Audi A4 2002 Loss of Power Steering

bob2oo7

Hi guys

Some help needed please:

Audi A4
2002
1.9 TDI Sport (130 BHP)

Drove out today and then got sudden loss of power steering and the battery light is on

I checked the belts in the car and the main one is not spinning

I got the alternator pully replaced about a year ago as it was squeeling when doing a full turn

Any idea what else could be wrong? The belt looks fine

My timing belt is long over due, I should of got it done about 60k miles ago but just couldnt aford it, is this related?

The car as it stands is not driveable

Any help would be greatly appreciated

Thanks

-Corkie-

Its definitley sounds like the auxilary belt op. As for the timing belt it should have snapped ages ago...

bob2oo7

Gonna get timing belt this week

The Auxiliary belt, I'm going to replace this myself, however, which pulley should be turning to spin the belt?

I should make sure that this is turning first? As that could be the problem?

AzureAuto

It could be a faulty tensioner or some other of the auxilliary belt components. Any competent mechanic should be able to tell you within 10 minutes.

firefly08

Gonna get timing belt this week

The Auxiliary belt, I'm going to replace this myself, however, which pulley should be turning to spin the belt?

I should make sure that this is turning first? As that could be the problem?

It's the crankshaft pulley that provides the power for the belt. That'll be a large pulley at the bottom of the engine. If the engine is running, the crankshaft pulley is almost certainly turning.

lomb

Why not get the mechanic to change the aux belt also if they are doing the timing belt anyway? It should still be just about drivable to a mechanic as long as no parking is involved without the ps.

George Dalton

As above, there is no point in doing the aux belt yourself (very awkward job on these) when the mechanic who does the timing belt has to take off the aux belt again anyway.

bob2oo7

Hi guys

Car is undrivable with no power steering, I was doing the aux belt myself as my mechanic cannot do timing belt until Friday week, that's a long way away

Anyways an update, had a good look tonight

The belt is fine

The tensioner is the problem, it is loose, when I pull it back clock wise everything starts working again

But it won't stay tight, is it spring loaded? Is the spring gone? It's in the wrong position and I don't know how to fix it.

Any ideas?

Thanks in advance

George Dalton

It is spring loaded. They give a bit of trouble on them, usually after the alternator pulley seizes and puts extra strain on them so the problem you are having now is probably related to the problem you had with the alternator pulley in the past.

The bad news is that changing the tensioner is almost as big a job as changing the timing belt so it doesn't make sense to do them as 2 separate jobs.

I suggest you ring your mechanic and tell him you are off the road and see if he can do the job for you sooner than Friday week, if he can't do it sooner and you can't do without the car then find someone who will do sooner.

bob2oo7

Thanks for all the help guys

My mechanic will change the tensionor when doing the timing belt

I can survive a week without the car, I have a bike anyway, great weather for it

Thanks again