'91 Audi 100...eating alternator belts..HELP!
 

Greetings from Boston!

I just bought a 1991 Audi 100 in good condition with just 94K on it. It's not perfect, but runs pretty well. The only real problem I have is that this thing keeps eating alternator belts. I've put two on in the last 72 hours and the last one has turned itself inside out (teeth showing). WTF?

The pullies seem to be correctly aligned.

The cam seems to be OK (hard to tell).

Has anyone had this experience and can give me a solution? Is is possible to eliminate the cam mechanism and use some type of standard bolt/bracket mounting set up?

Thanks for the help!
Kurt...a/k/a the LeLimoMan

The only thing I can think of is that things either aren't aligned or something is getting loose and allowing some slop. When you put the new belt on how much slack do you have?

Thanks for the reply b4thea4.

I have the belt pretty tight with less than a 1/2" deflection.

I spoke with the people from Shokan in NY and they think it might be the rubber harmonic balancer is going bad and causing things to shake and the belt to jump. Doesn't sound like the easiest job to replace it. :confused:

Any more thoughts out there in Audi Land?

Thanks!

Does it eat the belt right away?

If not, can you start the car, run up front and watch what happens? It may give some clues.

For me, I didn't have the belt tensioned correctly and ate a belt or two.

Hopefully you'll figure it out with out having to mess with the crank pulley.