[Vwdiesel] Alternator belt-What the ?

[Sandy Cameron]

At 02:48 PM 2/19/05 -0400, you wrote:

>
 Also, it
>"looked" to me that the main crank pulley (or whatever it's called.) is
>either loose or warped.  The water pump and the alternator pulleys look spot
>on (ie: no detectable wobble while in motion) but the large pulley is wobbly
>like 1/4" out or whatever (by eye, @ 1000rpm, so I am really guessing here).

Do NOT, ever, unless you are doing a rebuild, loosen the center bolt!
Timing belt changes only require taking off the pulleys and lower belt guard.

 Note: Below I say "Pulleys" plural, assuming power steering. If you do not
have power steering, read "pulley" instead.

The pulleys have 4 holes for the screws that hold them (9mm hex, as I
recall), and a 5th hole that indexes over a "wart" on the timing sprocket.

Jughead mechanics doing a timing belt might not index the hole to the "wart"
when putting the pulleys back on resulting in the run-out you see. The wart
is low enough that it doesn't protrude beyond the first pulley, and it is
possible to put the 2nd pulley on miss-indexed to the first :-P  Have a look
through the right hand fender well with the wheel off, and poke in the hole
with a pick and see:

1st, if you can see through the hole in both pulleys (lined up).

2nd, if the wart is visible at the bottom of the holes.

If still puzzled, remove the 4 screws (use an impact if available, to loosen
them)
and pull them off, clean them up, esp. where they face each other, and the
sprocket, then put them back together so they index properly to the wart.

Another thing, the main shaft hole in the pulleys is quite snug on the
shaft, and could be cocked off a bit (again by carelessness) by a bit of
rust on the shaft. You might have to sand-paper the shaft and pulley holes
lightly on a venerable rig like that to get an easy fit..

(Been there, done that, got the skinned knuckles)

My bet: it's mis-indexed and riding high on the wart. Yes, it's hard on the
belts.

Sandy