FrankyEight 10 Posted February 20, 2020 Hi guys Can anyone give me any pointers on how to tighten/loosen my aux belt on my 2.0 16v? Squealing has got worse recently and especially bad now under heavy load (lights/fan etc). Does this mean it's too loose or tight? There seems to be some sort of toothed bracket where it can be adjusted back and forth. Advice appreciated! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
fendervg 32 Posted February 20, 2020 Undo the smaller locknut on the toothed bracket, and the alternator bracket hinge securing bolt. This allows the alternator body to move backward and forward to adjust the belt tension. To tension it, use an open ended wrench to adjust the larger nut, hold it in place and tighten the lock but to secure, then do up the hinge bolt. If the belt is any way old, just replace it. Squeal can also be caused by one of the pulleys having a loose bearing or sticking - you can check this by hand. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
FrankyEight 10 Posted February 20, 2020 Cheers — I've probably misunderstood, but I loosened lock nut on the toothed bracket and what I thought was the bolt on the alternator bracket — despite the toothed wheel now being able to turn, I couldn't get it to actually move either forwards or backwards, I'm obviously doing something wrong... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Simeon 0 Posted February 20, 2020 It's very simple, just quite hard to explain over a forum 😅 On the left hand side of the top bolt you have the large hex with the matching teeth to the arm yeah? In which case you just have to loosen that bolt enough to be able to put a large spanner / adjustable on that hex and rotate it to move the alternator in the correct direction to tension the belt more. To get the alternator to move you also need to crack off the bolts that hold the alternator to the engine block; I can't tell you where all these are, but you should be able to find them, normally 2 or 3 in total. How far can you twist that v-belt? Is it significantly more than 90 degrees? If it's old then, as said, it's worth replacing. If you want to upgrade then you can swap parts with the later 16v engines from MK3 Golfs etc [ABF engine code] to get a more modern 6 rib-belt set up. The swap has been covered on other forums over the years, so don't know whether the info is still out there. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
FrankyEight 10 Posted February 20, 2020 Cheers — helpful. Loosening that top bolt and then rotating the large hex on the left hand side does enable the toothed wheel to turn but only in a stationary position, it won't actually slide up or down the toothed arm. Loosening the bolt beneath it, that I also marked with an arrow in the pic, doesn't help either. There's another bolt under this one which again holds the alternator on but I don't know if its just these two that do. The belts aren't old and can't be twisted more than 90 degrees so I don't think they need replacing. In any case, the car's going in to the garage next week for another job so perhaps I'll leave this seemingly simple one to someone who actually knows what they're doing... just, the thought of driving around quietly in the meantime would have been nice! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
easypops 8 Posted February 20, 2020 I have a vague memory of doing this on my long gone valver, I’m sure I remember the teeth being missing on a part of that aforementioned bolt but I think I got a crowbar in there and pulled/prised it tighter then did the bolts up again. It’s been a while though 😁 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
