PS and Alt cutting out

[david-b]

Since I've been doing the breakin on the new motor, I've had this one problem that has only happend a couple times, but I've never had this happen before. First time it happened the car was in the garage and I started her up and the alternator was not charging, and the power steering was basically not there. I looked at the belts and they were moving, but not exactly well, like it was almost struggling. This was a month ago or so.

It happened again last night, but the car started fine, warmed up and then I went to where I was going. About midway there, I get low-voltage warning and then the battery light goes on. Look at MS and it shows the alternator is not charging, and then I turn the corner and have no PS. I shut it off just playing it safe. I was still close to home so turned around and took the side streets back with just parking lights on. Then literally as I was turning into my car port, the PS broke free and the alt. started charging. The the car was fine the rest of the night.


Any ideas on why this is happening? Thanks!

 

[GsXdSmKingGsX]

are the belts new? thats a strange problem.. you may need to bleed your lines though if you havent already

 

[david-b]

Both belts are brand new. Bleed what lines? The PS lines? Nothing changed with those. I drained some fluid out but did the fill and turn the wheel and that worked fine as always.


Just FYI the A/C Compressor is not in the setup.

 

[GsXdSmKingGsX]

thats what i meant.. drain some and refill it.. is your alternator new?

 

[david-b]

The PS works fine. Like I said this was the 2nd time it's happened. Honestly I could care less about the PS since I drove without it for over 2 years, but it's the alternator that bothers me. Need that to be charging.

Alternator is brand new as well.

Do you think the belts may be too tight? I tried yesterday and I can twist the longest part half way around.

 

[GsXdSmKingGsX]

When i put my new alternator on i had to find the sweet spot so try different tensions

 

[david-b]

Ok I will loosen up both of them a little and see what happens.

I wish it was more consistant though since I would know if it fixed the problem right away. Stupid car

 

[GsXdSmKingGsX]

So did it work or?

 

[ziggo0]

I let my PS drain to much when I had the motor out, put a big bottle of PS into the res and it looked full...after driving for 5 minutes it was empty...so, try getting the air outta the lines.

 

[david-b]

I loosened both of them up a little and it seemed to help some. It did still lock up afterward. I loosened just the alternator a little more and put 20 miles on the car before it decided to do it again. It actually locked up when I accelerated really hard. I want to loosen the alt up just a little more and see what happens. Too cold to do it though.

If it was just the PS cutting out I'd be more concerned about there being air in the lines. But it's both that are going out.

 

[ziggo0]

I loosened both of them up a little and it seemed to help some. It did still lock up afterward. I loosened just the alternator a little more and put 20 miles on the car before it decided to do it again. It actually locked up when I accelerated really hard. I want to loosen the alt up just a little more and see what happens. Too cold to do it though.

If it was just the PS cutting out I'd be more concerned about there being air in the lines. But it's both that are going out.

How much tension are you putting on the belts? I read somewhere that it should be for no more than 6 ~ 7in, about 1/4in of play up and down when tensioned, and for anything more than 7in, no more than 1/2in of play up and down (you can measure this with a simple 12in ruler). Do both go out at the same time? If they do, it may just be your alternator belt since it runs the PS pulley as well - technically.

 

[romeen]

Remove your crank pulley and examine it for separation of the dampener (rubber portion) from the outer metal that drives the belts.

 

[awd_tsi91]

same thing happend to my 1g! found out i had the belts so tight it actually tore the dampner and was causing it to lock up!

 

[david-b]

Remove your crank pulley and examine it for separation of the dampener (rubber portion) from the outer metal that drives the belts.

420a have a different pulley. It's 1 piece and don't break like the 4g63 pulley does. If it does break... it's gone for good.

When I first installed the pulleys the motor was torn apart so I put a lot of pressure to push the pulleys apart... used a crowbar I haven't had a chance to loosen them up again since my last post. Been too cold and haven't driven the car at all since.

 

[rlacasse1]

Is it possible that the crank pully is slipping on the crank since they don't have a key, maybe the bolt holding it on is a little loose. I know they are tight as hell on the crank, but it's worth checking.