I was obout 25miles away from home and noticed the blinking light on the AC. I turned the AC on an off couple times wit the same results ... no AC and the blinking light. Then I noticed the "no charging" icon in the console.

I decided to proceed home. A mile short of home. practically all the warning lamps came on one by one. Just as I pulled in the garage, all the lamps and display went dead. The red top Optima managed to sustain this long.

The belt was pretty brittle and it had snapped. Bought a new one and installed it. Found the access pretty difficult with my large hands.

At this time, I am not sure if the tension is correct. I checked with Auto Zone and the do not rent the tension gauge.

The good thing is that I was not stranded away from home.

Salim

 

Salim,

Sorry to hear about this, but glad that you were able to correct it in time.

Tensions I see for the Generator drive belt (related to Air Conditioning and the one that you see closest to you when you are looking at the belts via the top of the vehicle (upper belt)) I see are as follows:

New belt: 165 +- 26 lbf
Used belt: 88 +- 22 lbf

Used belt refers to one used on a running engine for 5 minutes or more. It is recommended you check the tension after running the belt for 5 minutes.

For the power steering belt lowest belt (closest to the ground):

New Belt: 150-185 lbf
Used Belt: 95-135 lbf

 

How many miles on the belt when it snapped?

 

The gauge is about $200 .. can't justify buying one. May be some one can do the unscientific way (with engine cold) .. twist the mid points and tell us roughly how many degrees it can be twisted.

I have about 130K miles +. I will have to check if the belt was replaced earlier.

Salim