Power steering gone, engine overheating

[blue133]

Power steering went suddenly and battery light came on yesterday (on Audi A4), managed to limp a mile or so to safety while temperature gauge crept up. Parked up and engine was steaming, also noticed a 50 yard trail of water behind my car. Looks like the fan belt's gone, but am no petrolhead and was wondering whether this is a big job to replace, and whether or not my diagnosis is right. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[paul b]

Could well be the fan belt. But the problem is possible damage that driving it has caused. If I were you I would drive it no further. Quite a big job, if you got money then send it to Audi.
Paul

[blue133]

Cheers Paul, thanks for the post. Thought it probably wasn't an easy fix, am worried the damage already caused but will have to wait for the garage to have a look, thanks again.

[paul b]

The 50 yard trail was water wasn't it? Not hydraulic fluid?
Paul

[rhencullen1989]

I disagree with paul b. If your fan belt has snapped or shredded its self its a relatively easy job to replace, you do not need to remove any thing else the belt just threads its self over several pulleys, if you have air con you may need to slacken the bolts and remove that belt before putting on a new fan belt. I did two of these on my car within three months of each other, the belt had not snapped but had shredded its self, turns out the automatic tensioner was worn out and the pulley wheel was running off centre. If you can use a spanner you can change the belt yourself, Audi will only charge you silly money for an easy job, your choice.