How to remove ALH alternator pulley in car

I did not take off the lower intercooler pipe myself, just the plastic side skirt and fender liner. I also replaced the tensioner at the same time.

Be prepared to use some serious torque when removing the old alternator pulley as I had to use a pipe on the 17mm wrench to get it off and even then I was worried the MN tool might break (which it did not).

jbuddy said:

....The 39 point bit won't fit in the old pulley for some reason and I don't have the small 12 bit piece to use while alternator still on the car so I guess I'll work at getting the alternator off the car and then use a pipe wrench while inserting either the 12 point or torx piece.
thank again I let you know how I make out.

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If you are going to use a pipe wrench (just did this myself on Saturday) you might be able to get away with using a longer inner tool without removing the alternator. Try it first.

Never thought off that, but now I'm commited. I took the alternator off
from the bottom and now I need to get the rest of the old pulley off the alternator. It sure is on tight.

the NEW alternator BIT set from Metalnerd

As promised, my alternator bit set arrived in one day. I'll be back on the road tomorrow.

Here is the new version of the kit from Metalnerd (same price as the old). The spline tool comes with that cap for shipping protection and storage. As Wingnut mentioned, this allows changing the pulley without removing the alternator (and AC pump, and fan, etc!). btw- the Meglios are Good folk.

mine broke too the other day i bought a new pully and got the old one off no probs, but i am concerned with putting the new pully on the alt without the spline tool so far i just cranked it by hand holding the shaft with a tripple square but i know this is noooo where near 60 ft lbs..................
any suggestions?????????????????

Mission accomplished, new pulley on and everything back to working order.
Thanks again to everyone who helped. I love this site. There is so much
satisfaction in DIY projects and not having to pay the dealers is a huge
bonus. Thanks again

jbuddy said:

Mission accomplished, new pulley on and everything back to working order.
Thanks again to everyone who helped. I love this site. There is so much
satisfaction in DIY projects and not having to pay the dealers is a huge
bonus. Thanks again

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__. No, There is so much satisfaction in not having to pay the dealers and DIY projects are a huge bonus.

Thanks so much everyone for their posts on this. Just replaced a friends NB pulley yesterday. Couldn't have gone better, save for the skinned knuckles. Wish I would have contacted Metalnerd for the updated tool...<shrug> oh well. If anyone in the eastern Iowa region needs to use the tool, drop me a line.

Did this job yesterday on our 2003 Wagon. I had the Metalnerd new version tools and the oem pulley and belt. The pulley was still in place but once I started removing things to get a view it was aparent that the bearing/clutch had grenaded with the evidence of metal shavings. There were shavings that went clear through the belt in places.

I had some frustration as I was unable to get the splined tool into the pulley. I ended up prying the pully apart and grabbing what was left with vise grips. I then used the shaft tool to unthread it by turning the shaft. Once I had the remains of the pulley out I examined them. I could see any outright deformation or damage significant enough to not allow the tool to mate to the pulley. It in fact looks like the ID of the pulley is smaller than that of the tool by enough that it won't fit. The tool worked fine for reassembly of the new pulley however.

Has anyone else experienced this? Maybe there was another version at some point during production? The car was produced in 2002 and has 120K on the clock.

eap, Sometimes when the pully comes apart it damages the splines not allowing the tool to fit well. Its not a tool issue, but rather a damage issue... At least that I've seen.

My pulley failed in the other mode: Locked tight on the alternator shaft. No shavings, just a real bouncy alternator belt on idle. The tool fit fine to remove the old pulley.

--Nate

oldpoopie said:

eap, Sometimes when the pully comes apart it damages the splines not allowing the tool to fit well. Its not a tool issue, but rather a damage issue... At least that I've seen.

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That was my first thought as well but looking at it closer the OD of the splines on the tool contact the old pulley just about where the chamfer meets the face of the pulley. Looking at a picture of a new pulley, the splines are not cut to that depth. The old pulley still appears fully round. The tool never makes it close enough the splines because it contacts the the chamfered area first.

No worries on my side. I got through it. No part has beaten me yet. Just an fyi in case anyone else sees something similar. I suppose somehow this one became uniformly compressed.

Could be heat distortion as well.

My car makes a grinding noise on a cold start that comes from the alternator belt area. It gets louder with more electrical load and I can see the tensioner blip a little but it seems to dissapear after the car warms up a bit. Does this sound like the pulley is on its way out even though it doesnt grind all the time? Its the original pulley but the tensioner is relatively new. Thanks for any input.

I've never heard one make noise, but that doesnt mean yours isnt. Take the alternator belt off. If the noise goes away, you may be able to know. Also, at 163k, Its a safe bet to replace it.

oldpoopie said:

I've never heard one make noise, but that doesnt mean yours isnt. Take the alternator belt off. If the noise goes away, you may be able to know. Also, at 163k, Its a safe bet to replace it.

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__. My car had never shown any sign of alt pulley trouble, but one morning when I was about to be late to work I started the engine and I got a metallic rustling/scratching sound for about 2 seconds. Said to myself "gotta see how much that's gonna cost me this time when I get home from work". I drove the ~55 miles to work with no noises and then when I restarted at work that PM, there were no noises. But about a mile down the road, the outer alternator pulley came off and fell into the skid plate.

__. I agree that if he's gotten to 163K, he should change it. My car made it to 153K before it grenaded; MzLauraLee's waggin (also an '03) destroyed it's serp tensioner at about 95K miles and Tom Earl found that the pulley was locked solid on her car.

__. A swishing, zinging or bouncing noise could be the tensioner (and if the tensioner is bad, it could be that the alternator pulley is too). But a grinding or scraping noise could be the pulley. And I guess that a noise down near the alternator could be alternator itself (bearings, commutator contacts??). So, a noise around the alternator or serp belt could be any number of things. But, as we said, there's probably something wrong with the alternator pulley at 163K miles.

(PS Tom noticed the locked pulley when MzLauraLee had him change the timing belt system on her car. His order on the tools hadn't come in and we didn't have the pulley then so she took the car back to him a week or so later. I was able to go on the second trip. The replacement of the pulley without taking the alternator out was reasonably easy (the jacking the car up and pulling the skid plate was the biggest PITA) but gee, that little booger was on there *tight*!!!!! As Tom told me at the time, the belt tension tends to tighten it and it's like it's been run for 100K with an impact tightening it on there. But just a few minutes, the replacement pulley was on, skid plate back on, and car out the door.)

Yup just ordered the pulley and MN tool and will be installing it this weekend. The pulley growls on demand (whenever I need the rear defroster). Hopefully I have a pipe big enough to fit over the box end laying around the house in case I need it.

zurgin1251 said:

Yup just ordered the pulley and MN tool and will be installing it this weekend. The pulley growls on demand (whenever I need the rear defroster). Hopefully I have a pipe big enough to fit over the box end laying around the house in case I need it.

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__. You'll need it.

X2. I used a 2-foot pice of black iron natural gas pipe for my cheater bar, over my wrench on the MN tool. I was really surprised at how tight the alternator pulley was.

--Nate

Don't know if I am up to it ?

Hey - a noob here. I change my own oil, replaced brake pads, replaced the MAF and vac air hoses without too much trouble.
But now - with nearly 190K - I have this exact problem. I don't know if I can do it or not. I would swear I have 1/2 the space you guys who took pictures have ! Awfully cramped in there. What all did you need to remove to get to the alternator shaft ?
Also - is there any other maintenance that I should do while I am "in there" (I think someone mentioned the tensioner)?
Also - Where did you buy the replacement pulley ? I bought the flow sensor from tdiparts.com last year and thought they seemed like a good outfit - but they seem to be gone now ?
Luckily - I also have another car I can drive as well as a motorcycle - so I don't immediately need the car.
I just don't know if I am up to it.

TDIparts.com has changed its name to IDparts.com

Same great outfit... I'm sure they carry replacement pulleys (and the MN tools...) Yes, these modern cars (most makes) don't waste much room under the hood...

Yuri

MAN - That thing is on there TIGHT !

Ok - finally got all the parts (and the tool) and I can't get the remnants of the pulley to budge.
I have an extension on my 17mm wrench and have the 14mm wrench stuck against the frame. So far - the wrenches (one or the other) keep slipping off. I haven't damaged the tool yet - but I am afraid that I will. I sprayed a ton of WD40 in there and am letting it sit over night.
If that doesn't help, anyone have any other ideas?

Has anyone tried applying heat ? The little card that came with the tool suggests that. I don't want to damage the alternator (or anything else for that matter).
Thanks,
Paul in Indiana

Silly question: are you sure you're turning things in the proper direction???

The pulley screws onto the alternator shaft in a normal (clockwise) direction, but some people, because they turn the alternator shaft rather than the pulley, regard this as a "right-hand" thread... So, to remove the pulley, you're certain that you're turning the pulley tool counter-clockwise???

Some of these are on very tightly... (and the natural rotation of the engine is such that the pulleys get tighter as they work...) We once had to use an impact gun on one - and the alternator was off the car...

Good luck,

Yuri

FWIW, I wound up having to replace a complete alternator recently that I had replaced a pulley on a few weeks earlier. It is one of the only alternators that has significantly fought me when removing the old pully. Looking at the damage once the alternator was removed I could see that the heat from the failed pully had damaged the bearing in the nose of the alternator.

Re: Turning things in the proper direction???

No - that is a great question ! I referred to the pictures at the start of this post for reference. From underneath the car - I am pulling the wrench on the outter ring (the pulley) forward - or - looking straight on the alternator - the pulley is being turned counterclockwise.

Correct ?

Yes... as I said, sometimes they're on so tight that the only way to get them off the alternator shaft is to remove the alternator and use some heavy equipment on them...

Good luck!!

Yuri

Ateesman, instead of proping the 14mm wrench against the frame try getting a pipe around it. I tried using the frame as a backstop and the wrench kept slipping off of it. I had better luck with a pipe extension on each wrench.

Got It !!!

Only cost me a trip to Sears (to buy a set of 6 point end wrenches - 1x17mm was $10 - so I HAD to buy the whole set - on sale for $30 !) - and a trip to Lowe's to buy a 1' piece of 1&1/4" pipe.
I had to flatten the end of the pipe a bit to fit over the open end of the 17mm wrench. Then I used the smaller piece of pipe I had on the 14mm wrench (instead of bracing it against the car frame). . . . . came right off !
The metalnerd tool's corners were starting to get rounded - so I decided that 6point wrenches would be better.
Now I am back on line to find that diagram of how that belt goes back on . . .

Thanks to all. This site is great !

so proud of herself, thanks to you.

developed "the squeak" a couple weeks ago as an intermittent, quiet chirp at idle. Mentioned it in passing to oldpoopie -he called it as the alternator pulley.

Read up on the How-To, Ordered the parts from Bora parts (got them in 2 days! ) and was determined to get rid of the now constant squeak.

that failing pulley was on their good, but after about 30 minutes of "finesse" -(a little heat, a little lube, a little leverage), some swearing and a wish that I was a little bit stronger, i finally got it loose. swapped it out in less than 10 and hoped that I was strong enough to torque the new pulley on tight enough.

Very helpful post. Thanks again, Wingnut!

Mk IV TDI - Successful Alternator Pulley replacement in car

Just wanted to thank Wingnut, paramedick and all others that contributed to the information on this site about removing the alternator pulley from Mk IV TDIs and replacing the pulley. I did this successfully on my 2003 Golf TDI yesterday. I was able to buy the bit set needed from www.Metalnerd.com (part MN3400). They now sell the exact tool without the need of any modifications and it worked perfectly. Following the various instructions and tips on this site I was able to remove the remnants of the damaged pulley and install the new one without removal of the alternator in the parking lot of my son's college. The pipe wrench tip came in handy. I should mention that I initially had the car towed to the the closest VW dealer to my son's college to have it repaired as I thought the job was more than I could handle. They quoted removal and replacement of the alternator at $1200 + tax. I thought this was a bit too much and asked if they could just replace the damaged pulley. They said that was not possible and tried to convince me the part I saw left on the alternator only came with the alternator. I was not convinced so it sat there a few days while I checked further and this is when I found all the information on this site. I also purchased the pulley to check that what I though was possible truly was and it could be replaced in the car. Having all this information, I returned to the dealer yesterday and showed them everything. They still had reservations and would not commit to anything except full replacement. I got fed up and had the car towed back to my son's college parking lot. I anticipated this scenario so was prepared with all tools. My son and I then proceeded to replace the pulley and belt within one hour. The pulley, belt with a 10% discount from my local VW dealer and the tool from Metalnerd cost under $200. The tow to and from the dealer were no cost with my insurance company. It did waste some of our time and gas driving back and forth but we learned something and it was a satisfying repair.

A big THANKS!!!!!!

Ron