Auxiliary belt tensioner failure?

[sasmall]

First post, hi to all.

I have a 1997 Passat 1.9 TDi (AHU engine). I started the car this morning without any problems or odd noises but as I started to pull away realised I had no power steering. I stopped the engine and popped the bonnet, the auxiliary belt was loose inside the engine compartment and the pulley on the tensioner is damaged (part of outside edge broken off). The belt itself appears to be in pretty good condition.
I've spent some time reading through numerous posts here and have a couple of questions that I hope someone can help with.

1. The tensioner pulley is not in line with the other pulleys that the belt goes around ie. the top of the pulley is closer to the fan assembly than the bottom. This doesn't look right to me, would this indicate that the tensioner has failed causing this situation or....
2. I've read quite a few posts which mention the alternator pulley clutch, could a problem with this have caused the tensioner failure? How would I check if the alternator pulley clutch is working correctly?

Hope someone can help, thanks in advance.

Simon.

[Sheepdog]

Mine is not an AHU, BUT. From what you say, Its the Alternator pulley that has seperated. On Mine, ITs the one at the top.
Tensioner is half way down, to left,from front, difficult to see, or get to. steering is the lower one to right. Other than that you have the large Viscous fan pulley. and the drive pulley, IE big end area.
It happened with me, middle of nowhere. so battery died. everything died. TOW job

Check them out. IF not give me a pm with engine yr model details etc and I will call it up on the service disks.

[adamss24]

Hi, you will need to get a new belt tensioner from Euro ar Parts or GSF. Get a genuine one as the aftermarket ones are not as good as the genuine ones.ealer charges about 105 including VAT. Expect to pay about 65 quid in Euro Car Parts...You will need to remove bumper from the car and i would do a cambelt change as well if its due as its minimal work involved ! I charge £220 for a full cambelt job and i wont charge you nothing extra for the tensioner, just the price of it... Regards, Chris- 077 899 12128.