Sooo my younger sister is having some issues with her 1996 Audi a4 2.8, so I gave her my Saab to drive for a little to see if I could figure out what the issue is. I have worked on Audi's before, my ex boyfriend had a 1997 a4, so Im somewhat familiar with them.
Either way the whining it was making was familiar. I drove it and lost power steering. I was about an hour away from home and figured I could do with out it. Then the I lost power on gauges, all lights (ABS, OIL, BATTERY, ETC.,) went on and the car was dead at that point. Upon inspection it was obvious that the serp belt was off, not broke. I then noticed that the tensioner pulley (?) went. The pulley itself was beat up bad, all of the roller ***** had come out and the metal gasket was destroyed.
Heres where Im stuck....
Im going to head out and get a new serpentine belt tensioner with pulley BUT Im concerned that after I install the tensioner Im going to be stuck again b/c I fear that the power steering pump is bad. WILL I BE STUCK?

Im also going to show you guys a pic of the pulley Im replacing so you can tell me if Im wrong for replacing the whole thing....

any advise you all have is appreciated!

 

cant give you a definite answer to your question. odds are the PS pump is still ok. on the off chance that there is a problem with it, as long as the PS pulley still turns, you will be ok, it will just be a bitch to steer. you should be able to give yourself some reassurance by turning the PS pulley by hand. it should feel "right" when you turn it. it should be obvious if there is an issue

definitely can't go wrong replacing the entire serp belt tensioner. it is a common fail point

 

PS pump is probably bad. That whinning noise is a pretty good clue. But why not put it back together and see? You're really not wasting any time. You can change that pump on the 12 valve without putting the front in service position. It's not a bad job. I've done it.

 

im guessing the whining was the bearing in the tensioner going bad. if the power steering pump was good right before the belt came off, it will still be good. if its bad, change it. as for the tensioner, just replace the whole thing. it might be cause the spring was bad what caused the bearing to go bad. plus they slack out over time

 

You guys are great! Thanks Im heading over now..... Do i need to get the tensioner tool??

 

If it's like the one on the 30v you'll need the whole tensioner assembly, it doesn't seem possible to replace the bearing without completely deforming the pulley.

 

Tensioner tool? You need a 17mm socket on a breaker bar to release the tension, then a 10MM (I think) allen to remove the tensioner.

 

We are. We are not just pulling the one pulley.

 

Doing it now, hoping it goes smoothly.

 

How do I pull out the rod that came with the packaging. It's hitting the belt and making it squeal