Urgent No Pwr Steering

[rvnmaniac]

A mile from work i made a right hand turn and all of a sudden i have
no power steering and all kinds of lights on the dash came on, pwr
steering light, battery light, ABS, and a few more. Facing the engine
it's the upper left pulley that came off of it's belt. What ever bolt
holds that pulley on is gone and the pulley may be stripped. The belt that this pulley was on controls what, other than the obvious right now which is the Pwr Steering? The other belt is okay. Trying to figure if i can drive it
about 5 miles to a service shop or do i need to have it towed away. Any
help would be appreciated. The belts were recently changed but the work was performed in New Jersey so i can't take the car back there. I'm thinking the bolt for that pulley may not have been torqued properly and came loose.
THANKS
HENRY

[dcarrb]

That belt also drives the alternator, which means you won't drive far without it. Is the nut in the hub of the idler (tensioner) pulley missing? Does the pulley turn freely?

dcb

[rvnmaniac]

The bolt had worked itself loose and the pulley had come off and was just lying on top of the lower 2 pulleys. Lucily someone felt i've been through enough pain and anguish this year after double knee surgery just 2 months ago. Still going through therapy. We found the bolt stuck in the lower housing. Bolted everything back up and all is good now, at least i hope so. i have't driven anywhere yet but all the warning lights are off and the bolt seems tight and the belt is tight. I'll check the bolt's torque once i get home. If anything it is probably slightly over torqued right now. No torque wrench available at the moment.........

HENRY

[dcarrb]

Ther was a recent thread on how to properly tension and set the idler pulley. You ought to do a search and check it out.

dcb