'98 Lumina LTZ 3.8 - Serp belt

[KKLumina]

Driving around tonight, I noticed I lost power steering on my dad's Lumina LTZ 3.8... looked a little later and saw the VOLT light come on, looked a little later yet and saw the temp. gauge climbing - duh... I knew I popped the serpentine belt. Looked under the hood when I pulled it over and the belt was still there - unbroken even.

Dad doesn't drive the car much anymore - I took it out to get some miles on it. How hard is it to pop it back on? I'm assuming it came off because it's glazed up... I folded it backwards and saw it was cracking a little on the back. The last time I had to replace a belt, it was on a vehicle that had individual drive belts. Thanks for the help, in advance.

[gw84]

Obviously you won't be able to drive very far without the belt on there.
If the belt is unbroken, I would guess that the tensioner pulley has broken. I'd check into that before you try to stretch that belt back on there

[KKLumina]

Got it fixed today... the pulley on the tensioner had seized up... plus the belt needed replacing. For anyone that is wondering how much it will cost you for parts in this instance....

$30 for tensioner pulley (the tensioner was fine)
$50 for serpentine belt (can you believe it???)

Of course, prices vary by location... but that's what it cost my pop.


p.s. does anyone know how to pop a belt back on quick? there's not enough stretch in the belt to just muscle it on there... tried this morning.

[gw84]

ouch!! $50 for a belt??? where in the world did you go? I really hope that they aren't all that highly priced! I thought you could pull back on that tensioner and make them go on easier