Serpentine belt trashed

[Strokin' 6.0]

I was driving down the road the other day, when I heard what sounded like gravel flying out from underneath the hood. At first I thought that one of our cats was getting ground up, but then the noise went away, so I didn't think about it again.

Two days ago I popped the hood to add washer fluid and I found the cause of the noise....the serpentine belt was missing three grooves. The insulation in front of the belt had been spewn everywhere. I bought a new belt from O'Reilly's and nearly had a heart attack, when I saw what that thing listed for...I got it for $54.08 (military discount).

I was going to put the belt on myself and even read up on some posts to see how to do it. Well reading and doing are two different things. First, I don't have four bolts holding the shroud on...I have two on top and two tabs on the bottom, that fit into slots. I took the bolts off and the damn thing wouldn't budge, so I tried to take the auxilliary shroud (?) that plugs into the shroud off, but no luck...I ended up cracking the shround, so I put the bolts back in and took it to a shop down the street, Kenner Automotive.

David Kenner works on all diesels and has been in the business since Christ was a Corporal, but he likes CTDs better (I don't blame him either). He took the truck and called me a few hours later.....my A/C compressor apparently was locking up and shredded the belt. The hub bearing was burned up and the clutch was free-wheeling, which explains why my A/C wasn't chilling the truck like it usually did.

Thank God for the Daimler Chrysler Warranty (yeah, we're still talking about a Ford....I bought the truck at a Dodge dealership), it's all covered with a $100 deductible and the truck will be done tomorrow afternoon.