Well, it had to happen. The first breakdown. Driving home yesterday the battery light came on and the power steering disappeared. Limped home for 10 miles as I was in the country with no mobile signal available.

Checked this morning during a lull in the rain and have spotted the following: serpentine belt shredded, the pulley shaft above and slightly left of the alternator appears broken and I can feel a couple of deep grooves in the pipe that goes over the top of the pulley.

Ok I have never done anything really mechanical before so bear with me being an idiot. What does the broken pulley run? What is the name of the pipe so I can order a new one? Is the replacement/repair doable by a beginner or am I going to need to get the disco to a garage? I have a basic toolkit and a pair of axle stands but that is it.

it will fit said:

Well, it had to happen. The first breakdown. Driving home yesterday the battery light came on and the power steering disappeared. Limped home for 10 miles as I was in the country with no mobile signal available.

Checked this morning during a lull in the rain and have spotted the following: serpentine belt shredded, the pulley shaft above and slightly left of the alternator appears broken and I can feel a couple of deep grooves in the pipe that goes over the top of the pulley.

Ok I have never done anything really mechanical before so bear with me being an idiot. What does the broken pulley run? What is the name of the pipe so I can order a new one? Is the replacement/repair doable by a beginner or am I going to need to get the disco to a garage? I have a basic toolkit and a pair of axle stands but that is it.

Click to expand...

First of all, don't panic it's any easy fix.

Your serpentine belt shredded because, what sounds like the water pump bearing collapsed allowing the pulley to dance about a bit and cut grooves in the (rubber ) top hose.

If you could post a picture it would help to confirm the diagnosis.

Assuming it is the water pump, you'll need a new one, about £20 from www.paddockspares.co.uk plus the top hose which is about a £5, and a new serp belt about £8.

You'll also need to have in stock about 7ltrs of coolant fluid (the green stuff).

Then it's just a matter of whipping off the pulley, then replacing the water pump, replacing the pulley and putting on the new serp belt.

Thanks. I'll put a pic up in the morning, weather permitting.

here's the pic, I hope it's what you said as even I feel confident enough to have a go at that.

it will fit said:

here's the pic, I hope it's what you said as even I feel confident enough to have a go at that.

Click to expand...

Hiya matey, yes, that is the water pump and yes it is a straightforward fix.

Get everything you will ned in stock before you start. I would be getting these bits from www.paddockspares.com if I were you as they'll arrive quickly and they are very competative on prices.

So, to confirm your needed-parts list:

1. Serpentine belt, 1 off: ERR5911 Serpentine Belt 300TDI from MA163104 (WEB EXCLUSIVE SPECIAL OFFER)

2. Water pump, 1 off: STC1086 Water Pump and Gasket - 300TDI

3. Some Hylomar sealant: Hylomar Universal Blue Medium 100g

4. A socket set;

5. At least 7 ltrs of antifreeze engine coolant;

6. Rubber hose: ESR3296 Bottom Hose - 300TDI

This rubber hose is a composite of several bonded together including the bit on your car that got damaged. If you trace down the damaged pipe you will see it joins a larger one. That is the one listed above.

I think that's about it.


To do the job (it helps a lot if you remove the viscous fan before anything else):

1. As the existing serpentine belt self-destructed, you will needs to grip the water pump pulley so the you can undo it's retaining bolts and remove.

2. Undo all the water pump retaining bolts and remove. In this process you will lose quite a bit of coolant - this is to be expected and quite normal. Clean the mounting surface of any old gasket and sealant, then apply the Hylomar Blue onto the mounting surface and apply the new gasket. Then apply more Blue onto the pump mounting surface and mount the new pump,. When doing up the bolts use a sequence of tightening so that you do diagonals to achieve a level and progressive closure of the mount.

3. Re-attach the pulley using a little Locktite on the bolts.

4. Replace the damaged rubber hose.

5. Now mount the new serpentine belt.

6. Next you need to refill the coolant system.

Start by putting the heater controls in the car to hot. Next open the plastic bung on top of the radiator and refill the rad, and refit the bung.

After that, remove the plastic bung on the thermostat housing and top up til it overflows, then replace the plastic bung.

Now start the engine and run for several mintues until warm air comes out of the heater. Then stop the engine, carefully open the header tank cap and top up as neccesary.

And that, as they say, is JOB DONE !!

Keep checking the water level over the next few days to ensure it is correct.

Thank you. Order will be placed tomorrow so hopefully back on the road in a few days.

Ok, so far I've got the viscous fan, cowl and bottom hose off.



Is the tensioner meant to be moveable as I couldn't budge it to get at the left hand bolts? Can I just take the pulley off(that I think is the power steering one) to get at the bottom right bolt?

it will fit said:

Ok, so far I've got the viscous fan, cowl and bottom hose off.

Is the tensioner meant to be moveable as I couldn't budge it to get at the left hand bolts? Can I just take the pulley off(that I think is the power steering one) to get at the bottom right bolt?

Click to expand...

You have correctly located the tensioner. The left hand side nut and stud hold the tensioner unit to the block. The right hand side nut is the one you apply tension to, in order to lift it (it's spring-loaded) when refitting the new belt.

Ok... can I take the right hand part of the tensioner and the power steering pulley off to get at the bolts on the water pump?

Is the spring on the tensioner exceptionally powerful as I could not budge it upwards at all?

it will fit said:

Ok... can I take the right hand part of the tensioner and the power steering pulley off to get at the bolts on the water pump?

Is the spring on the tensioner exceptionally powerful as I could not budge it upwards at all?

Click to expand...

You need to remove the tensioner using the nut on the lhs only, the spring-loaded action of the tensioner is strong and I find it helpful to use a long breaker bar and socket to move it.

I'm pretty sure that I didn't need to move the pas pulley, but if you find you do then undo the bolts and remove it. Remember when re-assembling these pulleys to use locktite on the pulley bolts.

Thanks. I'll be giving it a go tomorrow.

Yes you will need to move the power steering pulley because its one of the 3 long bolts behind it and there is no other way around it unfortunatly.

Thanks for all your help, I now have a new water pump and bottom hose fitted and working fine.

I managed to buy some tools and still have a fair whack of change left over from what I would have had to pay a garage.

It may be an easy job but to me it was daunting as it was my first go at doing anything like that - I've always had someone else do mechanical work as I didn't think I could do it. Chuffed to bits.

it will fit said:

Thanks for all your help, I now have a new water pump and bottom hose fitted and working fine.

I managed to buy some tools and still have a fair whack of change left over from what I would have had to pay a garage.

It may be an easy job but to me it was daunting as it was my first go at doing anything like that - I've always had someone else do mechanical work as I didn't think I could do it. Chuffed to bits.

Click to expand...

I am absolutely delighted that you have achieved a succesful conclusion to your work - it feels just great doesn't it?

So, what's the next project? A full service?

All the help and advice you'll need is here for the asking.

One tip, that may stop trouble down the line. Re-tighten the ps and wp pulley bolts after you have refitted the serpentine belt. It will hold everything still, allowing you to do a better job of tightening the bolts.

Richard Martin said:

One tip, that may stop trouble down the line. Re-tighten the ps and wp pulley bolts after you have refitted the serpentine belt. It will hold everything still, allowing you to do a better job of tightening the bolts.

Click to expand...

And when you re-fit then, put some locktite on them as well.

thebiglad said:

And when you re-fit then, put some locktite on them as well.

Click to expand...

What's Locktite please? Where do you get it?

Brian

Loctite is a company - like 3M, landrover etc - but is commonly used to denote some form of thread sealant/bonding solution. They do many, many products, but yu will be most interested in studlock, threadlock etc.

The Mad Hat Man said:

Loctite is a company - like 3M, landrover etc - but is commonly used to denote some form of thread sealant/bonding solution. They do many, many products, but yu will be most interested in studlock, threadlock etc.

Click to expand...

There superglue is about the best around as well

I got my loctite 243 (threadlock) from Halfords. They only do the little tubes but it was enough.