my girlfriend's mom drives a pink atx zetec, and she has had a recent problem. She started the car and the battery light came on and the power steering didn't work. She limped home, and I checked it out. I guessed it would be the serpentine(main drive) belt, and I was right. The crank pulley turns, but the belt stays still. It is intact over all of the different pulleys, but it looks old and worn full of cracks. The belt looks like it is seated correctly on all of the pulleys, but it wont turn. Could a bad belt just slip while the crank pulley turns. I figured for the belt ot stand still it would either be broken or off of the crank pulley. She is taking it to her mechanic. Should a new belt fix her problems? Thanks for your help. I would have changed the belt myself, but I would hate to have something go wrong after I changed the belt. They are not car people, and my working on the car before it broke would look like it was my fault.

Originally posted by RandyCSVT:

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...Could a bad belt just slip while the crank pulley turns....

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Yes. It could also be a bad tensioner but based on your description, it is probably time for a new belt.

Edit. If one of the accesories (alternator, power steering, compressor) has a pulley stuck, it could also prevent the belt from turning. That could be confirmed but taking out the belt and manually turning the pulleys.