background:
today, about half way thru the 45 min drive to my girlfriend's place all of the warning lights came on. the car drove fine the rest of the way expect for stalling twice when i came to a full stop. looking at the car after i arrived it appears that the alt. belt broke and the air pump belt came off.

question:
i put the air pump belt back on and purchased a new alt. belt but i can not put it on because there are no tools here. how bad would it be to drive the car home without the alt. belt? it is a straight forward trip almost all highway. i watched the engine temp on the way up and it never rose. can i make it home ok?

91 NA

 

Without the alternator belt you won't make a 45 min drive. You battery will die within minutes.

 

You better get a ride to get your tools..I'd suggest not driving without the alt. Although it could be doable I wouldn't reccomend it.

 

Thats bullshit. With a good charge, the battery could last 45 min, if you kept the electrical load low(everything off except the engine). I think a 45 min drive would be asking a lot from your battery, and it may not be up to the task, though. I wouldnt even try without hooking your battery up to a charger before you left. The battery probably drained somewhat from the drive there. The call is yours, but if it was me, I would have someone bring me a belt and the tools to fix it.

 

Well I haven't had a car last a 45 min drive with NO alternator, much less with one that was weak. And you only need like a 10 or 12mm wrench I think.

 

I drove for several hours on a bad alternator with an Optima Red Top...Stereo cranked, MP3 player running, heater full on...However, it was quite past save discharge levels after I measured it later on. Well below 12.7V...

 

leave so you get home before dark, so you don't have to run the headlights.

and make sure to have jumper cables so you can get some electrons pumped into the battery if you DO run out on the way.

 

Jumper cables won't help unless you connect to another battery for several hours. Jumpers are mainly designed just to get your car started, so the alternator can charge the battery (which, by the way, is very bad for the alternator).