Chrysler Repair: Belts, crankshaft pulley, chrysler town and country

Question
Hello,

I have a 1998 Chrysler Town and Country.  The Serpentine Belt has come off and my husband is trying to fix it.  We are planning a trip within the next week.  If he gets this belt back on, would it be costly to have it replaced?  Is this something that we NEED to have replaced once he gets it back on?  Thanks!

Answer
If he checks the belt carefully for signs of wear and it passes inspection then there is no need to get a new belt. Sometimes those belts come loose on their own when a van is driven thru a puddle of water and it gets on the belt. I had a similar qustion last year about the same belt on the 3.3L engine so let me share that response with you. Let me know if you have a different engine than the 3.3L.
"Yes, my '93 manual says there is a splash shield that in fact you have to remove to take off/put on the belt, so maybe yours is missing? If you have it, remove it, second.
The manual suggest that you first lift the vehicle (but doesn't say why, probably to remove the splash shield).
To remove the belt you find the tensioner pulley and put a wrench on the nut that is centered on its shaft (this is the pulley that is located about 11:00 o'clock relative to the crankshaft pulley and when you put a clockwise tension on that nut the spring-loaded pulley arm will rotate toward the front of the van and thus if the belt were still on would relieve the tension. Because the belt is off you won't need to do this now, but later once you have the belt around nearly all the other pulleys you will do this to allow you to slip the belt over the last pulley, then release the wrench to allow the tensioner to take up all the slack, automatically.
The path of the belt is (starting at the crankshaft and going clockwise from the lower side of that pulley), up and over the tensioner pulley counterclockwise, down and clockwise around the pulley that is the lowest-rearmost pulley (power steering?), up and clockwise around the alternator pulley, down and forward at a 45 degree angle and under a small pulley (counterclockwise) that looks like an idler pulley, up and over the a/c compressor pulley clockwise), over the top of the water pump pulley (counterclockwise) and you are back under the crank pulley where you began (clockwise). The "wises" are not based on the actual rotation of the pulleys when the engine is running (but rather just the static 'path' of the belt; there is an arrow in the drawing that appears to show the crankshaft turns counterclockwise when the engine is running but I can't be sure of that, you can, and so if that is the case all the "wises" are actually reversed when the belt is moving if that is correct).
Let me know if this makes sense to you on your '98 3.3L. If you find that I am wrong please let me know."
Roland