[Vwdiesel] A-2 Alternator Belt Loosening

[Nate Wall]

I kind of do the same thing. The belt I use for the A/C/Water pump is about 5 - 7
MM shorter than the VW one. It's a Gates, and I get the normal 50K miles or so
out of it. Being a little shorter it causes the A/C pulley to be a little further
away from the alternator pulley (closer to the crank pulley), and the A/C pulley
being the drive pulley for the alternator pulley, gives more adjustment range on
the alternator. I ended up using the Gates bacause it was $7 instead of $25 for
the VW belt, and the closest size just happened to be 5 - 7 MM shorter. I've
found Continental belts (for the Alt.) last longer than the Autobahn belts (both
from the dealer). I've never found an aftermarket solution for this belt. At $7,
its not too bad.

I will have to say one (and the only one I've found) good thing about Mom's Ford
Ranger is the self adjusting serphentine belt. 5 Minutes and its replaced, and
its good for 60+ thousand miles, no adjustments. It has an automatic tensioner
and its released w/ a 3/8 inch drive ratchet (the ratchet drive fits the
tensioner).

--Nate

LBaird119 at aol.com wrote:

>   It's not really a solution but I accidentally ended up with something that
> was at
> least better.  I ended up with a belt that was 5 or 10 mm shorter than called
> for.
>   The proper belt uses up half or better of the adjustment range when first
> installed!  The shorter belt is a major stretch to get over the pulley but
> once
> on, you now have plenty of adjustment.  I think I had to loosen or pull the
> alternator bolts to get it on.  Once you get through about half of the range,
> the belt seems to quit stretching and finally settles in.  :)  Of course only
> use the Contitec (sp) belts.  They last much better than a Gates!
>      Loren
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