[thewolf]

Hi,

I have a 2001 Audi TT 1.8T FWD 180HP (AUQ engine) with around 57.000 miles.

A little more than 1 year ago, I had a full service performed at an Audi garage, I also had the timing belt, water pump and serpentine belt replaced. I drove around 4.000 miles since then.

Yesterday while driving downhill, the steering wheel suddenly become hard to turn and the "battery" light turned on in the instrument cluster. So I pulled over, turned off the engine and turned it back on, same problem: the power steering was not working and the "battery" light remained on. Even without power steering, I managed to drive around 20 miles to bring the car home.

This morning I opened up the engine compartment and noticed that the serpentine belt was not at its place anymore, but it was on the bottom!

I managed to get it out and noticed that it's torn in the middle for about one forth of its length, here are some pictures:
http://imageshack.us/g/4/img1497l.jpg/

Do you think it got torn before or after it got out of its place?

Is it there any chance that the serpentine belt was defective (it only has a little more than one year and 4.000 miles) or does the problem most probably lie somewhere else (tensioner or other)?

Currently the battery provides power to everything, since not even the alternator works without the serpentine belt.
Will I be able to drive around 20 miles to take the care to the Audi garage tomorrow morning?

Should I demand a warranty repair even if the serpentine belt was replaced a little more than one year ago?

Thanks.

 

[Hoggy]

Hi, Definately claim under 2 years parts warranty.
To get 20 miles you will have to recharge battery fully, before attempting a restart & travelling to dealer.
Hoggy.

 

[thewolf]

Hi, Definately claim under 2 years parts warranty.
To get 20 miles you will have to recharge battery fully, before attempting a restart & travelling to dealer.
Hoggy.

Thanks for the reply, do you think the serpentine belt was defective from the beginning or should I have something else checked out too?

If the cars starts up just fine tomorrow morning, what could happen driving those 20 miles?

How would I recharge the battery?

Thanks.

 

[kazinak]

you can kill your battery driving 20miles without the alternator belt

 

[Hoggy]

If the cars starts up just fine tomorrow morning, what could happen driving those 20 miles?
How would I recharge the battery? Thanks.

Hi, You will require a mains battery charger connected for at least 12 hours & even then you may not make the 20 miles & of course steering will be very stiff with no power assistance. If battery goes flat on you, TT will just die & come to a stop & brakes will be less effective, so take it easy.
Hoggy.

 

[thewolf]

you can kill your battery driving 20miles without the alternator belt

I have little experience with car stuff, why am I risking to kill the battery and what could I do to avoid that (other than not driving those 20 miles)?

Would charging the battery before the drive avoid any chances of killing it?

Thanks.

 

[burns]

Use your breakdown cover? :?

 

[kazinak]

you can kill your battery driving 20miles without the alternator belt

I have little experience with car stuff, why am I risking to kill the battery and what could I do to avoid that (other than not driving those 20 miles)?

Would charging the battery before the drive avoid any chances of killing it?

Thanks.

to run car you will need alot of electricity , fuel pump,ecu ,etc.. will drain the battery in no time

 

[thewolf]

I've recharged the battery for about 16 hours now, do I have a good chance of driving the 20 miles now?
Besides killing the battery, is there any chance of making other damage to my car with that drive to the garage?

Finally, do you have any idea on what was the cause of my broken serpentine belt?

Thanks.

 

[Hoggy]

Finally, do you have any idea on what was the cause of my broken serpentine belt? Thanks.

Hi, No idea, but get them to check that theres no damage on the pulleys that could have caused the failure.
If you are going to drive without alternator, keep radio, air con etc off, to minimise battery use. Let us know how you get on.
Hoggy.

 

[merlin c]

As Hoggy stated get every pulley checked to make suse it rotates because the damage looks likely to have been caused by the belt being static and the drive pulley still spinning, alternator, power steering, air con all free???

 

[thewolf]

The Audi garage called me: they initially replaced just the serpentine belt, but it didn't work correctly, they found out that the problem was caused by the tensioner. They replaced that too and now everything works fine, according to them.

The warranty doesn't cover this repair work, since even if they replaced the serpentine belt last year (along with the timing belt, water pump, etc.), they didn't replace the serpentine belt tensioner.

Is that a part that you normally replace when replacing the serpentine belt and all the other stuff? If so, I don't get why they didn't replace it last year!

Is it possible that they damaged the serpentine belt tensioner last year during the repair work? After all I drove only around 4.000 miles since then.

Now, how do I ensure that the problem was actually caused the tensioner just replaced? I don't want to take any chances of breaking the serpentine belt again in the future, it was scary to get the steering wheel suddenly become hard to turn while driving!

Thanks.

 

[Hoggy]

Hi thewolf, Not much you can do to ensure that was the prob, or that they caused the prob.
Not a common prob, so hopefully that has cured it.
Hoggy.

 

[wolff1]

Is that a part that you normally replace when replacing the serpentine belt and all the other stuff?

- I'm interested about that stuff too. mine was replaced btw..?

 

[NoMark]

Is that a part that you normally replace when replacing the serpentine belt and all the other stuff?

In a word, no. it would only be replaced if it was faulty.

Mark.

 

[wolff1]

Is that a part that you normally replace when replacing the serpentine belt and all the other stuff?

In a word, no. it would only be replaced if it was faulty.

Mark.

So is it clear when its faulty or? Because the cambelt tensioner and all that looked good when they were replaced but still...

 

[Hoggy]

Hi wolff1, Cambelt tensioner/damper has nothing to do with serpentine belt tensioner.
Hoggy.

 

[wolff1]

Hi wolff1, Cambelt tensioner/damper has nothing to do with serpentine belt tensioner.
Hoggy.

Thanks hoggy. what I meant was, how you understand if its broken and its time to change it? compared to the parts of the cambelt system?

 

[merlin c]

As Hoggy said that's the wrong part, this is the V belt tensioner, its number 2 on here.

part number 06A903315E

 

[Hoggy]

Hi Wolff1, Usually the serpetine/ribbed belt will slip causing a screech, on starting up a cold engine or battery will fail to charge fully because of slipping belt.
Hoggy,