Driving my girlfriend to work today and the power steering goes out, all the lights dim somewhat, and the battery light comes on. I figured something was wrong with the battery, so I didn't want to stop because I thought it would die and not start again. Drove another mile or 2 to her work and shut off the car in the parking lot and looked under the hood to see the serpentine belt missing. In addition, there was oil all over the front of the engine, including on some of the pulleys. I called Chrysler roadside assistance and had them tow the car to the nearest dealer- no charge, which is what should have happened.

I'm hoping they don't put up too much of a fight. A dealer nearby that was bought out by another Chrysler dealer did the last oil change. Looks like this will definitely be the last time I have them change the oil. The fixing and cleaning up of the belt and pulleys should be covered, but I might push for another oil change for free as much as I don't want them to do it. I have 200 miles anyways before it needs to be changed.

Regardless, my day has been ruined. I hope it didn't cause any engine damage. The temperature gauge never went above the middle, but the fan turned on high about 5 mins away from the destination. Everything seemed to be running fine while it was on though.

 

They probably didn't seat the filter properly. Oil spewed out under pressure, and made the belt slip.

If the new dealer charges you more than the cost of tightening your filter, adding a quart or two, and changing the belt, raise bloody hell.

 

That was my guess. I told that to one of the sales managers (since the service department wasn't open at that point) and he told me they definitely could do another oil change for me. He said it like they were going to charge me for it though, which isn't happening.

Can the filter and o-rings be reseated? I would probably give them some oil to use if they were gonna go that route. I'm really just worried now that I caused damage to the engine, even though nothing seemed to be hurt by it.

 

You said your oil needed to be changed in another 200 miles. So how many miles were driven since that oil change you're talking about?

 

About 6800. I go by the FSS intervals.

 

You never want to reuse those rings... the filters come with new ones. Replace them in the reverse order you take them off, with the smallest rings going near the bottom of the stalk.

I am shocked that it took you 6800 miles to have an issue. Normally, if the thing isn't seated right, the engine gets a bath right away.

 

There's been a slow leak I guess for quite some time. I noticed a little oil around the filter housing but I thought it was just left over from them dripping it on it when they took the old ones out.

Maybe once they fix this, I'll just do an oil change myself 200 miles before it needs it. They messed up on this, imagine what else they could have messed up on.

 

Exactly. What most likely happened was the belt came off and took out the oil filter, not the other way around. If you were leaking oil for 6800 miles, you would have one hell of a mess even before, not to mention you would have had to add oil on occasion. Or maybe it was low on oil but you didn't notice.

 

I've checked the oil levels on occasion since I suspected he added too much initially. The car never notified me of any problems though. The housing around the filter always looked like it was leaking fresh oil though, so that's why it would be my guess. It might have just gotten a lot worse recently. Regardless, they're gonna have to look at it tomorrow.

 

Do you monitor how hot the engine temperature got?

Even with the fan kicking on high - with no belt, no coolant circulation.

Regardless, the oil is toast..

 

From what the gauge told me, only to the halfway line before I shut it off. I figured that the water pump wasn't working during that time and I hope that the fact that it was quite cool out and that I was moving pretty much 100% helped. I really hope this didn't screw up the engine. It sounded like it (the engine) was running fine during the whole thing, apart from the problems with the other components I listed.

But what you're saying is that I should go ahead and do an oil change now then?

 

I think there was a combination of things that happened here. Statement says about 6800 miles sinced last oil change, checking oil level a couple of times, and seeing oil around the filter, and adding oil occasionally!!! Is this right? What it might mean, is that the filter wasn't seated properly (or torqued), and over a period of time oil leaked onto the belt and pulleys, causing the belt to go, which in turn destroyed the filter housing.
For sure ... first of all CHECK OIL LEVEL REMAINING IN ENGINE....cleanup the mess, check filter housing for ANY damage, get a new proper filter with rings, and change the oil. Of course you need a new serpentine belt.
Statement about driving about 2 miles to gf's work and then being towed to dealer, should have no consequences for engine, if the oil remaining in engine wasn't too low.
Good Luck

 

Ok thanks. I wasn't gonna change the oil until I finished up those 200 miles, but I guess it's probably a good idea now after all this. On a side note, I've actually never had to add oil. I've checked the levels through the display and through the dipstick once or twice since the oil change and it was at normal levels.

I just got off the phone with the dealer. By the tone and attitude of the service writer when I told him what happened and what I thought was what made it slip off, it sounds like I'm gonna have a fight on my hands. I hope I'm wrong though. Regardless if the oil is what made it slip or not, the serpentine belt never should have come off like that. I only have 35,000 miles on the car and it's still under warranty.

Just to clarify, the dealer I had it towed to is another one in town, actually, not the one that did the oil change in question. I should of had them tow it there, but I guess it didn't seem feasible at the time since that one is quite a ways out from where I was. Probably would have never gotten home if that's where I had them take it. On the up side, the tow was very gentle and careful with the car. So far, I've had a pretty good experience with Chrysler higher ups and a terrible time with the dealers themselves.

Quick question if anyone can tell me the answer, will the oil (assuming it's still at good levels) be ok to drive with about 6 miles home? I really rather not do another $130, guess-if-we-did-it-right oil change again. I have 4 quarts already and would rather just pick up a few more and a filter and do it myself, especially after this experience.


EDIT: Oh also, for clarification, when this all went, I don't remember hearing any snaps or bangs from the belt going, but like I said, I think it slipped off as opposed to it breaking. I could be completely wrong though, as I was never able to reach the belt and look at it.

God, I hope their gentle with my car and don't break anything. I really can't afford any more repairs right now.

 

OK ..... IMHO, if they replace the serpentine (after cleaning up the engine), and they just check the filter housing for damage AND the oil is at proper level ... you should be able to drive the car back home to do an oil change. Just be sure you "search" for how to do the change including inserting the "O" rings in their proper positions.
Just another note .... our cars have an under engine shield, that needs to be removed to drain the oil. You may find this messy because of the oil dripping down on it, AND you may find the old serpentine on the shield. Don't use this old belt, because it may have oil impregnated in it, and cause slipping ...... Again, search the forum for proper oil changing, and make sure you have the proper metric tools to take off the undershield, and remove the drain plug. Some people have pumped out the old oil thru the filter housing, but the best way is to "drain" the oil. Good Luck

 

If your car is still under warranty - it shouldn't matter how the belt slipped off... next time you should pop the hood and snap some pictures - even have the tow truck driver take a look so you can have someone to back you up...

IMO - You should'nt need to be adding much oil between changes unless your leaking or burning oil and you should always change the oil on any engine that's overheated...

Your pretty lucky, I would think that driving only two miles in a already warmed up engine - the coolant in the engine would have boiled off...

 

The engine stayed cold for awhile actually. It was still below C when the belt came off.

I realized I should have taken pictures after I got home last night, but then I realized that it probably wouldn't have worked since I didn't have a camera handy and my phone probably wouldn't take good pictures in the dark.

Regardless, it's in there best interest to fix it. Like you said, and I thought about this earlier, even if I was wrong about how it came off or anything of that sort, the fact that it came off and there's oil on my engine is a warranty issue.

 

Why can't you simply ask the dealer if they think the belt slipped off or did it break? And why? Ask to look at it; but it's probably already been disposed of. If it's warranty work, they don't have to show or give you back replaced parts is my understanding. On a side note; Would a dealer actually leave a serpentine belt and gobs of oil all over the bottom pan, and call it good enough?

 

This happened to me once too. Was my fault but I thought that oil filter was tightened down. Apparently not far enough. Was taken care of at the local shop in about an hour. No big deal. Actually the one thing I learned was that even if the belt isn't on, the car is not that hard to steer. I check every other week or so to make sure it doesn't happen again.

 

When it comes down to it, it doesn't really matter how it came off. It's still warranty work. I just hope they realize that. I always ask what was the problem and what they did to fix it. Not always do they tell the truth.

Would the dealer actually leave an unfinished mess for me? Certainly. In my experience, these dealers are ridiculously lazy and will do the least amount of work possible to get you back out the door and your money in their hand. I really, really hate Chrysler dealers. They are the reason I will probably never buy a Chrysler product again.

 

I actually think I knew more than this "tech" when it came to changing oil. I had to reset the FSS system for him and he only put in 7 quarts when it was all finished, but the oil was at the right level. Basically means he didn't drain out 1.5 quarts of old oil.

I just hope they get this done soon and get it done right. I would like my car back. It's now been a day and they haven't called back about it.

The car isn't impossible to steer, but if I had to avoid something, I certainly would have hit it.