Cadillac Repair: altenator fan belt, fan belt, serpentine belt

Question
Bill, I was able to determine, from reading you previous posts, that it wa my altenator fan belt that broke, ie passenger side, no power steering, charge light on. my question is why did it happen, how does my husband replace it and is there any other areas he should check also?, thank you.

Answer
Hi Crystal, Since you don't say year or model car then I wouldn't know if it was a v-belt or serpentine belt. Belts over time get hard, crack and then break. If a pulley bearing was worn causeing it to be misaligned then that could help a belt to break. If it is a serpentine belt then there is a tensioner assembly that you would put a breaker bar or ratchet into and move. If a v-belt then there are at least 3 bolts that must be loosened on the alternator before it will move but you also need to remove the other belts until you can put the alt. belt on, each of which have 3 or more bolts to loosen before the part will move. Hope that helps. Bill