The power steering belt went out while i was driving. I was home in less than 2 mins and shut the car off. Normally it wouldnt be so bad on another car but when i was looking at the front of the block i started thinking what else is driven by the belt? I know the ps and the alternator but i skimmed a few threads and it said something about it also being a oil pump belt. Im assuming everything should be ok since i dont see any other accesorries connected to it. I hope i didnt damage anything.

 

I suspect you'd have gotten an idiot light if the oil pump was inoperational for two minutes. I wouldn't think something as important as an oil pump would be belt driven, but I don't know for certain.

If you made it home without any idiot lights and without overheating, you're probably fine. Change the belt and sleep easy.

I've always wondered why we can't have a proper oil pressure gauge in the G?

 

Didnt notice the OP light but i did notice the alternator light. No overheating and as of now i have already swapped a new belt in along with the oil and air filter. So now my next question what is the oil pump driving off of???

 

Generally, oil pumps are driven off the crankshaft. Think about it like this....the oil pump is, metaphorically speaking, the heart of the engine. If there's no oil pressure, the engine isn't going to last long at all...few miles perhaps. If the oil pump were belt driven, theres potential for very expensive damage to occur.

On the other hand, if your serpentine belt breaks, you lose power steering -not a big deal. You lose your alternator - again not a big deal (you can continue probably ten miles or a little more during the day without your alternator, less at night) and no damage will be done.

You'll also lose the water pump and air conditioning compressor in most vehicles. The ac is not a problem, and while not ideal, if one is dumb enough to keep driving too far, the engine will overheat and the steam pouring out of the hood should get the driver's attention before he/she does serious damage to something expensive.

Not only does it make sense to drive the oil pump with a direct mechanical connection ( metal gears), it also makes sense because in most cases the oil pump is part of a traditional wet sump oil system and is located in the oil pan at the bottom of the engine where the crankshaft is.

I hope this makes sense.

 

Oh yes i understand but this is my first G35 and after looking in there and not even seeing a belt driven water pump it kinda go me thinking.

 

yeah man your fine if you replaced the belt, it should have just taken out your PS and alternator. I snapped the same terpentine belt awhile back, no PS and battery light was on (hence no alternator) lol had no problems with overheating of anykind and i drove it like that for a couple of days before the shop's appointment time was open for me.

 

^^ You drove for a couple days without an alternator? I don't see how that's possible.

 

It depends how the car was driven. Started a couple of times a day and driven just a few miles during the daytime, the battery shouldn't have a problem carrying the load.

Multiple starts, using lots of accessories and lights, one isn't going to get very far.

When I was a teenager, I bought a really old motorcycle that wouldn't charge the battery (I wasn't fortunate enough to be born into a family wealthy enough to buy me nice cars like the G when I was a kid). At the time, I didn't know how to fix the motorcycle, and didn't have much money to spend anyway, so I bought an extra battery and a battery charger because I knew that would at least get me on the road.

Every morning before leaving for school, I'd swap the batteries - putting the one from the previous day on the charger. I learned I could ride about 40 miles during the day before the battery would start to give out. At night, my range with the headlight turned on dropped dramatically to 13 miles.

I rode that motorcycle like that for about a year before I bought a used rectifier for $8 on a "I wonder if this will fix the problem?" experiment. It did.

I've owned a 1973 Dodge Charger for the last eighteen years. That car was my daily driver for seven years, and during that time I had a few alternator failures. I never worried about it, because once I saw I wasn't charging, I'd simply point the bow of that monster towards the nearest auto parts store. I could easily drive 20 miles with the stored juice in the battery. I'd buy a new alternator, pull my toolbox out of the trunk (never leave home without it in a car like that), and spend ten minutes swapping the alternator out in the parking lot.

Granted, the Charger's engine and electrical system are more abacus than supercomputer, but still, the death of an alternator (or belt) doesn't necessarily mean one isn't going anywhere.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/92126010@N00/4819950844/

 

when should the belts be replace so we don't have to worry about it snaping?

 

^^ RTFM! jk I've always waited until I saw cracks start to appear, but I think there are recommended change intervals for the belts.

 

i didnt use anything, no radio or anything uneccessary to drain power of the battery. i could have went longer, still had like half the juice left and was still over the normal voltage, at least the guy at shop i take my car to said that.

 

Good to know it wasn't anything serious. my car should shut of in like 15 min if i didn't have an alternator. I like music and my amps are drawing allot of power

 

Nice. I've had 2 alternators go out (not on the G), but the car was always completely dead in the water within a few minutes.

 

really? damn man your batteries must have been dead, and the alternator was keeping it alive lol

 

^^ I guess so. lol