how the heck does this happen????

[slaytalera]

So im driving down I-287 and all of a sudden the brake light and battery light come on...i assume i snapped a belt(again). i pull over and the belt is fine....but the bolt that tightens and holds the alternator in place actually snapped in half, so i had to spend an hour and a half messing around with it and random stuff in my car to hold up the alternator long enough for me to get home(about 45 minutes, all highway). luckily i made it home ok...but has anyone ever experienced that before??

[1996Battlewagon]

Good sweet mother that's weird! If you can, you need to post a picture of that bolt. It doesn't make any sense why it would just snap, it's only holding the alternator and they are not that heavy...

[slaytalera]

Good sweet mother that's weird! If you can, you need to post a picture of that bolt. It doesn't make any sense why it would just snap, it's only holding the alternator and they are not that heavy...


ill take a pic tomorrow, its really is messed up...

[anothernord]

Did you have the belt too tight? You should be able to push the belt down about 1/4". This is very strange indeed.

[green97gt]

but either way, you would think the belt would break first....

the bolt wasnt stripped, it was broken right?

[slaytalera]

but either way, you would think the belt would break first....

the bolt wasnt stripped, it was broken right?


the bolt was broken right off, not stripped, most of it is still inside the alternator. i dont think i tightened it too much, and even if i did, id expect the belt to snap before the bolt

[slaytalera]

pic time...the rest of the bolt disappeared, im assuming it vibrated itself out on the highway

https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2009/08/IMG_1190-1.jpg

https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2009/08/IMG_1188-1.jpg

https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2009/08/IMG_1189-1.jpg

[Grafton]

good lord what brand of belt do you use lol

[slaytalera]

Its an El cheapo auto zone special belt :lol:

[1-3-2-4]

Wow.. I dunno that's odd maybe just plain metal fatigue?

[ShadowGT]

It happened to me, the exact bolt. The alternator slipped from the belt completely and I had to run on battery power to run the electrics in the car until that failed. I was on a road trip 190 miles from home.

I started noticing the power steering going numb and AC speeding up. Then the voltage light and brake light would randomly come on.. then I lost all power steering. The car kept going until the battery went out and the car ran like crap and started misfiring. I coasted into a parking lot on a Sunday evening.

Found the snapped bolt. Had nothing to replace it with so I hung a rubber bungee cord from my front strut brace bar and hooked the other end of the bungie to the alternator. Used that to hold it in place to put some tension on the alternator belt.
Used some hose clamps to rig the tension guide to stay in place and let the bungee hold it up.

Got a good sam to jump start the car.. let alone after nearly chopping a finger in half while rigging up the car (first bungee cord snapped while pulling it tight)

The car ran all 190 miles to home without incident. Went to Home Depot and found a similar size bolt and hardware and replaced it.
Sanity lost: All of it.
Total price of bolts and hardware: 75 cents.

Getting home bleeding but relatively on time after pulling a "midnight Macguyver":
Priceless

Yeah so the short story is:
Yes it does happen, I had it happen.

I know my alternator is bad right now so I don't know if the pulley is messing up and bucking the whole alternator or the power steering belt was loose and caused the belt tensioner to buck and break.