Serpentine belt broke while driving

warpurlgis

Member
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2013 Mazda CX-5
I made this account because my girlfriend owns a CX-5 and I end having to do some work on it.

Today she was on her way to a doctors appointment and she had heard a snap and then her battery light came on followed by power steering and speedometer not functioning. She drove about a half mile on the highway and was luckily close enough to an exit and gas station to pull into. I ended having to come and pick her up. I initially thought when she called me that her battery had given up the ghost because it's getting crusty and is the original battery. When I looked under the hood it I found that the serpentine belt had snapped and shredded. She had it in the garage for inspection last Thursday and they had told her the belt was starting to crack but it should be "ok" for six months. When she had told me Thursday night what they said I told her they were incorrect I would replace sometime this week. Of course, it failed before I got a chance to get to it.

Long story short I am wondering if there is any potential damage to the engine or should I be fine to pick a belt from a parts store and install it. Should we also hold the garage accountable for telling her she should not replace a belt that is cracking immediately considering a belt is relatively inexpensive compared to the potential danger and damage breaking one poses.

Thanks for reading a bit of a rant.
 
I think the only real risk of driving without the belt is that the water pump stops circulating water which could allow the car to over heat. It sounds like she was lucky enough to stop the car before that occured. Replace it. Fire it up. Go from there.
 
That's what I was thinking. Does anyone happen to know if it's a single belt or two separate belts? I found this guide it shows two different belts. http://www.mcx5.org/drive_belt_removal_installation_skyactiv_g_2_0_-1644.html

Thanks
2013 CX-5 has 2.0L SA-G and according to the service manual you posted it does have a dedicated water pump belt. In that case your GF’s CX-5 was in no danger of overheating. I’d replace both belts since you’re there, and make sure to check tensioners on serpentine belt as there’re reports of leaking.
 
All should be well, just replace the belt and move on. Make sure to check the engine bay for any wires/lines that may have been damaged by the belt whipping around. Other than that, you should be good to go.
 
I think the only real risk of driving without the belt is that the water pump stops circulating water which could allow the car to over heat. It sounds like she was lucky enough to stop the car before that occured. Replace it. Fire it up. Go from there.

Strongly agree. Its good she stopped. Ive heard stories of some guys wife continuing to drive after her BMW said engine is overheating. Pull over immediately

And honestly, I condemn the shop that she took her car to. They have no idea what they are doing.
 
Check all the pulleys, they should spin freely without catching or grinding noises. Sometimes the alternator bearings blow up, and the belt gets snapped, even the new one. As for blaming the shop, the longivety of the worn belt is anyone's guess. They don't have hard data to rely on with belts in Skyactiv engines. Nobody has. She's got a warning. She could have called you to discuss. You'd probably tell her to decline and would take a look yourself, with exactly the same outcome. On the other hand, if they persuaded her to change belt right there and then, we'd probably hear a different story of the potential rip-off... Can't win...
 
2013 CX-5 has 2.0L SA-G and according to the service manual you posted it does have a dedicated water pump belt. In that case your GF’s CX-5 was in no danger of overheating. I’d replace both belts since you’re there, and make sure to check tensioners on serpentine belt as there’re reports of leaking.

I'll replace the one tonight and probably do other sometime this weekend as it looks like its a bit different to install than your typical tensioner setup.

All should be well, just replace the belt and move on. Make sure to check the engine bay for any wires/lines that may have been damaged by the belt whipping around. Other than that, you should be good to go.

I pulled the belt when I got there didn't see anything but I'll double check later when I install a new one. Thanks.

Strongly agree. It’s good she stopped. I’ve heard stories of some guys wife continuing to drive after her BMW said “engine is overheating. Pull over immediately”

And honestly, I condemn the shop that she took her car to. They have no idea what they are doing.

When she heard the snap she knew something might be wrong but when the power steering cut out she knew definitely. Fortunately she's not completely oblivious like some people can be.

I took my car there once after I was fed up with one of my previous shops and they sketched me out. I had to point things out to them and had to call after two days for a status update and further to call and find out that my car had been finished. I haen't gone back to them since but her family has some misguided trust in them.

Check all the pulleys, they should spin freely without catching or grinding noises. Sometimes the alternator bearings blow up, and the belt gets snapped, even the new one. As for blaming the shop, the longivety of the worn belt is anyone's guess. They don't have hard data to rely on with belts in Skyactiv engines. Nobody has. She's got a warning. She could have called you to discuss. You'd probably tell her to decline and would take a look yourself, with exactly the same outcome. On the other hand, if they persuaded her to change belt right there and then, we'd probably hear a different story of the potential rip-off... Can't win...

I just did an alternator, tensioner, and belt on an 03 Focus so checking those is still fresh in my mind. Thanks for mentioning it though.

I would only blame the shop because I know she would have replaced if they told her she should do it as a proactive measure not to be in this kind of situation. I did clarify from her further and she said she was willing to do it then but the guy said it should be fine for another 6 months and its nothing to worry about which is not true. Given how inexpensive and how little time is involved with changing a belt I would have suggested to do it if I was the mechanic.

warpurlgis, how many miles on the car, when this happened?

I think right around 70k. I haven't checked in a bit as I don't drive it often.
 
Opinions. Two mechanics will give you three opinions for the faulty component. It is like everywhere else, with doctors, dentists, stock market, etc. But nobody blames the experts there. Meanwhile, auto shops are all crooks if something goes not by their guestimated opinion.
 
Water pump belt is a "stretch" belt... has no tensioner, should probably change this first since I believe it is behind the surpentne belt
 
Opinions. Two mechanics will give you three opinions for the faulty component. It is like everywhere else, with doctors, dentists, stock market, etc. But nobody blames the experts there. Meanwhile, auto shops are all crooks if something goes not by their guestimated opinion.

Opinions are fine and dandy unless it involves a potentially dangerous situation and having my close to 2 year old son and unborn daughter in the car. It's not like it was an O2 sensor it was a serpentine belt that runs two essential parts in a modern vehicle. I've had her steer something for me without power steering before which is the only reason she had control of the vehicle. The belt cost me $17.99 and took me 5 minutes and my brothers extra set of hands to install at the gas station. I understand people have opinions but this was a very bad one. It literally being state inspected by this garage less than a week ago will cost them business from anyone I know that goes there because of such an amatuer descision. I will post pictures of the belt shortly and you can make your own "opinion".

Water pump belt is a "stretch" belt... has no tensioner, should probably change this first since I believe it is behind the serpentine belt

I will be shortly. I just needed to get that belt on to get it moving. I looked at that belt while under and it wasn't cracked but it costs next to nothing so I'll be changing it as a proactive move.
 
⋯ I understand people have opinions but this was a very bad one. It literally being state inspected by this garage less than a week ago will cost them business from anyone I know that goes there because of such an amatuer descision. I will post pictures of the belt shortly and you can make your own "opinion".
Please do post pictures of broken serpentine belt so that we can have something based on to make better "opinions". :)
 
The CX-5 has electric steering assist and no fan belt power steering pump. I don't understand why the steering was hard unless the battery is very weak.
 
The CX-5 has electric steering assist and no fan belt power steering pump. I don't understand why the steering was hard unless the battery is very weak.
I thought so too, but then early 2.0 might be different...
 
The 2013 CX-5 does have electric power steering. My guess is the belt broke the alternator was not producing the electricity needed to operate the steering. Sounds like a good thing so you might be able to make to where you are going without using too much of the battery.
In other words the electric power steering will not operate on battery alone.
 
my serpentine belt broke today on the way home from work. warning came on to pull over immediately. i parked it at the nearest gas station and popped the hood. could see the belt was missing but couldn't see where it went. I decided to drive it home (10 miles) and just took it straight to the shop. mechanic pulled the old belt out. it was shredded. he checked the alternator and the other pulley wheels and they seemed to turn fine. wonder what caused it to fail? my CX5 is a 2016 with only 60k miles on it. i've never had to replace a belt that soon on any car. he said he'll know more when he takes the bottom engine cover off on the lift. he's going to call me tomorrow.
 
my serpentine belt broke today on the way home from work. warning came on to pull over immediately. i parked it at the nearest gas station and popped the hood. could see the belt was missing but couldn't see where it went. I decided to drive it home (10 miles) and just took it straight to the shop. mechanic pulled the old belt out. it was shredded. he checked the alternator and the other pulley wheels and they seemed to turn fine. wonder what caused it to fail? my CX5 is a 2016 with only 60k miles on it. i've never had to replace a belt that soon on any car. he said he'll know more when he takes the bottom engine cover off on the lift. he's going to call me tomorrow.
I agree the serpentine belt should last much longer than 60K miles. But it's made of rubber so anything can happen. I'd suggest to have your mechanic checking the belt tensioner which fails easily on CX-5, and change the second belt for water pump which is inside of serpentine belt. You'd pay for one labor cost changing 2 belts at the same time.
 
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