Got my 1.9Tdi Elegance back today after a repair and service vist to the local dealer.

A few days ago I was driving home,doing about 80mph on the M40 when the car made a sudden jolt and a small thud sound. At first I thought I had driven over something that may have damaged a tyre, but looking in the mirror I couldn't anything obvious. I then noticed the red warning light with a battery symbol had come on the dashboard which I think usually indicates the battery isn't being charged.

I was still about 2hours from home so I decided to carry-on and see if i could get home before it conked out. It would be going dark by the time I got home so I was a bit worried the Lights would drain the battery so much that the engine would die. I turned off all the electrial things like A/C CD player and didn't use the cruise control to try and conserve the battery until it was time to put the lights on. After a while it was getting hot inside so I put the A/C back on. After a while the A/C turned itself off and wouldn't come back on.

I got home alright and had a quick look under the bonnet with a torch. There was a lot of water collected in the well on top of the cylinder shaped thing on the left hand side which has several small bore pipes coming out of it. The radiator and alternator were also pretty wet too and there was fluid on the ground near the offside wheel. I then noticed that the Alternator belt had snapped - that would explain the warning light. I was puzzled about the water - it had a bit of a funny smell but not like antifreeze or windscreenwash and it seemed clear in colour. Thinking it must be coolant anyway I wondered if the water pump had failed by seizing up and causing the belt to snap.

Next morning I had a word with the dealer and they said it should be safe to drive the 5miles to them - assuming it would start. It started first time and I left it with them.

It turns out what happened was:

- A water leak had developed from the Fuel Filter unit.

- this had dripped on to the drive belt and caused it to snap.

- The flailing belt ripped through an A/C coolant pipe which is why it stopped working.

The car (78K miles, 05 reg) was showing 1000miles to next service when this happened. So the dealer did the service as well and changed the cambelt as it was due at 80K.

Anybody else have a drive belt fail or leaks from the fuel filter?

Ive had the fuel filters mounted to low so its cracks the water drain on the bottom.

- A water leak had developed from the Fuel Filter unit.

:confused:

:confused:

Fuel filters on Diesel engines have a water seperator built-in, and most require draining off during a service. Not sure where the water comes from - could be condensation from inside the tank.

Diesel by default contains a water element iirc.

Never heard of this before, but my 06 model is now on 73K, so I hope I don't have this over the next 2 or 3 months!!

Never heard of this before, but my 06 model is now on 73K, so I hope I don't have this over the next 2 or 3 months!!

Keep an eye on the cannister thing with 4 pipes coming out of top (near the screenwash reservoir ) for water coming out. I assume mine had been dripping/squirting for a while befoe the drive belt snapped.