Alternator upgrade?

[Carloski]

Hi - I own (from new) Mk1 superb 2.0 Tdi with just 40,000 miles on the clock.  It was possibly the last to enter the country and was first registered in 2009. I have just returned from France where whilst towing the caravan in high ambient temperatures the battery charging light came on and I lost power steering.  I managed to get the caravan sited and the car into a garage with a flat battery and without overheating the engine.  We were stranded for 10 days whilst the repair was carried out (1500 Euros) but to look on the bright side we were in Le Mans with many classic cars to peruse.  Not being able to speak French means that I am not absolutely certain what went wrong but it would appear that the alternator pulley started to slip which threw the belt which ripped the belt tensioner off its mounting bracket leaving the fixing bolt sheared off in the bracket.  Everything that I have mentioned above was replaced including the bracket, but excluding the alternator itself.  The garage appear to have done and excellent job and the car and caravan have now completed 500 miles with no problems/noises.  I have concluded that at the time of the breakdown the alternator was working overtime feeding the caravan fridge, car air-con, radiator cooling fan, etc.  My question is should I regard this as a one off spurious problem or should I consider upgrading the alternator?  Thanks in advance for your interest.  Cheers Carl    

[trundlenut]

It's more likely that the one way clutch in the alternator pulley sized up and caused all the problems. When they go they tend to put big loads through the tensioner which causes it to fail and can throw the aux belt off.

[Tech1e]

100% agree with the above. I'd be surprised if it hadn't been making some clacking noises before it failed, especially if on steering lock.

[jimbof]

If you still have the old pulley fitted to the alternator then you might expect the same thing to happen again in the not too distant future...