Could someone please help answer some questions regarding a snapped serpentine belt on my 2000 Stype 4.0. Can I drive the car to the shop without further damage to the car? Jag shop is about 20 miles away. I have no power steering and looks like the coolant has leaked alot. The only dash warning light showing is the red battery light? Any info would greatly help. Also how much would it cost to replace the belt and coolant resevoire thru Jag Dealer? Dont have a warranty unfortunately...

Frustrated Owner

 

You can replace your belt if you have some simple tools. You only need to figure out the correct alignment (check out the Vehicle Specification Document (2003) in our XK8/R section, it has the belt configuration), get the new belt from you auto parts store down the street, remove your engine cover, get the belt on every pulley except the belt tensioner, then release/move the tensioner pulley using your breaker bar...3/8" I think (heck, I did it with a ratchet and a makeshift pipe sleeve for better leverage since my engine was pretty tight) I think it is counter clockwise, and slip the new belt on. Done! It would be alot easier if you didn't snap yours off to see the correct figure 8's it supposed to do.

And no, don't drive it anywhere w/o the belt, bad things will happen...no water pump, no power steering, no alternator...what else am I missing? Anyway, please don't do it.

 

Here, you've got enough to worry about. good luck.

 

Don't drive it, let alone 20 miles, you could easily write the engine off.

 

But then he could replace it with a 4.2!

 

excellent advice from h2oboy

 

How far did you drive with the broken belt?
You say there is lots of spilled coolant,this makes me wonder if you over heated the motor.
The battery light is on because you are no longer charging and the battery is going flat.If you drove for some distance the battery is probably very low.
A tow is your best bet if you can't install your own belt. Even if you do the install you should have the car looked at.
keep us posted on your results.

 

Agree with previous posts. Don't drive without belt. You can replace yourself but I think you may need to jack the front up to get to the drive belt tensioner. If you lift the front of the car, just make sure you have blocks behind the car and observe all safety precautions before going underneath it for obvious reasons.

PS How many miles did you have on it before the belt failed. I think you are supposed to replace every 100K miles if I remember the maintenance recommendations.

 

yes, learned this the hard way. When i broke my AC Delco Serpentine Belt, i figured i can do without it for the meantime. but then it lead to more serious problems.