1998 Buick Riviera Supercharger belt

KVBOXERS

MEMBER
1998 BUICK RIVIERA

Engine Mechanical problem
1998 Buick Riviera 6 cyl Front Wheel Drive Automatic 198K miles

My daughter is 18 and I bought her a 98 riviera.
Apparently, the supercharger belt is broken. I want to know if it is alright for her to drive it to work (approx 15 miles one way) for a few weeks until I can afford to get it fixed.
I know I have to find out if the pulley is broken before replacing the belt or it will break again. If the pulleys seem fine then I am going to try and replace it myself. I read somewhere that there were only 3 or 4 bolts involved. Is that correct.
I know the car has a LOT of miles on it I am thinking it does not have the original motor for a few reasons one the engine is immaculate and runs as quiet as a new car. Is there any way to find out if the engine has been replaced. Before I bought the car I did a carfax report and it showed the car was a 2 owner car and it is obvious that whoever had the car took immaculate care of it My question is is it possible fo a car to have almost 200k miles on it and still run like new. Mostly just curious about this part and wondering how long the car will last her.
I appreciate your help very much

Thanks a lot,
Kathy

3 Replies

BUDDYCRAIGG

MECHANIC
2,262 POSTS

Hello,
I'll try to get to the meat of the questions.
CAN THE CAR BE DRIVEN WITH OUT THE BELT.
Yes, but the super charger will be a major restriction in the air intake system. The engine will most likely lack power, and since it will not be responding the way the computer is expecting it to, the check engine light will probably come on.

WILL IT HURT THE CAR
probably not, but no one can give you a 100% approval. Cause there are no documented cases of the SC engine being driven for extended periods without the belt in place.

HOW LONG WILL THE CAR LAST
A car can last forever if you want to keep fixing the things that go wrong with it.
No one can say how long before an expensive repair will be required. Even if it was my own personal daily driver, things happen.
My 96 Grand Am with 128,000 miles had a catastrophic failure in the transmission 2 weeks ago, no warning what so ever.

Have you called anyone in your area for an estimate?
It shouldn't be that much.