hydraulic pump drive-belt adjustment

[Phil Rose <pjrose@servtech.com>]

Today it came time to do a "quick and easy" adjustment intended to reduce
the squeaking that seemed to come from the hydraulic pump pulley of my '91
200q. Never came so close to quitting a job in disgust and frustration, but
got it done--adjusting (loosening) the drive belt.

The first step, loosening (or tightening) the rear-facing clamping bolt of
the adjuster, is im-freakin'-possible to do from directly above, although
removing the radiator might help a little :-) Anyway, after 20 or 30
minutes of trying various lengths and angles of approach, I found a
workable combination--> a 10" extension plus a universal joint on my 3/8"
ratchet allowed access from the backside _if_ inserted precisely at a point
just above the front end of the auxilliary turbo coolant pump.

This, in spite of Audi's best efforts, is possible even though there's an
incredibly small amount of clearance through a dense maze of hydraulic and
coolant hoses. The wrench handle then has one or two clicks of turning
clearance, which is enough to do the job. Thank goodness for my
fine-toothed 30 yr-old Craftsman ratchet drive.

Was the '91 200 20v engine a particularly hard case, or do any other Audis
also have a nearly inaccessible  adjuster clamping bolt? I'm afraid I know
the answer. Another '91 200q "feature".

Once the adjuster was unclamped, I loosened the tensioning bolt by nearly 2
turns. This gave the belt about the same slack as the one in my old car.
That is, a little more (looseness) than feels comfortable, if you know what
I mean. Just to confuse the issue, I also smeared a few drops of belt
dressing on the inner faces of the drive belt. The combination of loosening
and "dressing" seems to have helped reduce the squeaking quite a bit. In
fact it's about gone.

But, what are those _other_ sounds I seem to be hearing now? :)

Phil

Phil Rose		Rochester, NY
'89 100
'91 200q		pjrose@servtech.com