Chrysler Repair: 1996 Dodge Avenger 2.5L V6 belts and timing, 1996 dodge avenger, dodge avenger

Question
Kevin,
Was driving in heavy traffic and experienced power loss at lower rpm's (with AC on and with out). It seemed to be getting worse as a drove. At 4k rpm's it would nod my head back, but up until then i had to floor it to get off the line. Pulled over and looked/smelled/felt under the hood, and found nothing. 5 minutes down the road, the main serp belt (alt, pwr steering) disintegrated. Due to traffic and no where to go, it took around 90 seconds to get the car off the road (engine running). The main belt was seriously shredded and wrapped around anything near it, especially the crank. I cut it all loose, and replaced the main and AC belts. And the car wouldn't start (skipping or missfiring). Called trip.A for a tow. before they got there it i got it started but it was skipping so badly that it couldn't have been any worse and been able to keep running. sat and ran it awhile and then suddenly it started running almost right (maybe 5 out of 6 cylinders). drove it less than a mile home and parked it. the next day it would not start at all. has spark... tried a shot of starting fluid to see if that would turn it over any better and nothing happened. It felt like timing... I checked it and the "right" (firewall side) cam is 3 notches off from it's mark. Why? The water pump was changed a little more than a year ago and the timing belt at the same time, the timing covers were not properly resealed by whoever did the work. I found bits of main belt in the timing belt area as well as dirt rust and sand. Is 3 notches on the the cam enough to cause a valve collision? And as far as the main belt goes.. all pulleys & tensioners turn as freely as they should.

Recap:
power loss
main belt goes
won't run
almost runs
runs enough to get home
doesn't run at all
timing belt off 3 notches.....

Answer
Hi Matt,
I don't know for certain if 3 notches will cause a valve collision, but I would think not. Why not just reinstall the timing belt and find out? I suspect that the broken serpentine belt pieces may have gotten between the timing belt and crank sproket and caused the belt to slip. Resetting the timing is a bit complex so you would want to have a manual (Haynes are good) to do it. Alternatively I have the '96 manual and can xerox and postal mail the 3 pages to you.
Roland
PS I saw your question in the 'pool' to which Kevin had referred it. By the way, did you find out what caused the serpentine to destroy itself? Maybe the AC compressor locked up?