that many problems? and even just by changing a bad belt, would it make stuff better and work properly again? i can maybe see with the P/S....but the heater and the coolant leak? is this normal? or does it sound like there is somethin more to being wrong with my car? i drove it today for 30 mins and didnt have a single problem. Temp gauge didnt raise or nothin....im kinda lost. Thnks to all who give feedback

[Azrael]

If the waterpump isn't getting enough traction with the belt, that would explain the lack of heat from the vents and any engine overheating. I don't know if a bad belt would cause leaking but coolant can boil off when running at a higher than normal running temp. Particularly if your coolant has less than 50% antifreeze.

[IsaacHayes]

Well if the water pump wasn't turning then yeah, no flow, means no hot coolant to the heatercore, and none to the radaitor which would make it overheat and boil over. Hopefully you didn't over heat the engine and blow a head gasket.

Not sure where the coolant was leaking out of your block at... hopefully not a headgasket ...

But yeah that's the cause of most of your problems it looks like you found out!