Hey there,


I just had my serpentine belt changed on my Monte Carlo, when i get back in the car after they replaced it, everything was fine. I stopped and parked to go shopping, and when i came back out to go into it, the battery light came on..the radio shut off and the traction control light came on on the console. So, I brought the car right back to the mechanic. They claimed that changing the belt wouldn't have anything to do with that, I wasn't 100% positive at the time, but after looking around online...it certainly sounds like that is the issue. Anyways, they poked around in there for a minute, when the care started back up everything was fine again. Once I got it to my next stop, took the key out of the ignition and opened the door and the radio stayed on. Its never done that before, usually when you open it do it shuts off the radio and any lights that might be on. Well, when I came out to the car that night, the dome lights werent working, and now it was saying to service the car soon. Again when i parked it, the radio wouldnt turn off when the door was opened and the key out of the ignition. What do you guys think could be the problem? Everything was fine with the car till they replaced that belt. I want to be informed before i show up there and raise hell. Thanks for the help!

 

I think it could just be dumb luck that this is happening now. I would check your battery cables and grounds though.

 

In addition to what Chibi mentioned, it could be wroth having the alternator checked out. You may also want to take a moment and look at the label for the belt routing on your car and confirm that is how they routed the belt and that it seems tight. A change in routing or loose belt can cause some grief.
Heck, my '84 Camaro uses a set of old V belts. I had all the pullies connected, the belts were all lined up, but I mis-routed them and had pullies incorrectly connected. As a result, it had a nasty squeal. Man did I feel stupid when I figured out the cause.

 

Make sure the belt is on right. I don't think you can on a 3.8, but spinning an alt backwards can cause all kind of weird issues.

 

thanks guys,

I checked the belt and it was on tight, I ended up disconnecting the battery for a few minutes and reconnecting it. It reset the computer and fixed the issue. For some reason, the car alarm was still drawing from the battery even after it was turned off, and the alarm is wired into the radio...thats why the radio was staying on even though the connection was broke when I opened the door. Resetting the computer did the trick...so crazy.

 

the belt isn't your problem its the decoder on your ignition switch