1999 Ford Taurus serpentine belt breaking

CLEVEHARTWICK

MEMBER
1999 FORD TAURUS
6 CYL
FWD
AUTOMATIC
180,000 MILES

1999 ford taurus 3.0L w/ac SOHC. Got home from a trip and tried to start the car the next morning. Wouldn't start. Got a boost and noticed smoke coming from right side of engine compartment. Big squealing noise. Then no smoke. Opened the hood to find serpentine belt broken. Checked the pulleys and noticed that idler pulley was wobbly. Replaced idler pulley and serpentine belt. Started car and about 2 minutes later the serpentine belt started to smoke and then broke again.I thought maybe I didn't align the belt in the grooves properly so I went and bought another belt. Installe dthe belt and the same thing happened. Ran the car for 2minutes and the belt gets super-hot, starts to smoke and then breaks. When I looked at the engine befor ethe belt broke, all of the pulleys were turning. The only thing is that I could not see the a/c pump pulley due to where it is located. Any suggestions as to my next step?

2 Replies

JUSTDON

MEMBER
150 POSTS

I would say the AC is the cause. With the belt off and the AC turned off, you should be able to turn the pulley by hand. If that works, you will need to have someone watch the AC when it is turned on to see if it is engaging and turning, after putting a belt on of course.

If you can see all of the other pullies turning, I would put my money on the AC compressor locking up.