Re: 89 200 tqa - alternator belt keeps breaking

[Richard Beels <beels@technologist.com>]

Are the pulleys in the same plane?  Meaning that the belt is perpendicular 
to both pulley shafts...

Never wrenched on a 200 but could the bolt to tighten the alt. be bottoming 
out so that you're not able to get it completely tight on there?

For a point of reference: my B-i-L tossed his alt belt a couple times in 
his 5KTQ in the 2 years he had it.

At 07:54 PM 8/22/1999 ,  Samir Shah was inspired to say:
>Well, this afternoon the 200 lost its 5th alternator belt during my 5
>month ownership tenure. Any idea why this keeps happening? Is there a
>trick to this?
>
>This has happened with many different brands of belts - including an
>Audi branded Gates (Made in the USA), and Continental (made in Germany).
>This last one lasted a whole month!
>
>When I put them in, I need to use a lot of leverage to get it tight
>enough that it does not squeal, which seems very unusual. I've put in a
>new nut and bolt too.
>
>I actually was under the car this morning, changing the cat, and checked
>the belt - it was looser than when I had installed it a few weeks ago.
>Am I supposed to retighten it in a week or so? Do they get loose with
>break-in?
>
>The alternator is a rebuilt unit that looks quite fresh. It spins
>freely, and generates stable power. Does not make any funny noises
>normally.
>
>Luckily this happened with me in the car, and the baby had just been
>fed. It'd be a real disaster if this happened to my wife when she had
>the baby with her. I now carry 2 extra belts, + all needed tools to
>change it, in the car, but I still don't feel confident enough about the
>car to turn it back over to my wife.


Cheers,
	Richard
	88 90Q "Hannu" - K+N, new vac hoses, lubed U-Joint, still 0.0 bar....
	88 Golf GTi - PRO Rally