broke a drive belt on 94 Mazda protege and have a couple questions

blazinjames

NAXJA Forum User
so i was driving back from a camping trip in my girlfriends dads Mazda Protege 1994. 1.8L and the V belt that goes to the alternator, water pump and crankshaft pulley broke. I was only a couple blocks away from home so I kept driving. it sounded horrible and I didnt have much power but I made it home. didnt overheat at all.

when i went to throw on a new belt today i noticed one of the spark plugs blew out of its hole. i tightened it back in no problem, put the belt and and it seems to be running fine.

I just want to see if there is anything else that I should check? I was worried i screwed up the spark plug hole threads but the spark plug went in no problem and tightened up.

is it normal for one of the spark plugs to come out when this happens? what would cause that?
 
You better hope its not an "interference" motor!
 
No worries on if it is an interference motor or not. That would only matter if you broke the timing belt. On an interference motor there is no space for the valves to be open and the piston to be at the top of it's stroke. The timing belt controls valve timing so if it breaks this can happen, mashing and bending valves. The timing belt is definitely not a V-belt, or driving your alternator or water pump.
 
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