leon alternator belt change - how?

jimsleon

Guest
Hi,

i have a 2001 seat leon cupra. i believe the alternator belt has snapped. it has air con so i need the dual sided belt which i have got.

is this an easy job and if so any help on how to do it would be greatly appreciated and secondly is the car safe to drive to a workshop (about 2 miles away)

thank for your help and the sun is out atlast for some driving!!
 
hi mate, assuming its the same as an lcr (most modern cars auxilary (spell!) belts work in the sameish way anyway) then ye super easy, just a bit of a fiddle!

open the bonnet and look for the tensioner on the belt, its a short arm with a roller on the end pressing the belt, on lcr its just behind/below the alternator, grab the nub bit on top with molegrips or similar and ease it back as far as it will go then lock in place using a thin allan key (there is hole on the pulley and a matching hole on the base it attaches to, youl see it)

carefully memorise the way the old belt is on, what side of the various pulleys it presses against etc, then remove old belt.

take the old belt off and put the new one on with much contorting of your arms and scraping of your knuckles, have a look and feel around to make sure it is properly seated in all the grooves, using the molegrips to take the pressure remove the allan key and release the tensioner, run the engine and watch the belt to make sure all is straight and ok.

job done
 
ps whilst the old belt is off take the opportunity to spin/try wobble all the wheels it attaches to, check for any play/dry bearings etc.

i had a whiney/worn out aux belt noise that turned out to be the alternator clutch assembly, so worth checking everything, if you find anything is loose/noisy then put the old belt back on untill you get it sorted (new belt=more pressure=pulley wearing out faster)
 
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