[Mk2] [NA] Fan/alternator belt just gone!!!

[billyboy1990]

Hey,

Driving along to a massive squeak then all of a sudden no squeak and 4 warning lights pop up batter a (!) and some sort of oil? And engine? Light?.
I plan on getting this fixed within the next couple of days but is it ok to make short trips to the train station for work or is that a NO NO! I'm aware I will have to charge the battery my self.

Thanks Billy.

[Harold]

I think a member on here said that with a knackered alternator the car would only drive for 10 miles before it conked out. So they'd have to be exceptionally short journeys.

[g.lewarne]

you should get quite a bit more than 10 miles during daytime, with NO accessories / lights turned on

[billyboy1990]

So I won't encounter any further problems hilt driving it with no alternator?

[SFLee]

drain the battery to low level may kill the battery,

it may also be dangerous if you run out of power when your brake light dont work and a 20 ton lorry going from behind

[Steve Horrocks]

It's more than likely the alternator belt has snapped. Just pop to halfords or similar & get one. Spend half hour on your car. Then you can do any journey you want!

[ShrewdPhoenix]

Exactly the same thing happened to me on the motorway. Thankfully my battery is really good. On my car (rev 1) the water-pump isn't connected to the fan-belt, so I didn't need to worry about the car over-heating, etc. After it snapped I drove 10 miles home (driving slowly with heater/radio off to save electricity). The next day I drove 20-30 miles to my uncle's garage where I'd already arranged to have it replaced that day.

Hope this helps
Laura

[marktullett]

I wouldn't run it for too long, its a bit of a problem when the power steering goes.