2002 New Beetle - Serpentine Belt Broke, Won't Start

We have a 2002 New Beetle TDI, 140k miles. The serpentine belt broke and the engine won't re-start. As I understand it this can sometimes mean that fragments from the belt have caused damage inside the engine. The car is now at the shop and will be evaluated on Monday. What can I expect in terms of a damage estimate (best case, worst case) and do you have any suggestions for things to watch out for? Thanks.

The serpentine belt? Or the timing belt?

If it were the serpentine belt, it wouldn't cause internal engine damage.

If it's the timing belt, there could be valve to piston contact, and you'll need the cylinder head overhauled and piston protrusion measured.

The shop told me that the serpentine belt can sometimes damage the timing belt when it breaks and wraps around the pulley. The fact that the engine won't re-start may indicate that this has happened. If the cylinder head does need to be overhauled do you have any idea what this might cost (roughly). Thanks.

The serpentine belt breaking does not cause engine damage, HOWEVER the belt rarely breaks cleanly but instead turns into spaghetti and those pieces get sucked under the timing belt cover and wrap around the crankshaft causing the timing belt to jump time.


A new/rebuilt head if that turns out to be the case would be at least a $2k job. and maybe double that.

A 'soft' timing belt event can be pretty reasonable, figure $1K or so with replacement
of the affected valves and lifters. You will be doing a timing belt replacement now, too.
That's if there's piston-valve contact without damaging the cylinder head, cam or rods.
A worse event that does more damage can easily more than double the cost.
The biggest factor is the repair shop itself. A pricey place that you don't have a prior
relationship with can cost a lot more than a shop that you've had good experiences with.

"Won't start" -- please be more specific.

Did it crank after belt replacement?

I ask because a friend of mine got an Audi for $500 that wouldn't roll over -- the assumption was the engine was seized.

It wasn't. The alternator was seized, which precluded the engine from turning over

flee, thanks for this detail, it tells me what to watch for when talking with the shop. I have a good relationship with them, been going there for almost 20 years and they have always done a great job. VW repair is expensive in general but I think this shop is fairly reasonable.

Genesis said:

"Won't start" -- please be more specific.
Did it crank after belt replacement?
I ask because a friend of mine got an Audi for $500 that wouldn't roll over -- the assumption was the engine was seized.
It wasn't. The alternator was seized, which precluded the engine from turning over

Click to expand...

Absolutely a possibility! Just two weeks ago my daughter's 2002 TDI's alternator
was getting noisy so she drove it to our mechanic. When he went to move it onto
the lift, it wouldn't turn over. The alternator had seized as she parked and shut down.

I had a car come in where the "motor just stopped and wouldn't turn over". Here the serpentine belt broke and folded over itself and around the crank pulley. This locked everything up and it wouldn't budge forward. Turned the motor backwards to release the belt installed a new one and sent them on their way.

Edit to add I found a video of this and added it to my Facebook page. https://www.facebook.com/metalmanparts/

Since we turned the car off before any unusual engine noise I'm hoping that no damage was done and it is just a matter of replacing the serpentine belt.

Just to finish the story ... turns out there was no damage to the timing belt or valves. The serpentine belt had wrapped itself so tightly around the lower pulley that the engine would not crank. The only needed repair was to remove and replace the broken belt. Bullet dodged.

There 'ya go....

After 20 years of pumping money into someone's palm just to keep a car running.....this hasn't encouraged you to learn to perform the work yourself? I just can't understand that at all.

Some people don't care to, or live in a housing situation that they can't work on their cars. It's not always a choice.