Hi Guys,


Wish you all a very happy new year.

I have a question hope you guys can help.

I have a Fiat Punto Evo (2010) which I have not been using for 3 months, yesterday I tried to start the car but it not start so I suspected the battery might have died.

So I charged my battery with 12v car battery charger for 8 hours and when the led of the charger showed it has done 98% I took it off from the charger.

When I started the car then I started to see smoke coming out of the car , immediately I stopped the car and when I looked where the smoke was coming, I noticed the serpentine/alternator belt has broken.

I have ordered a new serpentine belt and when I tried to install it , I noticed the alternator rotor (AC) on which the belt goes on, is not rotating but the other rotors where the belt goes is rotating.

Is it normal for AC rotor not to rotate but others rotors to move for the serpentine belt. Will it only move when I start the car?

Hope my question makes sense.

Thanks for your help in advance

AC is normally a term for aircon.
The crank pulley of course will only move with the engine. All other pulleys should move easily without a belt on, including the tensioner, if fitted. (Aircon cars have a sprung tensioner pulley, non-aircon usually use the alternator to tension the belt.)
If the alternator pulley is not turning, you need an alternator. It has seized, which caused the belt to burn as it was dragged across the stationary pulley.

Disconnect the battery before removing the alternator.

Thanks, I will have to order a new alternator as the pully is not turning.

Can I drive the car to the garage without the serpentine belt, it's about 6 miles from where I live.

reachbesal said:

Thanks, I will have to order a new alternator as the pully is not turning.

Can I drive the car to the garage without the serpentine belt, it's about 6 miles from where I live.

Click to expand...

The petrol engine drives its water pump from the cambelt, so theoretically you can drive without the belt. All electrical functions will be off the battery, so likely the power steering will not work at all, so will be very heavy, potentially dangerous. Would need a fully charged battery to power the engine management and ignition, and you need a route that gives plenty of breakdown parking options. Break down on a fast road, and you'll get hit.

Do you have breakdown membership? AA, RAC, Green Flag, etc.? If so, does it cover 'at home'. If it does, they may well tow it to the garage for you. Or ask the garage if they can collect, knowing the problem.

Personally I would not be trying to drive it that far on the battery.

reachbesal said:

I have ordered a new serpentine belt and when I tried to install it , I noticed the alternator rotor (AC) on which the belt goes on, is not rotating but the other rotors where the belt goes is rotating.
Is it normal for AC rotor not to rotate but others rotors to move for the serpentine belt. Will it only move when I start the car?
Hope my question makes sense.

Click to expand...

Are you talking about the aircon pulley (AC)? Does that not rotate when you take the belt off? Is that stuck?
If so, it may be due to broken bearing inside the AC compressor.
If you are talking about the alternator pulley being stuck, that is due to the alternator being broken.
The flywheel on the other hand, it's very hard to be rotated, impossible with bare hand. That rotates when you starte the engine.

Could it be the alternator has seized as the car was sitting ideal for 3 months. I was watching a video on YouTube, https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=W0_NwGwyWyk

Looks like there is an easy fix for seized alternator, do you think it's fake?

No, it's not fake. But you'll have to check if that is the case with your alternator. But if the alternator's pulley is totally stuck, chances are it is.
I had this once, a couple of year ago. Car sat about 1 month outside, winter, high humidity. And after puting all back together (repaired CH and other), the alternator wouldn't budge. My mechanic started rotating it with the wrench and after that it was all good. It still works today.

It could be worth a try. Nothing really to lose.

What you are doing though, is using the stator to abrade the rust from the rotor. This is not really a good idea, but the vid guy seems to get away with it. If someone suggested dismantling the alternator and abrading the stator with abrasive paper, we'd all say no. If it just abrades the magnets, this should not affect its performance much, but if it abrades any of the wiring coils they could then fail. But you'd still be no worse off than now.

As there will be no clearance afterwards, it may 'sing' all the time when running, but if it saves your money, you'll have to decide if it is worth it. Give it a go, you have nothing to lose.

It's not so much the rust that gets the alternator blocked but the brushes that swell.