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Power steering belt tensioner |
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Dcabbie 
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Joined: 18 Mar 18 Location: Cork Status: Offline Points: 7 |
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 Topic: Power steering belt tensionerPosted: 18 Mar 18 at 15:02 |
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I have a 2011 2.0 automatic transporter. In nov the power steering belt went and was replaced, on New Year’s Eve the tensioner snapped off at the bolt and was replaced. Since then the belt has come off and shredded and now the tensioner has broken off again! Any ideas what the problem is? I will replace the tensioner again to get back on the road but there’s obviously another problem that needs to be sorted.
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T5 TDI
Vanorak 
Joined: 05 Nov 05 Status: Offline Points: 3687 |
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Posted: 19 Mar 18 at 09:29 |
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It might be that the alternator freewheel is seized. If it is seized it will feel like an old school solid pulley. If it's working properly you should feel it slipping slightly when you spin it up quickly by hand. The belts have a habit of damaging the cam belt covers, if it has, don't start it until you have checked the cam belt for damage.
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2004 2.5 174
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Dcabbie
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Joined: 18 Mar 18 Location: Cork Status: Offline Points: 7 |
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Posted: 19 Mar 18 at 15:16 |
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I see it could be that, but it seems fine and there was no screeching or knocking before hand, I was just reversing and turning, there was a “clunk” and it was done!
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T5 TDI
Vanorak
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Posted: 19 Mar 18 at 16:56 |
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When you hear the word 'seized' it always sounds like something is about to fail but freewheels can go on when they are seized for thousands of miles. It just means that everything gets a harder time. So the alternator will suffer more vibration which will shorten its life and the belt bounces around more and will fail early.
The surpentine belts failing on those engines are quite well known, I think I remember VW modified the cam belt covers on the early ones to protect the cam belt. You might find more about it elsewhere online. On the 2.5 gear driven engine there is no way to tell what state the alternator freewheel is in without a good few hours dismantling so in a way you are lucky! I discovered my (2.5 engine) A/C freewheel seized at about 100k although the alternator one was fine. What mileage is your on by the way?
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2004 2.5 174
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Dcabbie
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Joined: 18 Mar 18 Location: Cork Status: Offline Points: 7 |
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Posted: 19 Mar 18 at 17:58 |
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It’s on 250k km
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T5 TDI
Vanorak
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Posted: 19 Mar 18 at 18:20 |
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That's enough for a seized freewheel. There is no telling, some do more and mine did less. On the 2.5's they were supposed to be changed as a service item at 100k (miles). You should know by the spinning, you can feel a kind of weird slipping as if it has a clutch inside which it does. If it feels like a solid straightforward pulley that just turns as you turn it quickly back and forth it knackered.
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2004 2.5 174
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Dcabbie
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Posted: 19 Mar 18 at 18:45 |
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Ok, thanks for that, I’ll check it out and if so replace both. Hopefully that will sort it then
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Vanorak
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Posted: 19 Mar 18 at 19:44 |
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Let us know how it goes.
 For anyone else looking, there are more than one type of freewheel. The 2.5's are different and turn one way only so that is a simple check. To see how a new A/C freewheel on a 2.5 should be behaving check here. The 1.9's can turn both ways as most other VW's do.
Edited by T5 TDI - 26 Mar 18 at 19:28 |
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2004 2.5 174
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Dcabbie
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Joined: 18 Mar 18 Location: Cork Status: Offline Points: 7 |
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Posted: 22 Mar 18 at 19:35 |
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So it was the alternator pulley that had seized, so I’ve replaced that, the idle pulley and the the broken tensioner, along with the belt. Hopefully it will all be ok now
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Vanorak
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Posted: 22 Mar 18 at 20:45 |
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Thanks for reporting back to us.
 For anyone else that has this problem you need a tool to get the freewheel/puley off which you can easily find relatively cheaply online. They can be very tight to undo sometimes.
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2004 2.5 174
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Dcabbie
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Posted: 26 Mar 18 at 18:31 |
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Just to say we didn’t buy the tool, but took the alternator off and the supplier took off the old pulley and put on the new one
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T5 TDI
Vanorak
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Posted: 26 Mar 18 at 19:24 |
 Dcabbie. For anyone buying a new complete alternator- most come already fitted with a new pulley but not all so it's worth checking before you buy.
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2004 2.5 174
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