My power steering belt is off?
When I left for work yesterday I pulled out of the driveway and it was extremely hard to turn my steering wheel. I noticed this morning my power steering belt was hanging off. I grabbed it and it just all came off. I looked at the belt. It doesn't have any cracks or slits. I'm not sure if it can be worn out or if there could be another problem leading to it? I have a 2002 ford focus. I know nothing about cars.
Sounds like the idler pully come apart, sometimes the bearing goes bad and the plastic pully will melt down without you knowing it until you turn the steering wheel
That car uses the same belt for the water pump and alternator as it does for the power steering pump. Don't attempt to drive it anywhere with that belt off or broken. Have it towed to the shop if you aren't going to fix it yourself or have someone else fix it where it now sits.
It would be hard to be certain that the belt isn't broken by only looking from the top of the engine because most of that belt is impossible to see from above. You have to look from underneath and around (or remove) the dust cover to be able to see the rest of the belt. If you're lucky, the belt just broke and most shadetree mechanics can change the belt if they have the belt routing diagram (easily found online) a 15mm box end wrench for the belt tensioner pulley, a pipe for leverage on the 15mm wrench, and a 10mm socket to remove the dust cover.
If you're unlucky, you could have a tensioner pulley, idler pulley or an accessory or accessory pulley (alternator, water pump, power steering pump) that's failed and caused the belt to lose tension or break. If the power steering pump bracket broke, it could also cause the belt to lose tension. Any of these jobs are more involved than just changing the belt and are better left to a skilled mechanic.
Spin all the pulleys that the belt goes around. Make sure none of them is seizing. The tensioner may be bad causing the belt to come off.
The belt is driven by the crank pulley, which is one of those round things on the front of the motor. The other round things there are driven by the belt. Any one of those could have a problem that caused your serpentine belt to be thrown off. Don't drive far like this as your alternator and possibly your water pump may be in operative. Spin the pulleys to find the problem. Get someone to put the belt back on to go to a shop for further advice. HTH
There are people who DO know stuff about cars. They are called "Mechanics". I suggest you consult one.
Give us some more information.
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