Leon tdi alternator pulley fell off

gummybear · Apr 2, 2010

Hi there,

Has anyone had an alternator pulley fall off their leon whilst driving?

Mine came off on thursday night (1st April of all days!), first thing I noticed was the battery light came on and the power stearing failed as you would expect, then a bang as the pulley departed the car and hit the underside of the floorpan, looked in my rear view mirror and watched it disappear down the road( SH*T) had an hours drive remaining and had to nurse the poor thing home.

Picked up an exchange 90 Amp unit for £150 and a replacement belt for around £20 odd.

I have heard of this happening to others some time ago, is the cause specifically the pulley clutch? Is it much of a job changing the unit?

Cheers

DPJ · Apr 2, 2010

That's really unusual, they are normally a pig to get off!

gummybear · Apr 2, 2010

DPJ said:
That's really unusual, they are normally a pig to get off!

Yes, I would have said the same, but from what I've just read on some old posts some alternators were fitted with one way clutches on the pulleys and it's these that seem to cause the problem.

lil3520 · Apr 2, 2010

Mine snapped off a week before it was 12 months old.

Rang seat assistance, got it done under warranty.

techie · Apr 2, 2010

Pretty common if the one way pulley seizes up as when the engine rocks back half a turn when the engine is turned off it undoes them. Was a recall on the Alhambra but never on the Leon.

danny20vt · Apr 2, 2010

not an alternator pulley, but i've had a timing pulley snap off a few years back on a Rover, funny thing is, it actually shot down the road faster than the car and I managed to get 4 miles back home before the timing actualy went and forked the engine :cartman:

gummybear · Apr 3, 2010

alternator pulley

lil3520 said:
Mine snapped off a week before it was 12 months old.

Rang seat assistance, got it done under warranty.

Oh dear, that does'nt sound good.

I've had my 03 leon for just over a year now, it's done 82 000 miles, I changed the turbo just after christmas as it had been leaking oil badly into the induction side of the engine for a number of weeks, that was £380 from turbo solutions and took me about 5 hours to fit at work what with changing bits over and cleaning etc, just what you need after christmas!

It's been an expensive couple of months! fitted the re-con alternator today (3rd April) that took about 3 hours, you have to remove the power steering pump and the drive belt tensioner just to get to the alternator bolts, even then the alternator is still a tight squeeze past the radiator fan, coolant pipe and mounting bracket etc.

While were on the subject here's a quote from a website I found regarding the alternator pulley:

The Clutch Alternator Pulley was pioneered by Audi, BMW, Mercedes, Seat and Volkswagen.The idea of which was to reduce possibility of sudden snatch when coming down from high revs such as motorway driving to a standing stop thus prolonging the life of expensive automatic tensioners. Unfortunately the pulley design was such that they failed after a relatively short period of time and that they are a costly service item.

Say no more :headhurt:

lil3520 · Apr 3, 2010

gummybear said:
Oh dear, that does'nt sound good.

I've had my 03 leon for just over a year now, it's done 82 000 miles, I changed the turbo just after christmas as it had been leaking oil badly into the induction side of the engine for a number of weeks, that was £380 from turbo solutions and took me about 5 hours to fit at work what with changing bits over and cleaning etc, just what you need after christmas!

It's been an expensive couple of months! fitted the re-con alternator today (3rd April) that took about 3 hours, you have to remove the power steering pump and the drive belt tensioner just to get to the alternator bolts, even then the alternator is still a tight squeeze past the radiator fan, coolant pipe and mounting bracket etc.

While were on the subject here's a quote from a website I found regarding the alternator pulley:

The Clutch Alternator Pulley was pioneered by Audi, BMW, Mercedes, Seat and Volkswagen.The idea of which was to reduce possibility of sudden snatch when coming down from high revs such as motorway driving to a standing stop thus prolonging the life of expensive automatic tensioners. Unfortunately the pulley design was such that they failed after a relatively short period of time and that they are a costly service item.

Say no more

must be my fast driving

MarkWales · Apr 4, 2010

what is the test for a faulty alternator clutch?

techie · Apr 4, 2010

MarkWales said:
what is the test for a faulty alternator clutch?

Very easy.

Take a thin screw driver and VERY carefully with the engine off see if you can rotate the fan blade within the alternator through the vent slots. You should be able to freely move it one way but not the other.

MarkWales · Apr 4, 2010

ok cheers will give it a go and get back to you techie

trebormint · Apr 4, 2010

Got my pulley changed for £45 fitted.

Wish I'd done it yonks ago as it was my cause of engine noise :doh:

MarkWales · Apr 4, 2010

where was that?

trebormint · Apr 4, 2010

Twigworth Breakers in Gloucester.

They do alternator and starter motor repairs on site.

Took him, oh, all of 5 mins!

MarkWales · Jan 28, 2011

still having this problem keep forgetting techie's advice to check the alternator - noticed the tensioner bouncing about a lot. maybe its this tensioner which is t fault

MarkWales · Jan 28, 2011

part 2 in this picture

part number 038903315F

dean@pioneer · Jan 28, 2011

MarkWales said:
still having this problem keep forgetting techie's advice to check the alternator - noticed the tensioner bouncing about a lot. maybe its this tensioner which is t fault

Hi Mark

It will most likely be a seized alternator pulley. We've replaced loads of these for your exact same symptoms as it causes the tensioner to jump about due to the alt' pulley seizing. Replace this first as its an easy procedure and not too expensive compared to replacing the tensioner.

Dean

164361_179916648707071_139573939408009_472583_3089360_n.jpg

MJ · Jan 28, 2011

pully can be anywhere between £40-75 and an alternator anywhere between £110-175

MarkWales · Jan 28, 2011

how difficult is it to replace ?

also I am correct in thinking it is 2 here

gdjohny · Feb 21, 2011

Hi
How do you take off that pulley?

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Leon tdi alternator pulley fell off

gummybear

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DPJ

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gummybear

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lil3520

IBIZA 1.9 TDI SPORT 08

techie

Skoda Techie

danny20vt

going back to basics

gummybear

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lil3520

IBIZA 1.9 TDI SPORT 08

MarkWales

techie

Skoda Techie

MarkWales

trebormint

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MarkWales

trebormint

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MarkWales

MarkWales

dean@pioneer

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MJ

Public transport abuser

MarkWales

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Crazy Mechanical Engineer

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