Polo> Fan Belt Help

[akwoody24]

Hey guys im new here. Ive got an N reg mk4 polo 1.0. Im ashamed to say ive had it since nov 07 and have treated it poorly. Its my first car and ive basically drove it around without really looking after it. I got it off a mate for £200quid with 45k miles believe it or not!. Im getting on top of it now tho. Changed my oil and filter (it must have had that oil for at least 2 years :S) and one thing that came up on my last MOT was the guy spotted my fan belt had a slight crack. I noticed a noise it was making and i have kind of put it off. The noise is louder now, as in very noticeable (kinda like a generator powering up the faster i go) and im at the point now where I need to do it to avoid this poor car getting damaged. The engine is sweet as a nut now at 65k miles and i want to keep it going indefinately, as my younger bro will probably need something similar in a few years.

Now people have mentioned changing the fan belt is easy. My understanding is somewhere there should be some bolts i can play with which will loosen the belt so i can just slip it off and put the new one on. I want to do this right first time so does any1 have this model and can point me in the right direction to do this. ie. where do i loosen the belt. and are there any little tips that could save me hours of faffing about.

Also ive been looking on ebay for a belt
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... otohosting
The seller tells me this belt is fine for my car, is this the case? and / or any other suppliers cheaper ?

Thanks in advance guys
Andy

[alexperkins]

Go to GSF car parts or euro car parts - like 8 quid a belt in there!!

[akwoody24]

Sorry to be stupid, but a drive belt is another word for fan belt right?

[alexperkins]

Auxilliary drive belt, drive belt, fan belt. As long as it runs the alternator its the right belt Just looked on GSF- about 8 quid with the VAT

[akwoody24]

Right ive ordered one, thats the easy part. any tips on fitting?

[alexperkins]

Have you got a haynes manual bud?

[akwoody24]

Right

My car is an N reg. So i go the haynes manual for it. Covered REG M to S i think. The directions are basically jack the right side up, take the right wheel off and remove wheel arch liner/protector and boom there it should be. However when I do this on my car I can only see half of the belt, the lower part which is attached to the engine (then it goes up to where it connects to alternator). According to diagrams in the haynes I should be able to see and access all parts of it. I am thinking maybe my car is the previous model but wasnt registered until the N year.

Anyway I had a look around while the wheel was off and i cant see any way this could be done by having the right wheel off and accessing this way. I am thinking it may be the more obvious method. Car up on ramps get under and the alternator should have bolts which can be loosened allowing it to swing down into view?? Does any1 have any exp with this and if so can u help me ????

Cheers
Andy

[alexperkins]

Previous model is Mk3...there should be like an insert you can open- take a photo so we can see whats behind that wheel if you can

[akwoody24]

Thanks for the help alex. I have taken some photos will upload shortly! The noise is getting pretty disturbing now when i drive the car ha

[akwoody24]

http://img246.imageshack.us/gal.php?g=46100185.jpg

Here are the photos. As you can see there is one photo with the wheel arch protector thing still on. The rest are with it off. There is one photo which you may need to rotate. It is a photo as the others but panned to the right and focusing on that area. I cant see how anything would unscrew or come away, it looks and feels like pure metal. One of the photos is also a pic from above looking down onto the belt from the bonnet. There bolts there, maybe they loosen allowing it to swing down:S .

Andy

[alexperkins]

Ok That metal is your actual wheel arch - you have to get a wheel wrench (17mm same that comes with the car) on the tensioner bolt which is in the middle at the top, turn it anti clockwise (i think) and that will loosen the belt, which you can then remove. Fitting is a reverse of removing, but be sure to note the way the belt goes through the runners, as they only go one way!

The belt is truly nackered - its all cracking!

[akwoody24]

I cant see how i would get to it from the photos tho, can only see half of the bottom pulley thing. Put the car on ramps and forget taking the wheel off maybe??

[alexperkins]

Wheel off and work from underneath mate and from the top also - it can be done. Where bouts are you based?

[akwoody24]

Im in North Wales just over the border from Chester. I have some ramps which I could put the car on to work underneath but cnat take a wheel off while using these. I have a little jack but dont fancy getting underneath with it on the jack. Ill get it on the ramps on friday and see if i can access it enough to change it. The task itself seems pretty straight forward, its just getting to it!!! Thanks for the help tho. I will get this done!haha

[16vMoose]

i had a new fan belt put in the other day, not too difficult