So I was driving my car (2003.5 sedan) a few days ago notice a squeel at start up and the battery light came on, after driving a few minutes notice that my power steering was completely out, drove it a bit more because I was less than a mile from home so I thought might as well drop the car off and take a look. A few blocks away from my house I completely lost power at the pedal so I pull over, open the hood and notice the belt was snapped in half. Parked the car over night and got a brand new belt from the store in the am. Had to move the car by noon because where the car was parked had parking restrictions at certain time of day(School bus zone) and didn't want to pay for a tow. Threw a new belt on started it, shut it off adjusted the belt tensioner, then started it again noticing a white smoke from the passenger side. I had to move the car so I just drove it the 2 blocks to my house. I open the hood when I got home and notice the belt was really hot. Didn't drive it for days and Today I had to get my battery jump after sitting for days from a friend, after a successful jump we both noticed thin white smoke coming from the passenger side after running about a minute, like something burning, a couple minutes later my brand new belt (Gates) snapped. When I touched it, it was also hot again.
My question is what could it be that is making my belt hot? and what is this smoke? Could it be my power steering pump? I also changed the idler pulley when I changed the belt. I didn't notice any fluids on the floor.

 

Spin all the accessory pulleys by hand and find out which one is seized up and needs replacing.

 

Stop running the car and identify the bad pulley.

 

Just a guess but the rubber belt could be slipping on a bad pulley, which would explain the heat and the white smoke. Does it smell like burning rubber?

 

Thanks for the advice/replies, I spun all the pulleys again, Fan pulley spun freely , idler pulley spun, alternator spun, steering pump spun, none were seized. Check for play in the pulleys no play,

 

Have a friend rev the engine to try and see where the smoke is coming from? Maybe it only has resistance when it gets spinning a bit.

 

Just had some time to work on it today checked the pulleys again the power steering pulley had a little play in it, was able to move the pulley front and back a few millimeters could that cause the belt to snap? Just put on a new belt going to move the car from the street into my garage so it doesn't snow again and I get another parking ticket.

 

Just found the culprit the alternator pulley wasn't spinning when I started it

 

Awesome, that's an easy fix. Glad you finally found the culprit.

 

Seems easy enough, but I'm afraid I might snap a bolt head off idk when was the last time the alternator was changed or if it has ever been changed, Midwest winters are harsh on cars mixed with road salt. I'll just take it to a mechanic how much would I be looking at for them to replace with it $400-500 range?

 

Probably less, get a quote from the Nissan dealership as well.

 

An oem alternator is in the $400 range. Can't you just replace the pulley with an impact gun? I know that bolt is on there tight. I'd prefer a locally rebuilt alternator over a new one anyways