Polo's broke!

[Jay1991]

So we broke down the other night. just wondering if anyone can give me a few pointers as to what might be wrong. ive got a polo 2002 1.2 9n.

Right so driving for about 5-10 minutes no problem, picked two friends up and battery light pops on. turn car off then back on. it stays on. carry on driving about 10 meters and pull into a car park power steering goes for a second then resumes. i pull over and see the red water light on, engine off bonnet up open the water tank steam bursts out. its not empty or really low but i toped it to full and continued.

battery light still on but water light off i drive up the road 30 seconds and it comes back on. so pull over and repeat the same. i noted the engine temp sensor was right on the red so left it to cool down then drove a few minute down the road to drop off my mates. pulled over and had a further look.

the rad was cold engine was red hot so obviously theyre was a circulation problem. anyways after many stops and starts i get the car half way home then the car battery dies. left it half an hour bump started it, drove it home with no electronics working besides the headlights which looked to be pretty dim. mates get to me with jump leads was gonna charge the battery but it then started on the key so i left it.

the next morning i drive it home (10minutes) right before i get there the temp goes to the red again.so pull it on my drive pop the bonnet and looked again under the bonnet. and found that the belt on the drivers side of the eninge was missing! + engine wouldnt start with the key.

im not a mechanic but i can see what looks like the alternator which used to be connected with this belt so that would explain why it now wont start with a key but! but that doesnt explain the night before's antics as the car started the next morning with the key. meaning the battery took charge from the drive home with no electronics.

so any clues what this might be ? gut feeling is water pump packed up caused the overheating, then just so happened the next day the "auxiliary belt" snapped maybe due to the stopping and re starting on the way home. so im told its an aux belt im not actually sure.

anyone know where the water pump is / how hard it is to change? any ideas what i might be paying to replace this belt and can this cause any damage to any other parts of the engine?

bit of an essay but thanks

[alexperkins]

Water pump is driven by the aux belt. If it's missing you'll have no water circulation or battery charging. It's at the back on the left hand side