Heard a strange noise this morning on my way to work...opened the hood when I got here and sure enough the belt was off by a rib. The belt seems fine, and is still intact.

Two questions...

1) Is it ok to drive the car home after work? Its about 5 miles. I don't really want to work on the car in my company parking lot if I don't have to.

2) Could it simply be because the belt was loose? I left it loose on purpose to make sure that everything was happy...Could it being too loose allow it to hop off?

 

Don't boost, get it home, I wouldn't want to work on it in my parking lot either.

 

Check belt alignment... see [maxi-overdose]'s threads/posts regarding alignment problems.

 

Don't drive around with the belt like that!
The pulley edge will cut off the rib and that bit of loose rubber will be whipping against the hood liner creating a hole.

 

Thanks guys. I got home with no problems. The belt has lost a rib, but for now I left it on as I don't have time to change it tonight. The belt was obviously looser than before (as is normal with belts). I left the belt on loose to begin with to make sure there were no alignment problems, but now I think it may have jumped because of the lack of tension.

Sound reasonable?

 

Very reasonable, that thing gets humming pretty good, at high RPM, good tension is a must.

 

Any damage using a belt with 5 ribs for a while? I understand that it will be more prone to slip...but beyond that?

 

IMHO no, as long as you have good tension

 

Thanks for all the help.