serpentine belt failure, over heat, leak

[Neelym90]

So my serpentine belt failed on the highway today, first my battery light came on, so I unplug my ipod, and gps...then power steering goes... so I'm waiting for the next exit, then I notice my engine is getting hotter by the quarter mile...

I take the first exit asap(temp is at "H" for a couple of seconds). I pop my hood, notice all the heat, so I unscrew the coolant lid, and my car starts leaking allllll over the place. At this point I have no idea whats going on, and since its making a weird noise I step back so I am not blown up if something goes terribly wrong.

I wait for the tow truck and drop it off at a nearby shop(still 50 miles north of my house ). The shop won't get to it until monday. Just wondering at what expenses will be racked up... I figure serpentine belt, some labor to put that on, and possibly a water pump.

Speculation? Expected Fees?

[Mike@PureMS]

What motor do you have?
Early 1.8T's had their water pump driven by a belt, which may have been taken out when your alternator belt snapped.

[danphines]

wow dude that sucks. well a similar thing happened to me except i thought mine was overheating but it was just the wire that had come unplugged. the clutch fan ripped off the surpentine and accessory belts as well. how did yours come off?

[Neelym90]

2000 1.8t quattro

not sure how mine came off, but one of the pulleys the serpentine belt was on(one of the lowest ones) seemed loose. I had my replacement serpentine belt in the car, since it was making noise I planned on replacing it soon...not soon enough I guess.

[Mawhitey]

As long as it wasnt a loose bottom crank pulley ? you should be ok i imagine

[onemoremile]

On an AEB the serpentine runs the power steering pump and a small belt goes from there to the water pump. If you lost power steering then you lost the water pump at the same time.

Replace the belt and make sure all the fluids are topped off. Then run the heater and turn the wheels right to left to bleed the coolant and power steering respectively. When you replace the belt check the pulleys for burrs or other damage.

[Neelym90]

Thanks Onemoremile, huge help when I get the car back.

[nimski62]

Thanks Onemoremile, huge help when I get the car back.

And for the record.. its EXTREMELY FREAKING DANGEROUS TO OPEN YOUR COOLANT CAP when you KNOW your car is hot as hell.. you could have burnt yourself badly..

[jrodpikap]

Well, my Water Pump just went...as they were discovering that, they realized my Radiator was leaking at the seam. And while they were in there they replaced the Timing Belt and Thermostat, flushed the coolant system and replaced everything. Got it back today, total bill was $1,374.00.

So i'd guess that is the very high side of what you're could potentially be.

[Neelym90]

Anyone have an idea of how many hours it will take a shop to remove my front end?

[jrodpikap]

A good shop can do that pretty quickly. I believe (off the top of my head) my total labor was 4.5 hours for the job I mentioned above...including taking off the front end and replacing the radiator.