[Vwdiesel] Alternator belt-What the ?

[Mike & Coreen Smith]

Hi guys...need a little advice here please.

OK, y'day morning the alt. belt snapped on me.  It was squealing a little
over the past 2 weeks when I first started the car up, so I should've done
something earlier, car overheated a little on the drive back home (didn't
know til later)......but I digress.

I EVENTUALLY got the new one on last night after fighting with 2 rusty
stubborn bolts. (1-11mm and 1-13mm if I recall correctly.  One on top, 1 on
bottom of the right side of the alternator.(if standing at the bumper
looking into the engine bay)   I tightened it up for all I was worth last
night.  Belt was not singing tight but snug (maybe 1/4"-1/2" play).  Ran the
car in the driveway for 10 mins here today with hood open. Looked into
engine bay after topping up the antifreeze....car ran ~ mins before I had a
look.  Noticed that belt was really loose.  REALLY really loose.  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).
With engine off it doesn't feel loose when I tug on it sideways from above
with my hand.

So, I guess I have 2 questions.

#1--What in heck do I have to do to get the alt belt to stay tight?  Don't
worry about embarrasing me if you think I've missed something obvious
tightening up a simple alternator belt.  I'd rather turn red from
embarassment than wreck another belt or blow a head gasket.   I just grab it
(alt) from underneath and pull up on it with my hand while tightening the
bolt on the lower right with my ratchet....correct way?

#2--Is the main crank bolt loose do you think?  Pulley doesn't feel loose
when I grab it....but I could try to put a wrench on it and tighten it some
maybe.  I PRESUME it's lefty loosey/righty tighty (as 1 of my coworkers
always says . . .I always laugh at that.).  So, is clockwise tightening on
the main (center) crank bolt?  Hard to see, but only looks like there is 1
bolt in the center.  could be wrong....you know I really should dig out my
BENTLEY I got from Brian ; -)

It's (the belt) so loose I'd bet I could walk outside and yank on it with my
hands and it would come off !

Sorry, I didn't have time to do any troubleshooting at all before typing
this.  Went sliding in the backyard with my 4 yr old son.....now I am
thawing out. (-11*C here)  Maybe later tonight when wifey gets home I'll
pull the car in the garage, do some head scratching and find the problems
(with your guys help)

I added a good Liter of antifreeze to the empty bucket....wow, I didn't even
realize I had overheated the car.  It was -10*C and I only drove 5kms to
limp the car back home the other morning.  It wasn't even fully warmed up
when the belt snapped.

ARGH!

Mike in NB

Mike, Coreen & Corey Smith
699 Rte 616 Keswick Ridge
NB
Canada
E6L 1T1