2001 Chevy Impala engine trouble?

JHUNTER915

MEMBER
2001 CHEVROLET IMPALA

Other Category problem
2001 Chevy Impala 6 cyl Wheel Drive Type unknown Automatic 110000 miles

My power steering belt broke off. I was stranded and had to get the car home so took out the belt and tried to drive it home without powersteering. The car stalled, had to pull it into a parking lot. It will start, temporarily, but all the gauges go haywire, the battery clicks on and off, and the dashboard lights flash. Then the car stops. Is this an alternator problem? Also, before this all happened, when the ignition was shut off, some fan under the hood would keep running for a period of time. At the same time this happened, I went from 30 mpg to 20 mpg. Can anybody get me going in the right direction? Please.

1 Reply

MERLIN2021

MECHANIC
17,250 POSTS

First thing to check if all this stuff worked before you lose the serp belt, the battery needs to be fully charged, or the relays and modules in the car won't power up correctly! Charge the battery and install a good belt DO NOT charge battery while still attached to the battery cables in the car! Also if the belt broke find out if all the pulleys rotate freely! Except the crank! You might find a bad tensioner or idler pulley.