Auxilliary drive belt catastrophe

[Malcolm K]

Hi

A mate of mine has a 98 Passat TDI, with a 110PHP engine similar to my golf.

Eight weeks ago whilst driving normally the Auxilliary drive belt failed and I think a belt drive to the water pump too.

As it failed it got wrapped arround the crank shaft pulley and locked the engine.
As a result of locking the engine the timing belt slipped 1 or 2 teeth, luckily without damage to Cyliner head, valves etc.

Garage mechaninc inspected it but could find no fault such as a siezed pulley.

So the belts were replaced, timing re-set and the car ran well again until now. Its happened again.

Has this happened to anyone else?

Does anyone have an idea why this may haver occured.

Thanks

Malcolm

[shooey88]

did they not replace the tensioner for the auxillary belt that slipped?

[Malcolm K]

Not sure whether this tensioner was replaced.

Would you expect this to be done routinely?

Presumably this part is realtively cheap

Malcolm

[shooey88]

if the auxillary belt had gone then there must have been a cause....normally the belt being worn and breaking or tensioner faulty.
it would have been a good idea to fit a new tensioner routinely since the belt slipped last time.

[Malcolm K]

OK
Thanks I will pass this on

[Studio54]

The same thing has happened to my 2002 Passat 1.9 TDi. PD Engine over the weekend.
I was going up a hill and the car juddered and then the engine stopped.
On opening the bonnet, I noticed that belt that drives the alternator, radiator fan and I think the power steering pump had slipped off but was intact.
The belt that drives the engine part had completely shredded and I’ve been told that the timing belt has slipped a notch or two.
I also noticed that the alternator pulley part had sheered off and was out of line with the fan, power steering pump cogs.
I tired to crank the engine briefly once but no luck so got AA to tow to my garage.
The thing here is that 3 months ago my tensioner was replaced due to a squeak when the steering was on full lock.
When I got the car back from the garage, it would still squeek now and then but have lived with it.
Could a faulty tensioner have caused this to happen?

My mechanic has put it down to ‘bad luck’ !!!

[shooey88]

the squeak would have been probs caused by the alternator pulley. it has a free wheel clutch that siezes and causes a squeak on full lock.
im not sure tho if this could cause the belt to snap tho. however, if the tensioner was replaced and was the cause.... can you look under parts warranty if this part failed?

[Studio54]

Thanks for the reply.

I’ve just been told by my mechanic that the valves are damaged and need replacing.
Total cost including a new alternator and all belts in the region of £1000 :-/

He also mentioned that the alternator was the likely cause of the problem.

I will ask if he can swap out the tensioner under warranty just to be on the safe side.

[MalcQV]

This happened to a pal of mine with Peugeot 307 diesel. It cost him similar amount.