[jared81]

2003, 330ci. last night im driving home from work and my car started over heating. a red (battery looking) light came on. i figured it was the alternator belt (which is overdue to be replaced). i left the car at the location it broke down. i came back this morning to take a look before i get it towed to my buddies shop. and i noticed a hose looking thing that looked disconnected from itself. it is right near the belt, in the very front. what else could i of screwed up by having my belt pop? any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[MicahO]

2003, 330ci. last night im driving home from work and my car started over heating. a red (battery looking) light came on. i figured it was the alternator belt (which is overdue to be replaced). i left the car at the location it broke down. i came back this morning to take a look before i get it towed to my buddies shop. and i noticed a hose looking thing that looked disconnected from itself. it is right near the belt, in the very front. what else could i of screwed up by having my belt pop? any help would be greatly appreciated.

Are you saying your belt broke while you were driving? Or is the belt still intact and just looks like crap? Driving the car without the belt would be a bad thing - the 'alternator belt' drives the water pump. It also drives the power steering pump, so I doubt that you were driving without it and didn't notice.... A 'red (battery looking) light' is not the overheating indicator, what was your temp gauge doing?

What was the broken hose previously connected to? You say 'disconnected from itself' which sounds like it may have been broken. But was this a 2" diameter cooling system/radiator hose, or one of the other myriad hoses and lines on this motor?

Now if a cooling hose broke, and sprayed your alternator down with a coolant bath, I could see that the car might both overheat and have an electronic problem...... Was there fluid coming from the car?

 

[vavet5308]

If you had a coolant hose rupture and spray down the alternator pulley with coolant, it could've reduced the friction between the belt and pulley enough to allow the belt to slip on the pulley. This would've caused the alternator to stop turning - so it would stop charging the battery, thereby illuminating the battery warning light.

Regardless of what happened - good call to leave the car in place and get it towed to the shop for inspection.

 

[jared81]

Are you saying your belt broke while you were driving? Or is the belt still intact and just looks like crap? Driving the car without the belt would be a bad thing - the 'alternator belt' drives the water pump. It also drives the power steering pump, so I doubt that you were driving without it and didn't notice.... A 'red (battery looking) light' is not the overheating indicator, what was your temp gauge doing?

What was the broken hose previously connected to? You say 'disconnected from itself' which sounds like it may have been broken. But was this a 2" diameter cooling system/radiator hose, or one of the other myriad hoses and lines on this motor?

Now if a cooling hose broke, and sprayed your alternator down with a coolant bath, I could see that the car might both overheat and have an electronic problem...... Was there fluid coming from the car?

right when the car over heated i pulled over. there was fluid all over. it wasnt just a little hose. it looked like it was connected to something solid. the belt looks like crap. car is at 90,000 miles, so thats why i think it was the belt. the temp gauge was creeping up to red before i pulled over.

 

[MicahO]

right when the car over heated i pulled over. there was fluid all over. it wasnt just a little hose. it looked like it was connected to something solid. the belt looks like crap. car is at 90,000 miles, so thats why i think it was the belt. the temp gauge was creeping up to red before i pulled over.

Hopefully the aAlternator belt just spun free when it got wet and you don't need a new alternator. I'd guess the hose that popped was the top hose from the expansion tank. You'll need a belt, but you knew that.

When they do the hoses and expansion tank, have them replace the water pump and thermostat as well. Get it all done at once. You pulled over quickly, so there should be no other damage.