Alternator Pulley problem ! near catastrophe ! advice needed please

[SinBrad]

Hi All
This is my first ever post on this forum and was hoping some one would be able to give me some sound advice as i really dont know where i need to go with this.

my problem :-

for the best part of a year there was a funny sound like a belt slipping when you turned the steering hard in any direction. during its last service the garage said they would take a look but could not find a fault.

2 weeks ago while out on my travels i suddenly lost my power steering. luckily i was not too far from home so managed to get back there safely. on opening the bonnet i could see shredding from the belt and after closer inspection noticed the belt was completely off and partly destroyed.

what was worrying to me was that the pulley connected to the alternator had looked like it had shot fwd and was actually sitting in between the fan blades, i feel i was pretty lucky that it did not completely smash the fan to bits. the pulley itself will not budge at all so it is stuck inside the fan. I am not mechanicaly minded , give me some tech and i will fix it in no time but i am completely clueless when it comes to mechanics.

questions i have are :

am i right in guessing that it would not be advisable to drive this to any garage to be fixed ? and to be towed or transported ?

would i get away with just the pulley being replaced ? does the rod that the pulley is connected to have to be replaced or is this part of the alternator ? so would i need a complete new alternator ??

im also guessing that this would need to go up on a ramp to be fixed so a roadside home mechanic would not suffice ?

is anyone able to advise on cost for a repair of this nature ?

i do have pictures but the file size is too large. if any one would like to view them i can send them a drop box link to view if needed or i can try to resize later on today .

any advice would be appreciated ! :biglaugh:

[SinBrad]

oh !! my bad !! car is a 2002 a4 tdi saloon

[Cavanmick]

You can replace the pulley separately and it is very common and easy to do, there is a special tool for removing the clutch pulley. Best option is take it to a good garage and get them to change it for you, there are several types of pulley so you will need the make and amperage of your alternator eg 120 amp valeo. Bout 40 euro for a pattern part pulley.

Mick

[SinBrad]

thanks for a speedy reply mick ,

so would the alternator not need changing ? it looks as if the spindle rod that the pulley is connected too has shot forward and is why the pulley now sits in the blades of the fan .

[Cavanmick]

No buddy, the pulley has a slip clutch in it and is two separate pieces, they wear and separate and that's why yours moved forward on the shaft, new pulley and you should be all good.

Mick

[green A8]

If I were you I'd also replace the alternator belt tensioner as a matter of course. The only drawback is that you'd have to put the lock panel into the service position. It sounds to me like you've had a pretty lucky escape from further expensive damage. Have a look on youtube for some videos on how to renew the alternator pully, you will need to buy a spline tool kit, this is shown in most of the videos. There are a few on there. Search for Audi freewheel pulley, that should bring them up. It's not the hardest job in the world to replace this part. I usually pull the alternator out of the car and do it on the bench, but it can be done in situ.

Both GSF and ECP sell the parts you need online expect to pay £39/49 ECP have theirs listed in the spigot bearing and freewheel clutch sub section of the transmission section.I haven't checked GSF but it will be around the same price.

Hope this helps, and good luck

[SinBrad]

Thank you so very much guys ! your advice is well appreciated. As i said i am not mechanically biased so would want to pay some one else to do this for me. Would £150 including the parts be an optimistic figure to pay for this work to be done ?