Help. Belt came off.

[kel123]

Bought this cheap 93 grand caravan 3.3 with about 350,000km about 750km ago and it had a bit of a whining sound from the start, thought it was normal for it's life. Last night I was taking my daughter and infant grand-daughter home when there was a terrible clunking, grinding and rattling sound coming from the engine. It was about -20 outside so I decided to just limp it home, but when I got a block from my daughters house I lost power steering. I checked under the hood an saw the belt on the left side with all the pulleys had come off and only one pulley near the bottom was spinning. after trying to spin the other pulleys i noticed one wouldn't spin ether way,and was really hot. thought it might have seized up and threw the belt. Is there a pulley in there that's not supposed to move freely, and if not what should I do now?

[RIP]

Not at all familiar with 2nd generation vans but I would think you have an idler pulley and a tensioner pulley. Both should spin freely. Course the A/C compressor, alternator, PS pump and water pump won't but should at least rotate when you apply enough pressure.

[SleepyHead98]

The crank shaft will not spin (unless tools are used), which is the bottom pulley. The rest should spin very nicely/easily. If the belt came off, check condition of belt. Was it just old? lots of cracks etc. OR did a pulley seize up? causing the belt to break? OR was the belt out of alignment somewhere along all the pulleys?

Be advised, I think your water pump runs off the belt, which you just lost the belt, which will cause the engine to overheat if you drive it without a belt. Do not drive it without the belt. Im assuming this is a serpentine system (only one belt).

[kel123]

Thanks for the replies.

The belt is in good condition, no cracks or splitting and is in one piece. The pulley that won't spin is one of the smooth ones and is about 6 inches in diameter closer to the front in the middle. I don't see that it drives anything and it looks like it's not aligned with the others. Hope that helps.

[RIP]

Bump this against what you see on your van. Front of the van is on the right. The link is a belt routing diagram for a 96 GC 3.3 ltr. Should match up. It appears you may be describing the water pump pulley as the one that won't turn.http://ww2.justanswer.com/uploads/dr...0_172139_1.gif

[aleekat]

Sounds like you are describing the one in the picture with no label. Idler pulley.

[Bill Grissom]

I don't know 93's, but a smooth pulley is almost always an idler pulley. It is smooth because it presses against the back-side of the multi-V belt. If it won't spin, the bearing is seized. Simplest is to replace the whole idler. If cheap like me, you can often press out the bearing and install a new one. The bearing might cost $5 (ebay, bearing supply, trailer supply, not thru a dealer or auto parts), but you often need a hydraulic shop press to change it quickly.

[kel123]

Originally Posted by RIP

Bump this against what you see on your van. Front of the van is on the right. The link is a belt routing diagram for a 96 GC 3.3 ltr. Should match up. It appears you may be describing the water pump pulley as the one that won't turn.http://ww2.justanswer.com/uploads/dr...0_172139_1.gif

Yes this looks like the right diagram. And I think your right about it being the water pump because if the idler is a smooth pulley then the water pump will be too as it runs off the same side of the belt. Also my problem pulley is mounted on with three bolts like the one in the diagram.
thanks everyone.

[RIP]

Yes have to agree it's the water pump. The idler pulley isn't six inches in diameter, maybe 3. I checked my 96 in the driveway and the water pump pulley is smooth and 6 inches in diameter.