I have a 1987 VW scirocco 16V. Yesterday I had a guy looking at the air conditioning. he was running some testw and checking for leaks and what not. I believe he filled the system with nitrogen to test for leaks. On the way home, the belt between my compressor and my alternator melted and broke? The belt was pretty much brand new. Does anyone have any ideas about what he did or what it will take to fix it? This is my daily driver and I need help fast. Does anyone know a good mobile mechanic?????

 

As far as what he did, I have no idea. What i would do.... replace the belt and see if it happens again, make sure the tension feels about right. Im assuming since your asking for a mobile mechanic that your not too mechanic savy.... look it up online, replacing a belt is not a very hard job to do yourself, im sure there is articles online to walk you through it. If that doesnt work, ask a neighbor, im sure one of them know how, and last resort, look on craigslist for a mobile mechanic, there are plenty of them on there. Good luck.

 

Do not just replace the belt. Your AC compressor caused the belt to brake. This was due to overfilling the AC system with Freon, or Nitrogen in your case. I've had the same problem on my old gti and rx8. Both times replacing the ac compressor was the only solution. good luck.

 

what does the system having too much freon/nitrogen have to do with the belt being broken? I could see that maybe blowing the O-ring seals in the AC lines, but I just don't see how it would snap a belt. I was thinking maybe when they worked on the compressor they removed it and when putting everything back together they just had it too tight... idk?

 

What exactly was going on with the A/C to make you take it to someone to look at? I could easily see a seized compressor/ well under-charged system burning/braking belts if you're trying to use it when it's not working. If you need a quick fix for your 16v (or have money problems), either get a shorter belt and/or do a proper a/c delete moving the alternator down to where the compressor is.

 

Upon further investigation I have discovered that it is actually the belt on the outside, not the one going from the compressor to the alternator. Its the one from the compressor going someplace else. The engine i think? And no, i dont know much about working on cars. I know how to change the oil and install stereos. That is about it. When I took it to get the A/C fixed the car was running fine, and it has been running fine. Just without a/c. The a/c would blow cold for about 2 hours if it was charged with freon. So. I was taking it in so that I could get a/c on a more permanent basis.

 

You have 3 belts total. Outside belt is going to power steering pump, crank, and a/c. Middle one is crank, a/c, and alternator. Inner one is the fat timing belt hiding underneath the cover going crank, intermediate shaft, idle pulley/tensioner, cam.

The outer belt you speak of is tensioned by the power steering bracket. If you took it to this guy for a/c work he had no business playing with the power steering bracket unless he replaced the a/c compressor. I would take it back and demand he fix it.

The only other thing I could think of would be you took it to some other asshat before who over-tightened the power steering bracket, which ended up shredding/melting the belt. In that case, go back to that asshat.

Or... Buy a new belt, and do it yourself. It's really not that difficult. The power steering bracket will throw you off at first, but it's a pretty simple design. Lightly tighten the bracket itself, then tension the bolt, then tighten the bracket.

Or... Buy a new belt, buy me a 12 pack of Steel Reserve, Marlboro Reds, gas money to and from your place (avg 20 mpg) and I'll do it for you

 

Once you get this sorted out do yourself a favor...buy a Bentley manual (and a set of tools if you don't already have them). There are quite a few times where I'd be lost on my 8v MKII without it.

 

Ive got this issue sorted out I believe. Thanks for your help. Now I'm back to the original problem. Does anyone know a good a/c shop with reasonable rates???? St. Pete, Tampa, or Clearwater area?