How long does an alternator overrunning clutch last?

tgray

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 12, 2004
Location
Marengo, IL
TDI
'02 Beetle, '05 Golf, 2000 Jetta, 2001 Jetta, 2002 Jetta
After reading on this forum of all the ones that had their pulleys fly apart on the road I thought I would just check mine at 210,000. On the New Beetle you can't just reach in and turn it by hand like on the Golf or Jettas. Instead the whole front end needs to come off the car. When I got mine out (two hours later) I found the clutch was frozen solid. Who knows how long it has been this way. Now I remember I felt more vibrations in the gear shift lever a few years back but thought it was just old age on the motor mounts. With the new clutch installed I am amazed at how smooth the engine runs. I can't feel the vibrations in the shifter like it was long ago. Now I am wondering if it would be good to just change it out at the next timing belt change.
 

AndyBees

Top Post Dawg
Joined
May 27, 2003
Location
Southeast Kentucky
TDI
Silver 2003 Jetta TDI, Silver 2000 Jetta TDI (sold), '84 Vanagon with '02 ALH engine
The OE Alt pulley went kaput on my 2000 Jetta on 1/6/07 at 194k miles on the odometer...........mostly highway miles!
 

boertje

Veteran Member
Joined
May 24, 2002
Location
Coeur d'Alene, ID
TDI
'01, '01, '03, ‘06 NB - TDIs all.
After reading on this forum of all the ones that had their pulleys fly apart on the road I thought I would just check mine at 210,000. On the New Beetle you can't just reach in and turn it by hand like on the Golf or Jettas. Instead the whole front end needs to come off the car. When I got mine out (two hours later) I found the clutch was frozen solid. Who knows how long it has been this way. Now I remember I felt more vibrations in the gear shift lever a few years back but thought it was just old age on the motor mounts. With the new clutch installed I am amazed at how smooth the engine runs. I can't feel the vibrations in the shifter like it was long ago. Now I am wondering if it would be good to just change it out at the next timing belt change.
Really? I take the belly pan off then the passenger side skirt, then take the serp belt loose where I then have access to the pulley from underneath. 15 minutes. 10 more minutes to replace the pulley in the car provided you have the proper metalnerd tools. 45 minutes to remove the alternator. Just did this all last week on my 01 bug. It was easier than I thought.
 

tgray

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 12, 2004
Location
Marengo, IL
TDI
'02 Beetle, '05 Golf, 2000 Jetta, 2001 Jetta, 2002 Jetta
Do you have a/c in your beetle? You are right I could get the pulley off without removing the front but I had some other issues with the alternator was why I decided to check it out. But to check the pulley with out removing it is not a simple matter with out taking stuff apart like it is in my Golf. But with my car I can see no way to get the alternator out without pulling the front off. There is a u shaped bracket that requires the alternator is pulled forward into where the radiator is mounted to remove it. To even get the rear wires loose in the car is almost impossible for me with my hands smashed down in all the hoses. It is just not worth it to do any other way as easy as the front comes off. When I am done my hands are not all bleeding and beat up.
 

boertje

Veteran Member
Joined
May 24, 2002
Location
Coeur d'Alene, ID
TDI
'01, '01, '03, ‘06 NB - TDIs all.
Do you have a/c in your beetle? You are right I could get the pulley off without removing the front but I had some other issues with the alternator was why I decided to check it out. But to check the pulley with out removing it is not a simple matter with out taking stuff apart like it is in my Golf. But with my car I can see no way to get the alternator out without pulling the front off. There is a u shaped bracket that requires the alternator is pulled forward into where the radiator is mounted to remove it. To even get the rear wires loose in the car is almost impossible for me with my hands smashed down in all the hoses. It is just not worth it to do any other way as easy as the front comes off. When I am done my hands are not all bleeding and beat up.
Yes I have A/C and I can check my pulley just as easy as on the golf I have. To remove the alternator, you simply lower the A/C compressor, remove electrical connection to compressor, loosen the A/C hose that loops up and is attached via clamp near the vacuum pump along with the clamp holding it near the oil filter. Loosen other hose too that is fastened there so you have room to work. Loosen clamps on the large coolant hose (the one that goes to the Tstat) and pull it upward and away from the oil cooler and tie off with a string. Remove the passenger side radiator fan (this is the hardest part I found of the whole process) and let it hang. Cut out a piece of card board that fits in the hole where the fan was to protect the condensor. Of course you should have disconnected the battery by now, but now you can remove the alternator wiring. Remove air intake to EGR valve, remove serp belt tensioner. Remove alternator bolts. Rotate alternator out of cradle and move it towards the oil cooler or driver side of car. Now you can rotate the alternator to remove its wiring if you have not done so yet. You dont need to move it forward. You move it sideways to the nice alternator sided opening between the alternator cradle and oil cooler. Now simply lower the alternator. To install the new one, reverse this process. Took me 45 min to complete the removal.
My Tstat was not working 100 percent so I took this opportunity to replace it since I had a clear shot.
I was told that to remove the alt I had to remove the passenger side engine mount and push the engine back so I would have enough clearance between the cradle and radiator. True if you take this path. False if you do it as I outline above. I was sweating bullets looking at this job last week. There had to be a better way so I searched and found a post that said "easy, just move the alt sideways towards the driver side", well I ran back to my shop to see if that was so, and, YES it was. Had it out in no time then. Later I found a tutorial on this site (which should be a sticky BTW if I can find it again) that showed with pictures all I had just done.

In fact here is the thread http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=267691
 
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boertje

Veteran Member
Joined
May 24, 2002
Location
Coeur d'Alene, ID
TDI
'01, '01, '03, ‘06 NB - TDIs all.
Original one lasted about 330,000 km, replacement had to be changed out again under parts warranty after about 27,000 km ...
Was the replacement a Bosch? My original only lasted 60k miles probably because the injector pump went potty all over the alternator. Never really worked right after that. Had to rev the engine to 2000 sometimes just get it charging again and the pulley was fine too.
 

VWBeamer

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 1, 2009
Location
GA
TDI
2004 Jetta Wagon
On my 2001 the original was going strong at 172K when I sold it, on my 04 it went out at 80K. The car made a terrible rattling noise at idle.
 

04SlvrJetta

Veteran Member
Joined
Aug 1, 2007
Location
Wheeling, WV
TDI
15 Passat SE DSG
187k miles on my 04 jetta. New one has been on for 60 already. Got it from idParts and borrowed the metal nerd tools from a fellow member.
 

kpenner

Veteran Member
Joined
Nov 13, 2010
Location
Forney, Texas
TDI
2015 A6 TDI 3.0L
alternator clutch failure

The alternator clutch was out on my '05 when I bought it. It had 122K miles on it and I noticed the car was shuddering when I turned at low speeds and the battery seemed to not be fully charged. I had the dealership check out the alternator and battery, They said both were ok but the clutch was bad.

They changed it out and I got an immediate 5 mpg bump up!:cool: That was the original reason the previous owner got rid of it, because he couldn't get any mileage better than 37 mpg. I now get 45 mpg without even trying and it has 182K on it!

In the future, I will have it checked at TB changes.
 

coalminer16

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Dec 11, 2008
Location
Central Wisconsin
TDI
Golf 2004
Some never seem to go out. Didn't you notice the belt rattling at idle though if it was solid? If that is the case and you have the ALH motor then your tensioner is likely also shot. BEW is just a spring loaded one and they hold up better
 
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