Serpentine Groan

Concat

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 6, 2009
Location
Edmonton, AB
TDI
2005 Jetta GLS TDi
So I'm pretty sure my serp system needs some attention.

It started out a couple months ago with the battery light coming on for a couple seconds during one drive home. Could hear the air conditioning slow down like it was only drawing from the battery. Never happened again, so ignored.

Past couple days, however, I'm hearing a bit of a groan coming from the area. It's an obvious noise that was not there previously. When the backlighting is on in the car, it occasionally flickers very fast.

Seems obvious it needs to go in, but I'm hoping someone can tell me some quick visuals/audio checks I can do on my own to narrow down the issue. Any tricks or tips?

If voltage test is fine, does that likely mean the alternator is ok and it's just a pulley about to grenade?
 
Last edited:

touaregv10tdi

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 29, 2006
Location
Fort Lauderdale - Florida
TDI
2013 Beetle TDi,2000 Beetle TDi, 2016 BMW X5 Diesel, 2004 Touareg V10 TDi,2015 Beetle TDi, 2005 Jetta TDi
So I'm pretty sure my serp system needs some attention.

It started out a couple months ago with the battery light coming on for a couple seconds during one drive home. Could hear the air conditioning slow down like it was only drawing from the battery. Never happened again, so ignored.

This is one of the biggest mistakes of car owners. The car tells the owner something is not right. Suddenly the owner ignores it for months. Did you think it fixed itself?
A good preventative measure would have been inspection, based on the mileage of the car, a complete serpentine belt replace including the tensioner should have been done right then.
 

Mongler98

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Mar 23, 2011
Location
COLORADO (SE of Denver)
TDI
98 Jetta TDI AHU 1.9L (944 TDI swap in progress) I moved so now i got nothing but an AHU in a garage on a pallet.
cool, thanks for the update, did you rebuild it yourself? pull the pully off with a hub puller? and replace the bearing? Did you get an OEM Boshe? or a cheep reman?
 

JETaah

Vendor , w/Business number
Joined
Jan 18, 2001
Location
mi 48836
TDI
96 B4V, 1999.5 jettaIV,2005 BEW Beetle
cool, thanks for the update, did you rebuild it yourself? pull the pully off with a hub puller? and replace the bearing? Did you get an OEM Boshe? or a cheep reman?
I believe he just replaced the clutched pulley.
 
Last edited:

Mongler98

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Mar 23, 2011
Location
COLORADO (SE of Denver)
TDI
98 Jetta TDI AHU 1.9L (944 TDI swap in progress) I moved so now i got nothing but an AHU in a garage on a pallet.
fantastic!, always rebuild the OEM alternator. you did good!
 
Top