My water pump belt jumped off once due to something
getting caught in there and the heat expanded it and
it jumped the pully track.  Samething, temp gauge was
up and the overflow tank was pissing coolant all over
the place.  In my case, no problem, I let it all cooll
down and put the spare belt on and off I went.
THEN!!! over the next 6 months the water pump went
(bearing due to the over heating) and both heads (on a
nearly new engine) started dripping coolant, and one
other gasket started leaking.  I assume all from the
overheading.  Something to look forward to.  Malcolm

--- SD Kraning <PopTop88@CHARTER.NET> wrote:
> Hi All-
>
> On my way home from work Friday, I noticed the a/c
> dropped to about half power (was on high speed) and
> then my battery light came on. Of course I said the
> obligatory "Oh SHIT!!" and started looking for a
> place to pull over. I was on the interstate, so I
> had to drive another 1/2 mile or so before I could
> even get to a shoulder. By then, there was white
> smoke billowing out of both rear vents and the temp
> guage had started to rise. Oh- and the power
> steering was out.
>
> Opened the engine compartment up to a big mess of
> coolant all over and lots of steam. Another "Oh
> Shit" followed by more cussing. The problem was
> pretty obvious - a belt was off and frayed pretty
> badly which connected three pulleys (I think the
> alternator / ac compressor / and the water pump
> maybe(??))
>
> Any ideas on what would cause this? I'm thinking
> that since the belt didn't actually break, one of
> the components siezed. Not sure which one, but I
> have a feeling maybe it's the water pump. It was
> just weird that it happened so fast - no noises or
> warning signs - just a/c lost some power and the
> battery light came on :(
>
> thanks,
>
> Scott

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