My wife and I are planning on gifting her 99 Protege (67K miles, 5-speed, 1.6 liter) to my son. He has been driving it part-time for a few months.
Now here is where it gets WEIRD! My son works from 5 PM to 2 AM. Monday morning I get a call from the kid telling me that the car died AND that it was overheating at the time. He also told me that he got a jump but the car died a block later. This instantly tells me we have an alternator problem ... but it's also overheating (as in water pump). I have it towed to the house and pop the hood. Within five seconds I know the problem ... the alternator/water pump belt is gone. I replaced the belt and battery later that morning and everything is fine ... right?
WRONG! It's Friday evening and the kid AGAIN calls me, letting me know the thing is overheating AND the battery warning light is on. He brings it home and ... you guessed it, the 4-day old belt is gone AGAIN!
I've replaced belts before and never had a problem ... especially like this.
Anyone else ever run into this before? I'm off to the auto parts store to buy another belt that, for some reason will probably last another week. The funny thing is that my wife drove it for 8 years without a problem ... and then all of the sudden the kid loses two (2) belts in one week.
BTW, the outer AC/power steering belt is fine.
Thanks ...