Chrysler Repair: routing belt to bypass a/c pulley, belt tension, dodge stratus

Question
Hi Roland,
I have a 1997 Dodge Stratus with A/C, manual transmission, 1.9L.  The car started making many noises but I continued to drive it.  The other night it started smoking from the rt front and when I got home the serpentine belt snapped and broke.  The belt must have heated up so much that it snapped and broke.  My husband looked at it and found that the pulley/idler for the A/C had seized up.  My question: is it possible to install a serpentine belt for a car w/out ac into my car?  I would think it would be a shorter belt.  If it is possible, do you have a diagram for the routing of the belt w/out a/c?  The car has many miles on it so we do not want to repair the a/c, we would just like to install a new belt and get the car back on the road as soon as possible.

Thank  you for your help!
Lisa

Answer
Hi Lisa,
I don't have the diagram for a 1.9L engine, but I would believe you could get a shorter belt of the same cross-sectional design, and in fact there may be on for the factory available situation where the car never had an A/C. If you go to a parts store or dealer parts counter you could find out for sure. I believe the belt routing might be virtually identical, just ignore the A/C and go either way around the true idler pulley if the car has one as needed (or remove that extra pulley if it isn't used in the non-A/C model)to get the belt to fit properly. The adjustment of the belt tension is at the alternator and that would be continued identically in the modified routing.
Most belts at the parts stores are sold with an identifying number as to the cross-section and circumference so it should be easy to get one that fits. Just verify that you can exhange a belt if it is not the right fit.
Roland