I hate snow....

[simon1303]

So, it takes me just over 3 hours to drive 20 miles home from work. get within spitting distance of the house and the car dies!

not what you want before Xmas.

i was sitting at traffic lights when the revs dropped like it was going to stall then revs came back to normal but the dash lights seem a little darker and the battery light comes on, pull away and notice that the power steering isnt working properly. car is still driving fine no lose of power. get a bit further along the road to where i can pull over and get out of the way of the other cars and i notice that the temp gauge is right up to 120! then i get the beep and the thermometer sign flashes up.

so turn off the engine and pop the bonnet. engine isnt that warm and ive got no steam like i would expect if it had over heated.

i reckon the AA are going to be fairly busy tonight and as im sooo close to home ive left it where it is till the morning.

any ideas what this could be? is it just because of the stop start journey home in the cold?

cars is a 1996 T Sport.

Thanks in advance

Simon

 

[S3 Paul]

What engine is it exactly?

 

[simon1303]

1800 turbo. think its an AEB

 

[S3 Paul]

Is the alternator drive belt still there?
this would effect the power stearing and the lights dimming,

 

[simon1303]

no torch in the car an was too dark to see anything.

going to go back to it in the morning so will look then. is hte alternator belt easy to see?

Iam pretty useless when it comes to cars LOL

 

[ian52]

Sounds like the belt to me. If there is a few pulleys at the front of the engine with no belt round them that will be it. Cant remember how easy it is to do,i did mine when i had the front off anyway.

 

[aragorn]

Yep, will be the Belt, probably caused by a faulty tensioner.

It drives the alternator, PAS and water pump, so the symptoms all ring true.

The tensioners go squint, and rip the belt up.

 

[simon1303]

cool thanks guys

 

[pjw]

Pretty easy fix if its any consolation.

 

[fARQUARE]

Cant remember my old aeb setup but I had a similar problem on my tdi. Turns out it was the alternator pulley, it moved forward on the shaft causing the belt to jump off. Hopefully your problem isn't tha.

 

[simon1303]

just been to look at it, aux belt has snapped. just how easy is it to replace?

luckily for me its broken down a few hundred yards from a friends house so i could possibly limp it to his place.

 

[Broken Byzan]

The hardest bit from memory is dropping the waterpump pulley to get the drive belt off to get the aux one in behind it.

15mm spanner to twist the tensioner back, i think that's it.

 

[aragorn]

As i said above, get another tensioner for it too, usually its that that causes the problem!

 

[simon1303]

i need to get the timing belt done in 7000 miles so im halftempted to be lazy and pay someone to do both at the same time. not doing anything in this ****** snow though!

 

[murran]

yeah id get the recovery to take it to your garage then if the timing belts due soon.