phonzie

This morning on my way to work, I got a sniff of something burnt. 2 minutes later my steering wheel began to lock up. I pulled over and open the hood and the burnt smell was coming from my serpentine belt.

Car turns on great, I can drive it still, but can't steer. My questions are, after I replace the serpentine belt, would that automatically fix the steering issue? And what would a hissing sound a week earlier coming from the front of the car, be the reason of why the serpentine belt ripped? Any link yall can post that would take me to a replacement guide on replacing it myself? thanks.

91LS400vgb

The serpentine belt runs the power steering pump, so as long as the pump is still good, your steering should return to normal. Most likely, one of your accessories or pulleys has seized up, causing the belt to break. Before installing a new belt, I would suggest trying to spin each of the pulleys by hand to see if one of them has seized bearings - could be the a/c compressor, the p/s pump, one of the idler pulleys or the alternator - you'll have to inspect each device that is run by the belt.

Lexls has a tutorial for replacing the belt:
http://www.lexls.com/tutorials/maint...drivebelt.html

sha4000

iTrader: (1)

Remember the only pulley that won't turn is the crank pulley at the very bottom. That's driven by the timing belt.

oldskewel

iTrader: (1)

Check your "fan bracket" too. It may spin, but when the bearing wears out, it gets wobbly. When mine went on my '91 with about 170k miles, it made a weird sound like hissing fluid. Did not sound at all like I thought a failed bearing would sound.

Also, when you say you can't steer, I expect you can still steer but don't have power assist. Right?

phonzie

Thank you! Yes, I can still steer but don't have the power assists.

phonzie

Thank you, the timing belt was replaced about 2 years ago, I hope it's not that.

phonzie

I will try that. Thank you for your reply.