battery warning light

[rdragon]

hi,

i hope someone can help me out. i've been hearing a weird rattle noise in the engine area so i made an appointment tomorrow to get it checked up. however, as i was driving back home today, the noise stopped and the battery warning light came on. steering became real difficult (luckily this happened as i was turning into my driveway).

so in reading the manual it sounds like the drive belt is broken. is that correct? if so, is this a major problem? can i still drive it to the dealer tomorrow morning?

[babbott]

Sounds like your diagnosis is correct, failed serpentine belt. I would not attempt to drive the car in this condition as the serpentine belt also runs the water pump. It is not a difficult task to replace the belt yourself, for instructions see

http://www.renntech.org/forums/index.php?s...t=0entry10610

[deliriousga]

My money's on dead alternator bearings locking up and freezing the belt. The rattling you heard was probably the worn bearings. I had a similar rattle in those bearings and the idler rollers. Several people on different forums have had the alternator rattle problem. It can be remedied for about $100-$150 by finding a local alternator rebuild shop or you can get a replacement for about $400 (those are part prices, no labor included).

If it is the alternator freezing up, have the belt and idler rollers changed too, especially if you're over 40K miles.

Like babbott said, easy belt replacement and the alternator is not hard either. It only has two bolts holding it in. The three idler rollers are each held in with one bolt.

Edited September 15, 2005 by deliriousga

[rdragon]

thanks for your responses...i'm getting it checked out