Alternator noise?

[John H]

Indeed, they have already told what the bill will be, pretty much exactly as above, albeit I get 20% off for being such a good customer!

In fairness, I have had over 40,000 miles out of my A2 since I bought it with little more than routine servicing costs so far, so I am not complaining. New ARB links and a wheel bearing were replaced under the Audi warranty I got with it.

 

[John H]

Car now back. Belt, tensioner and pulley replaced, and my wallet lightened by £265, but it is running sweetly again with no nasty noises.

Wear and tear to this assembly seems quite common, yet as far as I can see there is no service interval for checking or changing the belt, etc. Perhaps owners might be well advised to have their belt and pulley replaced at a certain mileage.

 

[Skipton01]

You're right John, there is no replacement schedule, but I'd recommend it was inspected every 2 years (as I do when performing Longlife servicing) and changed every 4 years, 5 at most (it makes sense to do it with the cambelt).

The alternator pulley can be left until wear is evident, as can the tensioner, but a change every 80-100,000 miles is not unreasonable (I'd recommend a mileage interval on these items as they're not subject to perishing, like a rubber belt is).

Cheers

Mike

 

[sgoode]

Is the alternator setup the same in the 1.4 petrol? I get a very occassional squeal which sounds like the belt is slipping. Only ever happens when it's raining hard and I'm sure I get a slight drop in power to accompany the squeal - which only ever lasts for a split second.

 

[John H]

That sounds like a classic case of belt slip, and mine was doing that for a few weeks prior to developing the pulley fault. No idea if the petrol and diesels are the same tho.