Serpintine on 2003 Explorer XLT Snapping

[xman185]

Good morning everyone!! Serpintine belt on my wifes explorer litteraly snapped in two on Friday. Coworkers took her to AA to purchase a new one, she bought the daco brand. They put it on, and Saturday am, as we were preparing to leave, I discovered the the new belt had snapped in two again, less than 24hrs later. AA will exchange it for free, my question...what would cause the belt to just snap. Could my wifes coworkers just routed it wrong or could there be some underlying problem?

 

[swetrid]

Ck the crankshaft pulley probably coming apart and causing problems.

 

[Hitchhikingmike]

Yes, the crankshaft pulley is also called the harmonic balancer. Belts should never snap. This is not a common problem. I a pulley has become out of alignment. Check the pulley on the harmonic balancer.

 

[xman185]

Thanks Swetrid and hithhikingmike for your incredibly quick response. Now the way both belts snapped is across the width of the belt not the length. I am not a what you would call a mechanical genius. Both of you were in agreement about the possible root cause.

Is this an easy/inexpensive fix that I could do? Or the oppisite?