ok.just before xmas had the battery light on and after alternator was 'recondishoned' all seemed ok. but pretty much straight away noticed a bearing noise. also sometimes when turning steering wheel it creaked a bit like was straining.

So this morning went to turn on driveway and suddenly the power assist disappeared and after hopping out i found my aux belt on the ground...cool

So first i thought maybe the power steering pump siezed up and chucked the belt but after talkin to mechanic at the dealer he said thats uncommon.

He reckons either the alternator pulley is problem or the tensioner

when i looked i saw this graphite looking dust on the altenator but when i went to take out the tensioner it felt like it was grinding when i took the tension off with a wrench.

So does it sound like tensioner stuffed or altenator or both??

hope u can see the dusty stuff in the attached pic.theres a fair bit of that dust on the underside of the tensioner also so could be just blowing up onto the A

Oh...did i read somewhere that the pulley on the altenator should only spin in one direction? cause mine spins in both 

 

If you grasp the alternator pulley with the belt off, does it rock like it is loose on the shaft? - engine not running obviously - don't want to be responsible for any missing limbs.

1 minute ago, kentphil1 said:

If you grasp the alternator pulley with the belt off, does it rock like it is loose on the shaft? - engine not running obviously - don't want to be responsible for any missing limbs.

 

too late...couple fingers gone already

nope the pulley there feels solid and free running (is it supposed to only spin one way?)

but the tensioner looks well shoddy. actually looks outta line. and i noticed that the pulley and aluminium case was wearing off the cam belt cover

Im guessing that a bearing inside the tensioner or whatever it turns on is knackered and has led to it sitting off kilter aswel,hope its only the tensioner anyway

To me that pulley looks like a regular pulley, not the one way driving type but I could be wrong.

 

Sounds like you have found your problem if the tensioner is knackered

 

10 minutes ago, huwants2no said:

 

too late...couple fingers gone already

nope the pulley there feels solid and free running (is it supposed to only spin one way?)

but the tensioner looks well shoddy. actually looks outta line. and i noticed that the pulley and aluminium case was wearing off the cam belt cover

Im guessing that a bearing inside the tensioner or whatever it turns on is knackered and has led to it sitting off kilter aswel,hope its only the tensioner anyway

That does not sound right on the tensioner, so that is one issue, if the alternator has a one way clutch, if you can hold the main alternator shaft from rotating - a flat blade screwdriver inserted into the centre of the shaft where the retaining nut is works for me, then the pulley will turn one way but not the other. If it does not turn either way, you have a standard fixed pulley. if it still rotates both ways, then the one way clutch is toast or the pulley is so loose it is about to leave into orbit.

Edited 1 February, 20179 yr by kentphil1

just found a good little vid on youtube that explains the clutch pulley well.did for me anyway. plus i love this guys accent...eastern european guy but been living in the irish countryside,weird accent but he knows his stuff:)

will check mine in the morning

 

can someone please check for me...

where the tensioner bolts on with 3x13mm bolts theres a little black bracket that held in place also with those 3 bolts. can you tell me if the bracket sits on the outside of the tensioner and the bolts go thru the bracket first and then into the tensioner or does the bracket sit between the tensioner and the engine block???

starting to think i made a rookie mistake when i put the tensioner back on

Just realised yours is a Vrs, it should have a regular pulley then, unless somebody has fitted a high output diesel on . I'll check on mine during tomorrow and let you know unless someone beats me to it.

I think looking at this pic the bracket sits on the outside of the tensioner PART 3 in the diagram, altho im not sure but that mite be a different model to the vrs...without AC

when i put mine back together the last time i put the bracket between the tensioner and the block,throwing the tensioner pulley out of line and ultimately throwing off the belt and i think stuffing my tensioner...good DIY that 

 

 

I have checked mine, and it is as the diagram, with the bracket between the bolt head and the tensioner, rather than between the tensioner and the block. Mine has climatronic as I think all Vrs's have, so looks like that has not helped your cause here.

 

I also think there is a service life on these at VAG dealers to be renewed on every second cambelt change together with the belt

3 minutes ago, kentphil1 said:

I have checked mine, and it is as the diagram, with the bracket between the bolt head and the tensioner, rather than between the tensioner and the block. Mine has climatronic as I think all Vrs's have, so looks like that has not helped your cause here.

 

I also think there is a service life on these at VAG dealers to be renewed on every second cambelt change together with the belt

 

thanks for double checking for me. feel like a proper prat now. Saying that its probably never been changed so have a new belt and tensioner in the post. Skoda dealer wanted €110 and a jaw dropping €74 for the belt. So got them both from a parts place over here for about €80 all up 

Back on the road again with everything in its rite place this time

wheres the  'topic solved' button gone??