serpentine belt?

[azman]

hi folks,
recently changed my alternator on my s3 8l 2000 apy, as old one was packing in (battery light coming on at over 3000rpm)
i have installed the alternator and fitted the belt, the belt snapped? came off after a small drive out,
next day a friend who is a mechanic fitted for me a new belt,
took the car for a little drive after 15mins or so, same thing the belt came off or snapped, i say this because the belt was no longer there and couldnt confirm if snapped or came off.
does the belt have a particular way of travel? am i routing it wrong? i have looked for images of the belt but cannot see any,
all pulleys spin freely. the tensioner was unfastened to loosen alternator, can they be tightened back on wrong?
any help would be greatly appreciated as at £20 per belt gets a bit beyond a joke,

 

[beachbuggy]

hi folks,
recently changed my alternator on my s3 8l 2000 apy, as old one was packing in (battery light coming on at over 3000rpm)
i have installed the alternator and fitted the belt, the belt snapped? came off after a small drive out,
next day a friend who is a mechanic fitted for me a new belt,
took the car for a little drive after 15mins or so, same thing the belt came off or snapped, i say this because the belt was no longer there and couldnt confirm if snapped or came off.
does the belt have a particular way of travel? am i routing it wrong? i have looked for images of the belt but cannot see any,
all pulleys spin freely. the tensioner was unfastened to loosen alternator, can they be tightened back on wrong?
any help would be greatly appreciated as at £20 per belt gets a bit beyond a joke,

To remove the aux belt you use a 17mm spanner to slacken the tensioner and can put a pin/drill bit in the tensioner to lock it loose. If you forget to remove the pin it'll jump the belt off. You definitely have the right length belt?

 

[Westy]

I changed my alternator on Wednesday and there's an A3/S3 manual in the stickies that shows a diagram of how the belt should go back on. It does say that I reusing an old belt you should make sure it goes on the same way as running a used belt in reverse to the way it has been going can snap them. A new belt can go on any way though.

The tensioiner can't really be adjusted. You just lever it back into place once the belt is back on.

Have a look in the stickies of the 8L forum and right near the top there are links to the A3/S3 service manuals, you want the electrical one. In there check the pics and let me know if the belt was on right.

 

[azman]

To remove the aux belt you use a 17mm spanner to slacken the tensioner and can put a pin/drill bit in the tensioner to lock it loose. If you forget to remove the pin it'll jump the belt off. You definitely have the right length belt?

hi, the first attempt i was unsure about undoing the tensioner and after reading a how to, i undid and removed 2 of the 3 bolts holding the tensioner, and loosened the 3rd, which allowed me to swing the tensioner out of the way.
i fastened the tensioner back up with all 3 bolts, all 3 lined up perfectly,
the 2nd attempt i fastened the tensioner back using the nail locking pin method and removed after install.
only other thing i can think is would the a3 1.8t belt be different in size to the s3?

 

[Westy]

If you have air con and you've bought a belt for an A3 without air con that'll probably do it as the air con models have an extra wheel for the belt to go round.

 

[azman]

If you have air con and you've bought a belt for an A3 without air con that'll probably do it as the air con models have an extra wheel for the belt to go round.

this could be the reason,
mine has aircon,

 

[Westy]

this could be the reason,
mine has aircon,

Take a look at that manual I mentioned as it shows pictures of the route the belt should take for an AC model and a non AC model.

 

[Lewis583]

 

[azman]

thats exactly how it was fitted,
only other thing it can be is wrong belt i suppose.

 

[Lewis583]

Check the alignment of all the pulleys with a straight edge. I can't see how they could be out of alignment but you never know.

Check the grooves on the pulleys too for any damage or distortion.

 

[azman]

Check the alignment of all the pulleys with a straight edge. I can't see how they could be out of alignment but you never know.

Check the grooves on the pulleys too for any damage or distortion.

i will do, belt should be here shortly, will check all pulleys.

can any one confirm this is the right belt?

AUXILLARY DRIVE V BELT 10x800 133AA0120