Alternator pulley fell off but belt stayed on all the way home!

thordehr · Dec 29, 2007

I was 30 miles from home on the freeway when we heard a clank, thud, thud, thud, looked at each other, then I looked in the rear view mirror to see something bouncing in the road and bounce off the bumper of a following car. I exited the freeway, took a look and the alternator pulley was gone yet the belt was still in place and belt still running all the other accessories. Got back on the freeway, turned off all the accessories and kept going. I also turned off the daytime running lights by pulling the parking brake to the first click, just enough to turn them off yet not actually apply any parking brakes. Tried to save as much power as possible to run the injection timing. Well, I made it home and the belt stayed on the whole way. It was riding on the alternator shaft and the adjuster had enough throw to keep it tensioned. Apparently the shaft was smooth enough not to shred the belt and the belt may have been heating the shaft up on one face but the heat to the belt was spread through it's entire length so wasn't enough to heat damage it.
Going to take it in and have them fix it under warranty, will probably have them check the harmonic balancer as well.
Still amazing to me that I threw the balancer out of the car but not the belt and was able to retain the belt running all other accessories all the way home.

jokila · Dec 30, 2007

thordehr said:
I was 30 miles from home on the freeway when we heard a clank, thud, thud, thud, looked at each other, then I looked in the rear view mirror to see something bouncing in the road and bounce off the bumper of a following car. I exited the freeway, took a look and the alternator pulley was gone yet the belt was still in place and belt still running all the other accessories. Got back on the freeway, turned off all the accessories and kept going. I also turned off the daytime running lights by pulling the parking brake to the first click, just enough to turn them off yet not actually apply any parking brakes. Tried to save as much power as possible to run the injection timing. Well, I made it home and the belt stayed on the whole way. It was riding on the alternator shaft and the adjuster had enough throw to keep it tensioned. Apparently the shaft was smooth enough not to shred the belt and the belt may have been heating the shaft up on one face but the heat to the belt was spread through it's entire length so wasn't enough to heat damage it.
Going to take it in and have them fix it under warranty, will probably have them check the harmonic balancer as well.
Still amazing to me that I threw the balancer out of the car but not the belt and was able to retain the belt running all other accessories all the way home.

Still under warranty? You must not drive it much. It's basically 5 model years old.

jasonTDI · Dec 30, 2007

stupid lucky....You didn't hear it when it was starting to fail?

thordehr · Dec 31, 2007

Extended warranty through Chris (a tdiclub member). Actually I did hear a squeaking on the way out there and it was more related at first to clutch engagement, I thought I had a throwout bearing going but then the noise went away. Later I heard it at and idle if I was next to a barrier or another car that would reflect the sound. Noise was gone once I got to where I was going then nothing until I heard it fly off.
I've been calling around to see if it's cheaper to do myself but it seems that the pulley is at cheapest $73 and there's some repair kit associated for about 7 dollars, AND the metalnerd tool is another $37 plus shipping.
Plus my warranty covers rental car reimbursement.
Anyway, has anyone replaced one? Is there actually a nut that retains this pulley? I'm about to go rooting around in the garage for the repair manual to check myself but if anyone knows offhand that would be great.
I'm also thinking that the alternator itself may need replacing if the belt ran over the non rotating shaft for so long that it wore a flat in it.
Anyway, an interesting weekend drive.

jasonTDI · Dec 31, 2007

You need to do the whole alternator. Since the pulley came off it scored the shaft and wore it completely down. If it's caught early (prior to coming off) you don't have to do the whole thing, usually. The bearing failed, burned up came apart then the spinning backed out the attaching hub and then the pulley came off.

Easy repair. About 1 1/2 hours.

paramedick · Dec 31, 2007

http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?p=932019

http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=146580&page=3

jokila · Dec 31, 2007

thordehr said:
Extended warranty through Chris (a tdiclub member). Actually I did hear a squeaking on the way out there and it was more related at first to clutch engagement, I thought I had a throwout bearing going but then the noise went away. Later I heard it at and idle if I was next to a barrier or another car that would reflect the sound. Noise was gone once I got to where I was going then nothing until I heard it fly off.
I've been calling around to see if it's cheaper to do myself but it seems that the pulley is at cheapest $73 and there's some repair kit associated for about 7 dollars, AND the metalnerd tool is another $37 plus shipping.
Plus my warranty covers rental car reimbursement.
Anyway, has anyone replaced one? Is there actually a nut that retains this pulley? I'm about to go rooting around in the garage for the repair manual to check myself but if anyone knows offhand that would be great.
I'm also thinking that the alternator itself may need replacing if the belt ran over the non rotating shaft for so long that it wore a flat in it.
Anyway, an interesting weekend drive.

I have done it. You do have to remove the alternator but there is an R&R post on that. I didnt have to use the Metalnerd tool to remove what was left of the pulley as it came right off with a pipe wrench. I am not sure what the repair kit is all about as I just bought the pulley from the dealer.

THe new pulley comes with a plastic cover (w/o a hole in it unlike the original) over the end of the shaft and has lasted for about 60k miles. The original died on me about 55K miles.

jasonTDI · Jan 1, 2008

jokila, there is several different pullies for these cars. most take the tool to get them on and off the alternator.

R&R is simple.

pull belly pan
pull side skirt
remove alternator belt
remove 3 screws for the right fan, remove fan
remove 2 bolts for the AC
Drop AC down, don't let hoses hang tight support if you have to.
Remove alternator bolts, remove alt. Replace pulley
make sure to press in the bushings on the alt and AC or you won't be able to reinstall them easily or at all.

thordehr · Jan 3, 2008

The warranty tried not to cover it since they said it came off because of a loose nut and the warranty covers only mechanical failures. Chris helped out with the warranty company and got it covered, great service from him, he's a true advocate. I don't know if they are replacing the alternator but will find out tomorrow, when the pulley arrives. Not sure if they've removed it yet and have been able to inspect the shaft. Someone needs to make the warranty company aware that when this special pulley fails, it unscrews itself and typically gets lost, it's not the fact of having a bolt loosen and then the pulley falling off.
Anyway, bad experience with the warranty company at first but Chris (who sold me the extended platinum warranty) made sure it worked out beautifully in the end!

jasonTDI · Jan 3, 2008

Lucky you have him as an advocate. Most get screwed by the ex warranty companies. They'll say anything to get it not covered. Loose nut my arse. Faulty bearings is more like it.

Alternator pulley fell off but belt stayed on all the way home!

thordehr

Well-known member

jokila

Vendor

jasonTDI

TDI GURU Vendor , w/Business number

thordehr

Well-known member

jasonTDI

TDI GURU Vendor , w/Business number

paramedick

TDIClub Enthusiast, Vendor

jokila

Vendor

jasonTDI

TDI GURU Vendor , w/Business number

thordehr

Well-known member

jasonTDI

TDI GURU Vendor , w/Business number