knightowl71

I have a 03 AR 2.7T. I have been out of work for the last 6 months so can not afford to take it to a shop but I need it running to find a job. I just replaced the alternator and got everything back together. The car started up fine and I observed no coolant leaks as I had removed both the upper and lower radiator hoses to remove the lock carrier.

I am not getting any heat in the cabin so my research told me that the coolant system needed to be bled of air. I located the bleeder at the front of the engine and opened it until I got a steady stream of coolant then tightened it back up. I found the hose on the upper heater core but could not get the hose to budge. Any ideas? Is this better for bleeding the system?

It was after this that the serpentine belt stopped moving along with the pulleys for the attached components. I immediately shut down the car and observed that the belt is slightly skewed towards the engine on the tensioner. I assume that the spilling coolant caused the belt to move.

As I was investigating I noticed that the tensioner seems to slightly angled towards the front of the car. Is this normal or should it be completely flush and aligned with the other pulleys? I had not noticed when I loosened it beforehand.

I am having trouble getting to it so I will probably have to remove the carrier again to get the tensioner and belt aligned. If I have to drain coolant again, any advice on bleeding the system so this does not happen again?

I only tackled this project because of my work status. Please dont hold my lack of experience against me, at least I am learning something.

Thank you in advance for your help.

knightowl71

Here are a few pics of the tensioner. You can see how it does not completely align with the other pulleys. I can not find another 2.7T to compare to. Does this look normal?

Thank you for any input. I dont look forward to pulling the front end apart again if necessary.

ddillenger

That tensioner is either bad, or not bolted on completely. My money's on bad.

Delmed83

Wow that's bad!! Check the 10mm allen bolt and make sure it's fastened completely. The back side of the tensioner has a raised boss that fits into a recess on the block. It only goes on one way. From the picture though, it looks like its shot. I just replaced one myself, but it was not tilting like that!! You do not have to disconnect the radiator hoses by any means to work on the engine. Just put the lock carrier into service position. Get a stool or something to rest it on after you pull it back away from the engine. You did not need to drain coolant to remove the alternator either.....I don't think. I just changed my alternator pulley and was contemplating pulling it out to get the old pulley off. I had the lock carrier in service position and there looked like more than enough room to get it out. Anyway, did you get your heat back working?

knightowl71

It was pretty cold yesterday so only took a quick look at the car in the afternoon. It seems like the tensioner was just not bolted on properly. I loosened it and realigned it before tightening it back up. It is now straight and lined up with the other pulleys. I now see how the 17mm 'bolt' allows you to pivot the tensioner instead of removing it. The fun is now trying to pin the tensioner to get the belt on without removing the front end.

Do you think I can get my hands in there to pin the tensioner and route the belt with the carrier in service mode? I would like to keep the coolant lines intact as bleeding the system has led to this predicament. What can I use to pin the tensioner with limited space if I only put the carrier into service position? It doesnt seem to be enough room to even get a small screwdriver in there.

Delmed83 - I have not gotten the belt back on with the tensioner straight so have not turned the engine. I wont know if I got the coolant system bled to get my heat back until I get this tensioner secured and the belt back on.

Thanks

knightowl71

Got the belt tensioner realigned and the belt on correctly. Ran out of daylight so did not start engine. I want to do it in daylight so I can observe if anything is wrong. All looks good so I am hopeful.

Delmed83

Excellent! Just make sure that 10mm allen bolt (the one that secures the tensioner to the block) is tightened to 41 ft-lb (55 N-M). If you don't have a torque wrench just get it pretty tight with a half inch drive ratchet....just don't overtighten and strip out the hole, then you'll be in a real mess!!! If the coolant is still giving you an issue, just unbolt the reservoir and lift it up about 4" while you have the heater core hose bleeder hole open. Once the coolant comes out, seal it back up. Run the engine with the cap off the reservoir for a while to bleed excess air. The rest should clear up from driving. If that doesn't work, check out this thread:

https://www.audiworld.com/forums/sho...php?p=14480582

Good Luck!

knightowl71

I see the hole in the hose leading to the heater core to allow the air to escape but after loosening the clamp, the hose is not budging. There is not much room to get in there with both hands and pliers have not seemed to help, Any tips or tricks to getting the hose off of the heater core? Is this just a matter of keep pulling until it comes loose?

Also, I have been replacing missing hardware along the way putting this back together. I seem to be missing a bolt here and a screw there so I have been getting new hardware and making sure everything is secure as I put it back together. I seem to be missing quite a bit of the hardware for the bellypan. I have 3 of the quick release screws and 2 of the large T30 bolts. It appears that I should have quite a few more bolts to hold this up. Worst case scenario, is it better to put the bellypan on with only a few bolts and hope that it stays secure or leave it off until I get all of the hardware? How dangerous is it for me to drive without the bellypan temporarily?

Delmed83

My car has absolutely no belly pan....lol. That's the way I bought it. Never had an issue due to that. Grab the coolant hose with pliers and twist it back and forth while pulling back....it will come off. Just don't break anything. I always hated removing and reinstalling the belly pans on my previous audi's. I'm actually really happy I don't have one now.

knightowl71

Just for those who have given advice, wanted to give you an update. I got the alternator in, the tensioner is realigned and the belt is on properly. I got the car put back together except for the bellypan. I feel ok about driving it without the pan until I can get all of the hardware. Plus, a few other things I am keeping an eye on require the pan to be off so I can skip that step for now.

I have not been able to verify the heat is working. I have tried to bleed the system but the hose on the heater core will not budge. With my luck, I dont want to risk damaging the pipe with tools so will see if it works itself out before tackling again.

I did have an issue with the transmission slipping out of reverse. The car has been parked facing down on a very inclined driveway for a few months. I have been advised that I may have transmission problems but since I did not have any issues before I parked it, I am hoping it is just due to the car sitting in a sloped position for an extended time.

I did manage to move the car to a more level spot so will be observing how the transmission acts now that is has been level for 2 days. I should get a chance to drive it around tomorrow so will see if everything is working properly.

I really appreciate everyone's help on this forum as I love this car but being out of work really puts a strain on repairs.

Again, thank you everyone for your advice. I hope sometime to be able to return the favor.