I’ve got a 2015 Chevy Cruze that i took the serpentine belt off of yesterday. I didn’t have another belt yet but I just wanted to get that step out of the way for when i put the new one on most likely this weekend. It didn’t even cross my mind that my daughters boyfriend would come by today & move the car from the back yard to the front. I don’t know how long he let it run but it was long enough to drain the battery. Hopefully that wasn’t long enough for it to overheat. Any other damage it could have done besides overheating?
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Probably didn’t do much of anything. As long as it didn’t over heat.
You will know instantly charge the battery see if it starts. Moving the car from the back to the front should not have been long enough to over heat it unless he let it run for no reason. -
if he just drove it from the back yard to the front (and assuming you dont have hundreds of acres that he had to cross to do so) nothing at all...
without the belt, it wouldnt make it 2 miles. letting it idle is another thing though. assuming he just moved it and parked it, youre fine.
the car will run a few miles on battery alone.Comment
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reading that back, it sounds like it idled until the battery died.... in which case, it might have gotten "a little taosty".
put the belt back on and see if it starts. maybe a compression check to put your mind at ease. either way, this is the point youre at and lesson learned. start assessing the situation and keep moving forward. dont lament and dwell on the situation.Comment
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I'd put the battery on a charger and make sure the CCA's are close to the spec listed on the label. Lack of sufficient amperage can kill the starter upon cranking.Comment
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Thanks guys. I don’t know how long it would idle before the battery died but it idled at least that long. I guess i wouldn’t be shocked to find out that he drove it down to the store to buy cigarettes. I’m doing my best to avoid saying anything about it to him until i know whether or not he did some damage. He’s a little bit of a hot head & considering I’ve never liked him it’ll just end n a fight. Hopefully it’s fine. I guess I’ll find out this weekend.Comment
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It's likely fine. Shouldn't overheat as modern car cooling fans are electric. Water pump I think is electric too on that car. So no belt just means no alternator and maybe no power steering unless that's electric too.Comment
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It's all good... well maybe not for homerj. I actually learned something new. I didn't realize there were actually road going cars using electric pumps as the primary cooling pump these days. Sure, I knew of some auxiliary electric pumps for cabin heating, turbo cooling, etc, but as a primary in a road going car (a "normal" one mind you, not something "exotic") is new to me. I've known of electric primary pumps in race cars for decades now, because of their numerous benefits (able to have 100% flow at idle or even engine off, able to have low or even zero flow during cold conditions negating the need for a thermostat or radiator taping), and honestly surprised it took so long for them to start to become more common in road going cars. -
First time I ran into them was on a BMW/Mini supposed to reduce parasitic loss. -
For turbo cars it also helps with turbo life. I had a 335 with twin turbos and if I drove it hard, the water pump would run a specific cycle after shut off and keep coolant flowing. You could hear the pump going.
Similar to the turbo timers we used to use with modified cars where it would keep car running for a little while after key removed.
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I really hope the battery was already weak/dead, otherwise things may be
I can haz feedback?
If I owe you feedback, just remind me, as I sometimes forget.Comment
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Then I really hope he had a lot of electrical load going, because otherwise running total loss with a good battery was probably long enough to cause a problem.
In the future, disconnect the battery, leave notes on the dash/gauges/windows, or otherwise disable the car to prevent situations like this from happening.
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if its an electric pump, youre fine.
if its a mechanical pump and he drove it, or it idled till it died, then there is most likely going to be an issue.
if you guys cant freely communicate without fighting, then he shouldnt be driving your car; especially without asking or running it by you 1st.
do a compression check and see if it reaches proper psi and if it leaks down. also check the coolant for oil and the oil for coolant.
if everything passes, then youre good.Comment
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Do you really think he drove it? There would have been several warning lights immediately on startup around battery and such. Is he the type of person to ignore all that and just drive it?
If he did drive it and the car started overheating, that would have thrown another warning light.
If the car just idled until it died, then it may not have overheated. The longest a car will run on full battery is 30 minutes. If it's just idling and no load it's probably fine.
is there any charge left in battery? If so, you can see if you can scan for error codes. If battery is totally dead they would be erased.
FWIW, I had a car years back that had custom supercharger. I snapped the belt on it twice and had to limp home both times. I think once it was 5 minutes and once closer to 15. I got home without overheating both times though water pump wasnt running.Comment
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I doubt he actually drove it away from the house but the battery is completely dead. A warning light letting him know the battery wasn’t charging should have come on almost immediately after starting but he is indeed the type to ignore such things. “Doesn’t belong to me so it’s not my problem” is probably hat was going through his mind.
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