Bang goes my auxilliary belt

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SonicDeathmonkey

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So there I was on the M4 today when my steering went stiff and the battery light came on the dashboard. When I started the car, it sounded a bit ropey. Like a loose belt, but with a more metallic edge.

So I guess the belt has gone. How much should I expect to pay to get it replaced?
 
Depending what engin eyou have, get down to your motorfactors and get a belt for about £8 and sling it on yourself. On my old 1.6 and current 1.8T the belt tensioner is spring loaded so it was a simple case of getting the belt on as far as you can then get a mate to pull the tensioner to give some space and the belt slips on and your mate slowly releases tyhe tensioner. Takes 10 mins tops:icon_thumright:
 
our 1.8T shredded its belt due to a faulty tensioner, required the front panel moved into the service position to change the belt.
 
Great. So I am now looking at the Mrs saying something like "that ****** car again!" when she forgets that the belt went on her oil-burning golf not so long ago. How quick they forget.

Interstingly, hers being an oil-burner, I guess she didnt need the alternator once the car was started. Whereas mine was running the electrics off the battery. I drove 15 miles, at least. Any idea how far I would get before draining the battery?
 
The same thing happened to me 2 years ago :)

I was on the M6 up near Kendal when my tensioner pulley bearing collapsed. I slid onto the sliproad with heavy steering and battery lights on the dash,...............to be greeted by a friendly AA man who just happened to be there. He leant me a battery and I followed him back to a garage my dad uses in Lancaster. MAAAAAAAAAAAN that steering was heavy.

As usual, yep.....the whole front of the car had to come off again lol

All parts and labour came to about £250.
 
The 1.8T couldnt have cost much more than about 30-40quid in parts. It was the first job i did on the A4, and it took me about an hour and a half, and thats without having ever removed the front end before.

As for how far you'd have got, depends if it was night time and suchlike. Both the S4 and a TDi golf have ECU's and probably also both have electric fuel pumps so i wouldnt actually expect that much between them. Only thing to worry about on some engines (like the 1.8T) is the serp belt runs the water pump, so driving any distance with a snapped belt wouldnt be very good for the motor!

On the S4 the water pump is driven off the timing belt, hence you didnt have any issues.
 
aragorn said:
The 1.8T couldnt have cost much more than about 30-40quid in parts. It was the first job i did on the A4, and it took me about an hour and a half, and thats without having ever removed the front end before.
Click to expand...

Indeed, but once again, the S4 is WELL worth the extra premium ;)
 
You can change the AUX/fan belt on an AEB (1.8T) without putting it into service postion.

I get an adjustable spanner on the tensioner and use a bar to hold it in the off position then feed the belt into position.. helps if you can get under the car to get the belt on the bottom pulley though.

..But again not an S4 sorry lol.
 
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I couldnt see any way of getting the tensioner off without service position, and even then it was a tight fit!

Dan: i cant see any reason the S4 parts would be any more expensive?
 
aragorn said:
Dan: i cant see any reason the S4 parts would be any more expensive?
Click to expand...

Aragorn: Oh................lol

I didn't suggest they were more expensive, in fact I haven't a clue what the parts price was.

The money was in the labour (taking the front bumper etc off). You can't even get your fingers down past the slam panel on an S4,.........tighter than Ann Widdecombe's arris.

So my point was that extra costs like these get overlooked and forgiven with all the capabilities of an S4.
 
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There aint really all that much room down there on a 1.8T either, its a cylinder longer remember!

I suspect if you paid a garage to do the job, it would cost about the same on both cars, unless you have a Silver 1.9TDi Quattro Avant with interstellar mileage, in which case it costs about 4 times the normal price for no reason ;)

Lee must have some small children working for him to be able to change the belt without removing the front panel :p
 
No children.. just Umpa Lumpas!

Seriously though it is easy to just replace the belt on an AEB.. I can complete the job in about ten minutes.

I'm sure others must have done it too?
 
OK, so the garage (who have always been good) told me a list of things that need doing:
Service
Front CV joint gator replaced
Auxilliary Belt
Alternator
Rear Spings

650 quid all in. Now then...

They said that the pulley had sheered off the alternator and that the tensionor on the belt had completely disintergrated. Does this sound right?

They also said that the rear springs had snapped. I've never heard of this. Does that sound right? Also, what are these bushes that people say should be changed on the rear of the car? Is it worth me getting these done at the same time? How much would they cost?

They are also going to have a look at the rear diff because it's been slowly leaking since I bought the car in 2001! They think the whine may be the diff and/or the bearings.

So does 650 quid sound about right? They had a right old chat about how much work the belt was going to be... front of the car off and all that.
 
I'm a fussy git and it takes loads for me to trust people. Been bitten too many times to take chances. I would want to get in there and have a butchers for myself. Why would teh alternator pulley disintergrate
 
Alternator pulley didnt disintergrate, the tensioner for the belt did. The alternator pulley sheared off. I have read about aux belts letting go and causing timing belts to foul, resulting in smashed up engines... Still, I may be wrong.

I was more concerned about the rear springs. Never head of them "snap" before
 
audi upgrades
I've NEVER heard of an alternator pulley shearing?!

Tensioners fail all the time, thats likely caused the belt to go.

Rear springs are quite common on older quattros actually, just look at the pics of marks new TQS in his "HELP" thread.

As for 650, i cant really say, add up the hours involved and the cost of parts and see what you think.

Its probably a full days work DIY without the aid of ramps etc, but a garage with ramps etc might be quicker.

Getting into the front end really isnt difficult, You can get it into service position in about 20mins tops.
 
Well the bushes would be adding quite a lot to the work, you dont need to touch any of them to do the springs...

They'd require all the wishbones removing and then the old bushes pressed out and replacements pressed in. Probably a good few hours in that alone tbh!

Its probably worth doing, but it will likely add quite a bit to the work.
 
Probably nothing. Probably sagged a bit and perhaps you might have heard the broken bit jangling around over bumps and suchlike.
 
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