BHW 5.5 - Urgent Help Needed - Timing Belt Slipped

Clean it & check it with a straight edge. Works for me. No need to spend money if you don't have to!

when your 100 miles away from home, doing 75 down the freeway and suddenly you overheat.....

Green Scothbrite did the job wonderfully. Surfaces look new. I then blew out all the carbon and scothbrite debris in the coolant and oil channels and the head bolt threads. Then I checked tolerances. According to Haynes manual for a BHW the tolerance should be no more than 0.1mm. I tested both surfaces and was glad to see that not even a step smaller (0.076mm) was able to clear the machinist straight edge. The image is just for illustration. I did not put the feeler gauge under the straight edge as in the picture. LOL.

Next step is reassembly! Thanks everyone!

https://flic.kr/p/RWhU2L

https://flic.kr/p/RWhU5b

https://flic.kr/p/2cYj7Tu

Wow kudos for the effort and can-do attitude Deen. If you get your car operational again for a $92 head plus belts that might be the neatest trick I've seen here. (of course the advice above is pretty valuable too)

afarfalla said:

believe it would be a good idea to send the head out and let the pro's true it

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Nah! Don't have it re surfaced just for he sake of doing it. If you do that and next time it actually needs a resurfacing, there might not be enough material left do do it again. First check it, if it's straight clean the surface and reinstall.

imo000 said:

Nah! Don't have it re surfaced just for he sake of doing it. If you do that and next time it actually needs a resurfacing, there might not be enough material left do do it again. First check it, if it's straight clean the surface and reinstall.

Click to expand...

That's a good take imo000. I checked for straightness and it's straight as an arrow. I mentioned before that I could not get the feeler blade that is less than spec to get thru between the block/head and the machinist straight edge. Hopefully, it's not coming off anytime soon once I have it on!

@oilhammer - I figured out why the accessory belt broke and with such a force that it wrapped itself around the crank sprocket.

In the summer, the alternator gave out and I wanted something stronger. You may ask why? That is because I have a side business of Televisions. I buy them bulk and then I resell them. Right now I am operating out of my storage unit where I don't have an electric outlet. So I bought an inverter that I would plug in the trunk area cigarette lighter and it would output 110V. I would plug in the TV for the prospective buyer to test and then make the transaction. Something like the one below:

https://www.amazon.com/BESTEK-300W-...ywords=110+volt+car+inverter+plug+in+dc+to+ac

I was searching for a 140A alternator instead of the smaller one that our cars come with. I believe ours is a 110A. That way the car would have ample juice when powering up the TV's. Although I don't power it on for too long and only 1 at a time I still wanted to get that upgrade.

I researched the re-manufactured alternators ones and decided OEM is better especially if I could get it from the junkyard. When I went to the junkyard looking for an alternator I was not able to find a 140A from B5/5.5. Not wanting to leave empty handed I decided on a whim to check the alternators from a 2008 VW Passat. Luckily, it did. I then took it the B5 and tried it. It was a perfect fit. Eureka!

After I brought it home I noticed that the pulley was different and would not align with the belt. I thought I was in trouble but decided to keep going. I took off the pulley from my alternator and swapped it on the 2008 alternator. Fit perfectly after the swap.

I ordered an OEM ContiTech belt for the accessories and when I put it on it was a super tight fit. My thinking was that it would stretch over time. What I had failed to realize at the time was that the alternator body by itself was larger so the pulley was further out which made the belt such a tight fit. It ran for a few months and then disaster struck as you already know.

I have now gone with a 5mm longer belt that fits perfectly for the accessories. So hopefully, this will not happen again.

I hope others can learn from my mistake.

Hello fellow dieselers,

Update: The Wagon is back in business. Yesterday, I finally finished up the re-assembly and it fired right up. I apologize about the delay in updates as this year I bought a house and since January have been crazily busy getting the house up to my "low" standards.

The house was a foreclosure but not in very rough shape but now it looks very homely. I did not know that a house would be this much work as this is my first one. However, I love the fact that I have learned plumbing, flooring, drywall-ing, painting and some electrical wiring in about 6 -7 months.

Back to the wagon. After re-assembly I was super nervous that if I did anything wrong I might hear a metallic sound and it would be back to square one. However, it started up on the first try. Not even a second of hesitation. I do hear a little exhaust leak close to the turbo but that can be fixed later. Right now I just want to drive around the neighborhood. I missed my buddy! I am so relieved that it is back as it is my favorite car to drive and oh-so practical.

Next step is to change the oil/filter and a coolant flush.

Thank you everyone for all the valuable tips/recommendations during this journey. I might not have been able to do it without this community.

Good job!

Glad you made it through. I ran into a similar situation a few years ago due to a seized alternator pulley. This forum and some of the same members who replied here were very valuable to get it back rolling.