Alternator, belt, or tensioner? Ok...here's some backstory and then my question lol:?
I have a 97 Kia Sephia and about 3 weeks ago the alternator belt either fell or snapped off while i was driving (not the 1st time this has happened). I had a friend of mine put a new one on. Ab a week later the belt starts making that familiar screeching noise, 1st just a little bit and then constantly while the car is running and driving. This past week my battery is dead when i try to start it in the morning. I take the battery to pep boys to get tested and they tell me it cant hold a charge anymore to buy a new battery. I do that...and meahwhile the belt makes a little squeaking noise but its not really squeaking like it was last week. Tonight i'm driving w/ headlights and cd player on, and when i go to turn the heat on the cd player turns off. I'm taken aback by this at 1st so i turn the heat off and immediately the cd player comes back on again. Should i get the belt retightened, or do you think i need a new tensioner? also pwr. steering pump is broke, is this a factor 2?
Forget about the belt. (except for putting a new one on) If your power steering pump is broken, it's probably freezing up and stalling the belt. Your alternator could also be burnt up and freezing up. Your battery could have caused this problem if it was already going bad and made the alt. work overtime. But if your alternator went bad first, it killed the battery. This is common for people with stereo amplifiers that are high power.
About your power steering... is it altogether broken? Or does it just have a leak and you never filled it back up. The hoses are always the leak. They're usually pretty easy to change if you have a set of ramps.
First things first. Have the alternator checked. They'll do it for free at most parts stores. If it's live and well, get the damned power steering fixed. It'll be cheaper to have it fixed than to keep dealing with broken belts, burnt alternators, leaking water pumps, and dead batteries, I promise. I fixed my power steering leak for $7 the other day. If you have to replace the pump, it's still going to be cheaper than all the stuff I just mentioned.
RE to your email (I couldn't reply to you):
Well, I'm not sure now that you say you have two belts. The pulley on the power steering pump is definitely going to cause you some problems, possibly causing the other belt to screw up. I'd need to see a belt routing diagram to know for sure. That's most likely where your squeaking is coming from anyway. But the alternator being bad could be an entirely seperate problem. It really only takes one time for you to jump your car off and take the wires off too soon to burn the alternator up. I'd say replace them both. But definitely have your alt. checked first. And definitely get the power steering problem fixed.
By the way, when you say the pulley doesn't turn at all, do you mean the one on the pump or the guide wheel off by itself? And is the power steering belt connected to your A/C compressor? It's usually the A/C compressor that freezes, not the power steering pump, but anything's possible. Talk to you tomorrow afternoon, I'm going to sleep. Definitely email me back though.
-james c
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