Good evening I need some advice ASAP, I have a 98 es 300. I changed my alternator due to my interior and headlights dimming and flickering. Car started fine. Next morning I drive to auto zone and replaced the battery just because still no issues.Couple hrs later my serpentine belt (1st time alternator job and I didn’t set the tension correctly) and the other belt that it shares a pulley with it shredded, power steering went out, damaged the connector that goes to my oil pan and the car died on me while on the highway. I installed both new belts and made sure the tension was correct this time and my car wouldn’t restart just making a loud whining noise. Research led me to believe my starter was bad. Changed my starter and still no luck Jump starts won’t work. My battery terminals are fine, the starter and alternator are installed correctly. The car whines and makes a low rumble like it wants to start but it doesn’t. I’m all out of options. Do you guys think that another electrical component was damaged when the belts shredded off ? Or maybe the belts got into the engine damaging the internal timing belt causing an issue with timing.

 

Please post a video of you trying to start the engine.

 

Hello,

A video of a sound would be helpful.

Tension of the belt won't usually cause it to get shredded, especially if you haven't touched the other belt. The issue may be that one of the components driven by the belt got locked up, which overheated the belt, causing it to snap. The starter is not nearly as powerful as the motor itself, so it will be quite tough for it to turn the engine together with a seized component, causing a no-crank condition.

In short, try taking both belts off and see of that will help.

Hope this helps and best of luck!