I had to replace the serpentine belt on my 2003 A6 Avant, I purchased the parts and managed to unbolt the tensioner but it will not pull forward enough to come off. Does anybody know what else I need to take off to get the tensioner off?

I have a copy of ElsaWin (don't know how to use it) and I'm willing to buy other manuals if it will help

Thanks

 

you will need to unbolt the power steering pump and slide it forward on the stud.
Also it will be much easier if you remove the aux cooling fan. It is fastened with 2 phillips screws and then you just twist and move it out of the way. You may have to cut off 2 or so wire ties.

 

Thank you, I'm starting to wonder if it isn't easier to leave the old tensioner and get the special tool necessary to depressure the old tensioner, depending on the cost of the tool of course.

Point being I'm not sure the mechanic I took it to actually knew the tensioner was bad in as much as he didn't have the special tool.

 

V-belt and poly V-belt: renewing



Vehicles with 6-cylinder petrol engine:



Vehicles with 8-cylinder petrol engine:



Vehicles with 4-cylinder petrol engine:









–
Loosen bolts securing tensioning roller for A/C compressor poly V-belt -arrows-; slacken poly V-belt and detach.









–
Move tensioner for poly V-belt in direction of arrow to slacken poly V-belt.



–
Detach poly V-belt, relieve tensioner.









–
Secure viscous fan pulley with bolt 5x60mm and remove with hexagon key.



–
Place viscous fan into radiator cowl at front.









–
Remove V-belt pulley for coolant pump. Counterhold by inserting a drift in the power steering pump pulley.



–
Remove V-belt.



–
Fit V-belt on pulleys and assemble both sections of pulley on coolant pump without tightening the bolts.



–
Tighten the bolts securing the two sections of the pulley in stages while turning the coolant pump.



As the bolts are tightened, the V-belt should gradually move outwards until seated on the running surface.



–
Tighten bolts.
Note[/align]


It is not necessary to adjust the tension of the V-belt for the coolant pump.



–
Fit poly V-belt over vibration damper pulley, viscous fan pulley and alternator pulley. If necessary, pull the belt upwards using a suitable tool.









–
Move poly V-belt tensioner in direction of arrow.



–
Fit poly V-belt over alternator pulley last. Release tensioner.



–
Check that poly V-belt is in correct position.



Vehicles with air conditioner:



–
Fit poly V-belt for A/C compressor.









–
Apply torque wrench to hexagon on tensioner and tension with a torque of 25 Nm.



–
At the same time, tighten bolts -A-.



All models:



–
Start engine and check that belt runs properly.








Tightening torque
Nm

V-belt pulley for coolant pump
25

Tensioner for A/C compressor
20










Routing of V-belt and poly V-belt - 4-cylinder petrol engine



1-
Tensioner for poly V-belt



2-
Alternator



3-
Viscous coupling



4-
Coolant pump



5-
Power steering pump



6-
V-belt



7-
Poly V-belt



8-
Vibration damper



9-
Tensioner for poly V-belt



10-
Poly V-belt



11-
AC compressor

[IMG]local://upfiles/12092/760762FD25A140A5A91A778E004DDCEC.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]local://upfiles/12092/E9CC26AD411542BB8962A031FF5FC7DA.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]local://upfiles/12092/E610B61F18DC41518F4C1BD613AC75A1.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]local://upfiles/12092/E280ADE32B954EC6A728BEA1AC5AFA64.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]local://upfiles/12092/8E15849CCDC24E0CA9981D9C1CFC8583.jpg[/IMG]

 

#

[IMG]local://upfiles/12092/A231B48C9E9E473EBDE567A52476B0FE.jpg[/IMG]

 

this is from elsawin

 

Are we talking about a 3 litre here? If so you dont need a special tool. Just use an open ended wrench.

 

Thanks a lot guys, I'll have to study the instructions and images before I totally comprehend but I assure you I will do so.

Yes the motor is a 3.0. I bought a copy of ElsaWin on ebay but I have not been able to pull up the instructions on replacing the belt. It could be lack of knowledge of ElsaWin or it could be that the copy I bought does not have a complete database. I'm pretty decent with software but what's the best place to get a tutorial on ElsaWin, if the guy sold me an incomplete version I WILL get my money back.

 

For some reason the above information is from a different model, perhaps a European version. Here's a link from the Bentley forums with a link to a pdf file which has the proper instructions for my car (2003 3.0 A6 Avant). A special tool is indeed needed to release pressure from the tensioner in order to install the belt, Tool#3299, the cheapest tool I can find so far is $108US, if anybody knows a cheaper vendor or another tool which would accomplish the same thing please let me know.

http://tech.bentleypublishers.com/thread.jspa?forumID=30&threadID=27810