so the other day i was driving about 30 min from home and i heard this flapping noise. I pulled over and looked at my tires( last time i heard it some duct tape was stuck to my front tire). I didint see anything so just as im about to get up i notice a peice of my serpentine belt was hanging down and thought to myself " this isnt right":S. so i turn around to go to the nearest shop to get it on a hoist and i hear the entire belt snap off and my batery light comes on. when we got the car on ther hoist the entire belt was just tiny strands of rubber and when we 1st looked at the car it looked as if the alternator was seized causing the belt to snap but part of the belt wrapped inbetween the pulley and the alternator causing it to not turn freely. 1 hr & $100 later i finaly have my belt changed. i was just wondering even if my belt was old and cracked should it have just snapped like this?

never had it happen before so im just wondering

 

It's going to be tricky to know since the belt has been destroyed.

Generally if the belt is more than 60k old or has cracks running the whole way across the ridged side, it's trash. If there are any tiny chunks missing from the ridged size it's trash.

Dave