Belt Broke- Glad I Have a VW Diesel ( Sorta)

[rs899]

This morning on the way to the sweat shop at 5:30 I started smelling rubber burning from up ahead.  Not sure it was coming from my car ( and there being no safe or lit place to pull over anyway) I pressed on.

About 2 miles down the road, the alternator light came on, and I was able to pull over into a lit church parking lot.  Popped the hood and crap- the alternator belt had broken...because the idler pulley had seized.

The good news is that I just waited for daylight, ( half hour) started the car and drove home 45 minutes (how long is the stop solenoid good for?).  Drove the Rabbit P/U in.
There aren't many cars that would let you do that (though my MB diesels will as well).


I have a sloppy spare pulley, but I would like to get a new one.

I see they are about $60.  Has anyone tried to just replace the bearing on the pulley, and if so, what are the dimensions?


Ah, never mind, I knew this wasn't anything new...

http://www.vwdiesel.net/forum/index.php?topic=16691.0

Bought a Nachi ( Japan ) bearing on ebay for $6- may get to my house by Friday.  I love the internet.  Twenty years ago I would have had to drive to the other side of town to buy the pulley (if the parts store had it).  Now , a few minutes of research and standing on the shoulders of somebody else's work and I have a painless solution...

[bbob203]

if you take out the plunger in the solenoid as long as the tank has fuel. 

[rs899]

True that, but by the time the solenoid runs the battery down, can't restart.  I could have pulled it first, but didn't want to get dirty.

Just got a " bearing shipped" notice from ebay, less than an hour from purchase.  Life is good....

[R.O.R-2.0]

idler pulley? wtf you guys talking about?

the idler for my serp setup was $20 bucks new..

and my mk2 never had one factory.. neither one of them..

[rs899]

Did yours have aircon?  This is a '91 MK 2 with aircon.  It's a bit of a pain to adjust the silly thing- I usually take the grille off to get to it.

[R.O.R-2.0]

Did yours have aircon?  This is a '91 MK 2 with aircon.  It's a bit of a pain to adjust the silly thing- I usually take the grille off to get to it.

both 92s had a/c.. so did both my 85s.. i forgot the a/c pulley is an idler..

the ONLY mk2 ive owned without a/c, is my 86 Golf/GTI, and it was bare bones power nothing from the factory.

[Dakotakid]

The problem with waiting to replace the bearing until it siezes, is that it creates a high degree of heat as it dies. It often distorts the center portion of the idler. The hole is no longer perfectly round.

When you press or knock the new bearing in, I would spend time to determine if the new bearing rolls true in it's race. Often, they will not because the hole is distorted in shape. At this point, you may have to learn the finer points of using a small round file to "true-up" the hole. Been there and done it.

Checking the condition of these bearings should be a routine any time the hood is popped open. It only takes about 3 seconds to reach in and see if the pulley has slop.

[bajacalal]

Assuming you don't run the battery down with the lights or radio, you can drive for hundreds of miles with no alternator and the battery will keep the solenoid open... My bigger concern would be that the fan wouldn't spin when it should.

[R.O.R-2.0]

Assuming you don't run the battery down with the lights or radio, you can drive for hundreds of miles with no alternator and the battery will keep the solenoid open... My bigger concern would be that the fan wouldn't spin when it should.

i drove my rabbit for close to a month with no working alternator. it was there, but it was only an idler/tensioner pulley, haha..

i think someone here drove their rabbit a VERY LONG DISTANCE with one headlight un plugged, heater off, and no working alternator..

[rs899]

Checking the condition of these bearings should be a routine any time the hood is popped open. It only takes about 3 seconds to reach in and see if the pulley has slop.

I am obviously no expert, but I think they can run a long time with a bit of slop.  I confess I did hear an odd noise last night that I should have paid attention to, but I wrote it off as slop in the front bearing of the alternator ( and I have a rebearinged one of those ready to go in with the renewed pulley).  Thanks for the hint on the out of round pulley- I will check that.

[8v-of-fury]

Assuming you don't run the battery down with the lights or radio, you can drive for hundreds of miles with no alternator and the battery will keep the solenoid open... My bigger concern would be that the fan wouldn't spin when it should.

i drove my rabbit for close to a month with no working alternator. it was there, but it was only an idler/tensioner pulley, haha..

i think someone here drove their rabbit a VERY LONG DISTANCE with one headlight un plugged, heater off, and no working alternator..

Pretty sure that was Ed, and I do believe he drove up or down whistler mountain that way.. lol!

[R.O.R-2.0]

Assuming you don't run the battery down with the lights or radio, you can drive for hundreds of miles with no alternator and the battery will keep the solenoid open... My bigger concern would be that the fan wouldn't spin when it should.

i drove my rabbit for close to a month with no working alternator. it was there, but it was only an idler/tensioner pulley, haha..

i think someone here drove their rabbit a VERY LONG DISTANCE with one headlight un plugged, heater off, and no working alternator..

Pretty sure that was Ed, and I do believe he drove up or down whistler mountain that way.. lol!

no, im talking about some guy driving over 4-5 states, and a couple days time, with no working alt...

[bajacalal]

I drove from around Sacramento to San Diego without an alternator, pretty much all freeway. That's hundreds of miles. I don't know if that story is about me but it's one state, just a very big one. I wouldn't be surprised if someone can top that though.

[JessaBug]

Drove from SoWo back to Raleigh with no alt on our '84. Ran the radio for 3 hours of the drive, sat in dead stop traffic for 1.5-2 hours too. Then needed the headlights the last hour or so of the drive. Ended up being 9 hours total. Started the trip with 14v. Had 11.5v when we got home. From what I understand, the solenoid will work until around 8v. I love these old diesels 

[R.O.R-2.0]

Drove from SoWo back to Raleigh with no alt on our '84. Ran the radio for 3 hours of the drive, sat in dead stop traffic for 1.5-2 hours too. Then needed the headlights the last hour or so of the drive. Ended up being 9 hours total. Started the trip with 14v. Had 11.5v when we got home. From what I understand, the solenoid will work until around 8v. I love these old diesels 

DING DING DING!!!

it was you Jess.. i remember now.