I searched for a little bit and didn't find anything so I thought I'd just ask. I let a friend borrow the car and the ac/alternator belt broke while he was driving. I have no idea how far he drove without a belt. I know you can mess a lot of stuff up running the engine w/o belts. What should I check to make sure everything is still ok? Thanks in advance.

Burt

 

The alternator wasn't charging the battery if the belt wasn't intact. So your battery might need to be charged if the car doesn't start after you replace the belt. Other than that, no harm was probably done. The belt doesn't drive the water pump on these cars.

 

^^^ yup.

 

Thanks guys. The battery was dead. I found the reason for the broken belt. When I put a new one on, the tensioner pulley was making a screeching noise and the bearing was bad. I had changed the belt on the side of the road where the car died because the battery was dead. I was about a mile from home and I thought I might be able to get it there. After about a block I heard a clunk and then I ran over something. The tensioner pulley fell off and since the alternator was no longer turning and the battery wasn't charged I coasted to a stop on a red curb in front of the local junior high. Very cool. Not the was I wanted to spend my monday morning. Anyways I got it running again and that part works fine. I don't know if this happened when the belt broke or not but the wire for the sensor that is plugged into the oil pan came out of the plastic connector and I don't really know how to reattach it. Can I solder it in there or should I get a new connector and just fuse the wires? Thanks again guys.

 

Do yourself a favor and stop lending your car to a friend! I stopped that practice years ago when I lent my BMW to a friend who promptly rolled it and totalled it. Never again!

 

Are you talking about the crankshaft position sensor, which is directly under the crankshaft pulley? What do you mean it "came out of the plastic connector?" The connector broke? The connector got disconnected? The sensor itself broke off? If the wires aren't broken and only the connector is cracked, you can zip tie the two halves of the connector together. If one end of the connector is torn up, then yes you'll have to get a new/junkyard connector, cut your broken one off, and solder or butt crimp the wires from your old sensor to the wires on your new one.

If you're talking about a sensor that really does plug into the oil pan, that would be the oil pressure sending unit. But it's hard to see how that could get torn up with the belt came off. Anyway the fix is the same.

 

You should have your friend fix it for you.

 

I got everything back the way it should be. The sensor was the one that is just above the oil pan drain bolt. The wires had just gotten pulled out of the connector. I would take a picture to post but I'm on vacation and currently 700 miles away from the car. I just took the connector out and was able to crimp the metal part of the connector back on the wires. I don't know if it's a permanent fix but it worked for now. I think I'll get a junkyard part when I get back so it's more comforting on my mind. Works like a champ. Thanks again guys.