My 16 year old daughter's 1999 Mazda 626 wouldn't crank then after boosted off went dead a couple of times while she was driving it. We replaced the battery yesterday morning. Ran fine until late this afternoon. Then went dead, we boosted it off---no lights working---drove it home, only about 4 miles, took about an hour because we kept having to boost it off after it would die. When looking under the hood their was a severed belt that fell off. I wonder if it's the belt that caused the altenator not to work or if a bad altenator caused the belt to break. I also would love for someone to tell me where the altenator is located so we can check it our before heading to a mechanic. If you have any info or possibly a diagram I'd love to hear from you. Thanks in advance!

 

If your looking at the engine from the front it is in the left bottom part of your car.... easier to see it from the bottom though...

 

hi synette, if the alternator belt is broken then the alternator wont work... the belt simply turns the alt and that creates your charge. but a bad alternator probably wouldnt cause the belt to break, age and wear will usually do it. i would suggest changing the belt yourself as it isn't a really technical job and you would probably find everything back to normal... good luck!

 

Thanks for your reply and you are exactly right! The only problem was the altenator belt and once it was replaced it has been running fine. Thanks again for your input.
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