Said It Here

Drove several miles with a snapped serpentine belt, did I ruin my engine?

Driving with a snapped serpentine belt cuts off crucial functions like the water pump and alternator, risking severe overheating depending on how far and how long you drove. To verify if damage occurred, check your temperature gauge history and inspect the engine for signs of overheating or coolant leaks.

What people tried

Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.

  1. 1
    Replacing the belt and checking pulleys for seizure
  2. 2
    Inspecting for overheating symptoms or coolant loss
  3. 3
    charging the battery after running on battery power
  4. 4
    checking the temperature gauge to see if it overheated
  5. 5
    keeping an eye on coolant levels and listening for new rattles
  6. 6
    checking the tensioner and spinning the pulleys
  7. 7
    Watching it run to see if anything looks out of place or rubbing
  8. 8
    Waiting for a new tensioner to come in while continuing to drive

In their words

Unedited, most upvoted first, each linked to the thread it came from.

My serpentine belt snapped on my way home from work last night. Drove 12 miles and it snapped after 6. Engine was cold from start and ambient temp was 14C°. Did i fuck up the engine?source ↗

Oppholdsnes1 · r/AskMechanics · 2 upvotes

Is this normal after one day of install? Serpetine beltsource ↗

Xeneeo · r/AskMechanics · 2 upvotes

How bad would it be to keep driving for a day while I wait for the new tensioner to come in? Or will that completely ruin the belt?source ↗

Xeneeo · r/AskMechanics · 1 upvotes

My serpentine belt snapped on my way home from work last night. Drove 12 miles and it snapped after 6 and i drove it for 10 min. Engine was cold from start and ambient temp was 14C°. Did i eff up the engine? Its a 1nd-tvsource ↗

Oppholdsnes1 · r/MechanicAdvice · 1 upvotes

Squeeked for 2 days and then came apart.source ↗

Oppholdsnes1 · r/AskMechanics

Where this came up

People with this problem also raised