B6 S4 - Alternator belt shredded, valve cover gaskets gone?

[nickb834]

The alternator belt on my S4 has just shredded itself and wrapped itself around the alternator pulley this last week. So today I set to and replaced it:



That second bit took a while to unravel from the alternator pulley - was just about to take the pulley off when I managed to get the last bits off.

Anyhoo, whilst I was in there I noticed the heads and block and well everything covered in oil residue:



- guess my valve cover gaskets need doing (on top of the aux rad I already knew needed doing (and will be ordered this week)....

oh well...

 

[duffy78]

Could your crankcase breather pipes be blocked causing undue pressure hence the weep out of the gaskets?

Might be worth checking.

 

[dualmono21]

all common problems on our cars im afraid
did mine about 3 months ago ... but all good since
while your in the area you may want to look at the front engine mount

 

[nickb834]

Soo - bit of an update on this one - the top hose on the rad - the one that I took off to get the lock carrier forward a few more inches....well guess who didn't put it back on properly.....can anyone guess what happened next?

Lots of hot coolant escapes under pressure - and what's sitting about ooh 12 inches below the top pipe, spins a fair amount and produces electricity...

Yup that's right the alternator, the voltage regulator and rear cover has now vaporised | electro plated itself to all sorts in the vicininty.

Funny thing is the hose came off on Monday (and reattached and filled up) and I've been running it for two days since - the first I know of this alternator issue is last night (Weds) at about 23:30 when my batt warning light comes on again - here's me thinking it's the belt has slipped off cos I've not tensioned it right and it's much much worse than that.

Pulled the undertray off this morning - looked up - what's all this charred plastic? pulls off bumper and lock carrier etc to get a good look at it - and yup - it's toasted alternator.

I can't get the Delphi unit from Audi as it was supersceded in 2010, I have to replace it with a Hitachi and change about 4 hoses - not much change from 750..... OR if I can find a second hand Delphi then I can straight swap it (assuming that the hoses aren't all wrecked from the intense heat).

I'll post some pictures up tomorrow when I get the alternator off the car (need some hose clamps so I don't have to drain all the coolant) - you'll be in for a good giggle

Moral of the story - double check that top hose if ever you disconnect it as it's an expensive lesson to learn otherwise!