abs light came on, Engine cut out, Smoke from near gearbox RHS engine bay , now fails to turn over

[sean135]

good evening people.

this one baffles me.
Ive a VW Bora 1.9 tdi, 2002 plate Diesel- eng code : ATD , and gearbox EUH i believe.

Went for a drive to the shops this morning, and then engine sounded a tad - not usual ; couldnt put my finger on it.
anyway about 1 mile into the drive , the ABS light came on, then all the dash went blank, the engine cut out and then i struggled getting the car off the main rd to park safely as i had no steering hydraulics.
From my driving position , I could see hell smoke coming from the bonnet.

On being stationary i lifted up the bonnet and there was crazy smoke coming - under the battery / above the gearbox area.
left it a few mins and the car was dead - ie couldnt get it to start & no sign of any electrical life,

after about 3 mins, got some electrics again , and attempted to start the car. no luck she wouldnt turn over.
the rac guy came after 2 hrs, and gave it a battery boost , and we still couldn't turn the engine over, despite the fins in the alternator turning, which presumably means the starter motor and alternator are fine.

RAC guy suspects that the engine is seized - as when in neutral , the eng doesnt turn, and his VAG com showed no error codes.
this one baffles me as NO smoke was coming from the engine , but rather the gearbox area.
car has done 151K, and i replaced the gearbox transmission oil about 3-4 months ago, with the same stuff i did back in 2017 when i bought the car at 92K miles

any ideas please ?

[Crasher]

If the engine won’t turn over from in gear pushing or a 19mm 12 sided socket on the front pulley then it has seized.

[sean135]

Thx for replying prompto Crasher. Have a great week ahead. Best.

[sean135]

I got a 19mm 12 sided socket today and strangely on turinning the the nut on the bottom pulley , I COULD!
Not 100% aquainted with this action ; as its my first time, basically as i turned it , it showed good resistance first , then at a point it moves a little freely - not sure if this is the correct behaviour of the crankshaft - please confirm.

The crank was able to be turned out of gear

[Crasher]

Yes, tight as you go through compression four times for each rotation and then easy to rotate, yours has the small 220mm dual mass flywheel and I have known these breakup and jam in the box, in one instance it punched a hole through the case.

[sean135]

Hi - Would it be possible please to see the 'break' of the flywheel through the "round open gap " - just by removing the starter motor only, by examining the teeth of the flywheel?
or is there absolutely no way via this procedure ? ie one would have to remove the gearbox first?

Im assuming if the latter, your explanation of .... "220mm dual mass flywheel and I have known these breakup and jam in the box" ... presumably means the 2 discs have somewhat separated, and that there would be no way of telling by looking through the starter motor gap ?