I have noticed a bit of a squeal from my TDI at idle for the last week (getting a bit worse). When I got home from work tonight and opened the door I sensed the interior light flickering a bit. Popped opened the bonnet and held my fingers on the aux belt tensioner and the squeal noise stopped (once I got the pressure right).

I am 3k away from my next cambelt change, and I haven't changed the aux tensioner before, so I am guessing I should whack on a new belt and tensioner (belt is only 60k old).... hopefully nothing else more sinister about to happen?

I had to change the aux tensioner on my seat toledo, which was coming up to 120k miles.

It started to lose tension on the belt and it would squela as the belt slipped a bit. Used on from http://www.vwspares.co.uk/product_info.php?products_id=118, and it was fine.

At 177k, I'm not surprised it's getting tired.

check the alt freewheel clutch has not seized mate. remove the belt and lock the alt with something thru the cooling vent into the fan and try to turn the pulley anticlockwize. the tensioner units are usually good for big miles and we change lots more alt pulleys than tensioners.

I'll check the alternator, is that easy to fix if jammed?

I see a replacement tensioner is a bit expensive... http://www.vwspares.co.uk/product_info.php?products_id=218

special tool needed to replace the freewheel clutch on the alt, I have done a few with the alt in situ but most folk remove the alt to swap the pulley

I have just changed the alternator pulley and tensioner on a friends Galaxy. Getting the old pulley off was a PITA, I left is soaking overnight in penetrating oil in the end. You do need to buy the correct tool though, there are two sealey kits available, I got the more expesive one from GSF.

You will need plenty of leverage to get the pully off and either a friend or a vice or something to clamp the alternator in.

Removing the alternator is more of a pain in the 110bhp octy as the alternator is down at the bottom rather than on top as it is on 130 tdi engine, I think it needs to come out the bottom. I found a good howto on the vwvortex forum via google. The aircon pump needs to be unbolted to drop the alternator out.

The tensioner on the galaxy was a 5 minute job. I got one from Euro Car Parts and it was a lot cheaper than Skoda/TPS but again it is a different design to the 110bhp engine.

I acquired a replacement tensioner (second hand granted) from eBay for just under £30 I think it was.

I have now confirmed that the alternator clutch is knackered on mine and thus will need to fix this, new alternator is a tad expensive. Just looked on eBay, and there are various clutch/pulley assemblies available, anyone got an idea of the part number for the one on an ASV engine?

Also, any idea where I could get a suitable tool for removing the old one?

Tom

Euro Car Parts, GSF or TPS for the pulley. ECP and GSF also do the sealey tool, though GSF do the larger kit which costs about £40. From memory ECP were cheapest for the pulley while TPS were most expensive. I got the pulley tool and a new belt from GSF simply because they had it all in stock when I needed it.

You need either the Sealey SX400 or SX401 kits.

Edited 8 February, 201115 yr by trundlenut

Jorilly does the tensioner too. He was the cheapest when I bought mine.

Main VW dealer only charged about £70 to do the alternator and put a new belt on, so it might be worth just paying somebody to do it as the parts are not that much less.

Main VW dealer only charged about £70 to do the alternator and put a new belt on, so it might be worth just paying somebody to do it as the parts are not that much less.

Oooh

£70 for new pulley/clutch and belt?

From a Skoda dealer?

That's very interesting. As you say a quick look round would seem to indicate the tool and the pulley/clutch comes to about that much, and that doesn't factor in time, hassle and pain.

Tom

OOoh, worth considering. If I can borrow a tool from someone at work, that might push me more towards the DIY route though.

Will have to check to see if the freewheel is jammed first.

Main VW dealer only charged about £70 to do the alternator and put a new belt on, so it might be worth just paying somebody to do it as the parts are not that much less.

Interesting, TPS wanted almost £60 for the pulley for my mates galaxy and belt was over a tenner.

The SX400 kits seems to be about £20 + p&p online. Then I just need the pulley. The belt has only done about 60k, so that should be good for a few more miles :yes:

retail from a dealer £59.41 inc vat for the clutch pulley

retail from a dealer £59.41 inc vat for the clutch pulley

so if a dealer would fit it for £10 I would bite their hands off to get it done :-) I'll phone mine tomorrow and see what they quote me.....

AVS do alternator freewheel pulley removal tools

http://www.vwspares.co.uk/belt_timing_tools.php

Thought I'd dabble in a spot of necromancy.

I have noticed a rattling type noise when I start the car, it is most noticeable at idle when the engine is cold. Having a poke around under the bonnet I have noticed that on the aux belt tensioner there is a lot of oil on the gaiter on the bottom of the damper and the metal of the tensioner below it. I don't think this is a good sign and suggests the tensioner is knackered, can anyone else confirm that there shouldn't be any oil there. There is no sign of oil on anything else around it.

Hopefully it's just the tensioner that need to be replaced and the alternator pulley is OK. The car has done just shy of a 100k and will need a service in a few weeks anyway.

Hi Trundlenut,

That sounds like what I initially spotted about a year ago. Then I started to get a bit of "slipping belt" noise, and then it turned into an Evil Growl (on my way to work), and then alternator pulley broke off on the approach to a roundabout.

A nice new tensioner does not have any oil leakage like that, I have not checked my replacement one - I'll have a look a bit later today (as I extend my elephant mod)

When I took the alternator off (to a VW specialist place) they looked at the tensioner and suggested that it looked a bit knackered too, and that I should replace it - that was from a mechanic and not the person at the parts counter). I took their advice (well better than the think breaking and needing a towtruck to get home), but the new tensioner seems to not feel quite as smooth at spinning as the original VAG one did. I can't really comment on the difference of their ability to apply tension to the belt, however it hasn't broken yet

Thanks for that. I think I'll jack the car up on Sunday and check the alternator pulley. At least I have a tool to remove the pulley and the pulley itself is quite cheap compared to the tensioner but I could do without shelling out for them now.

tbh: It would be pretty hard to check the pulley on the alternator when in situ... but good luck :-) getting the alternator out is a right PITA due to the bushes took a lot (say an hour or so, iirc) to wiggling it about before it became free.

tbh: It would be pretty hard to check the pulley on the alternator when in situ... but good luck :-) getting the alternator out is a right PITA due to the bushes took a lot (say an hour or so, iirc) to wiggling it about before it became free.

The somewhat pikey method is to take a small insulated screwdriver and use it to try and move the fan blade bits in the alternator round, they should move one way, if they won't move the pulley is stuffed. I did this with the alternator in situ and on the bench on a ford galaxy so I know it works. As long as I can get to the open slats on the pulley side of the alternator from below, can't even see it from above.

When I did this on a galaxy it was relatively easy to prise out the alternator using a very long screwdriver I have. I'll see how it goes on Sunday.

When I did this on a galaxy it was relatively easy to prise out the alternator using a very long screwdriver I have. I'll see how it goes on Sunday.

Good luck... mine was a hard work..... I almost thought there was another bolt I had missed somewhere....

Good luck... mine was a hard work..... I almost thought there was another bolt I had missed somewhere....

on the galaxy you can get the alternator out of the top, though you need to remove the air box, the tensioner and various other bits to unbolt it. However anything else seems to be an absolute pig.

I have checked the alternator and it seems to be behaving correctly, so hopefully just the tensioner to change.

On the octy to get the alternator out it was a case of: rad fan, PAS pump, headlight & indicator, turbo pipework, and aux tensioner and then lots of wiggling/rocking back and forth until it was free. After that some twisting about until it came out from above.

Good luck, hopefully the tensioner replacement will cure it.