dugword

Thanks for the reply, The belts are not broken and don't have any cracks. They are completely loose and I can take them on and off the gears. The belts have come off the radiator fan, and it hangs forwards. The fan appears to have been grinding against the radiator. The plastic fan edges are chewed up, and the radiator has a circular indentation from the fan. When I move the fan it moves freely several inches in all directions. The car died when I was driving down a highway, I heard a horrible grinding sound and I saw a lot of white smoke/steam. I pulled off to the side immediately and got towed home. I live in Scappoose, OR. It's outside of Portland, OR.

This is my first post, and I am very new to car repairs. I have a '92 loyale, that recently died on me. After looking under the hood I noticed the two front belts ( I believe they are the timing belts) have come loose. One connects to the alternator and the other connects to several other gears, but they both connect to the radiator fan. The radiator fan now hangs loose and I can move it around a lot with my hand. Is that normal if it is not supported by the two belts that are supposed to run underneath it? Or do I have some sort of broken shaft? I would like to know if putting the belts back on might fix this problem, or if I am in a world of hurt with a more serious issue.