Anyone in here have a jetta? my car wont start and I could use some help

[87grandnat]

Last night when i was leaving work, I started my car and begain to backup and i heard a loud crackling noise, I had headphones on so I couldnt hear it really good, but I thought I ran over a glass bottle or something so I got out and checked and nothing was there....when I got back in my car my battery light was on, and my power steering stopped working, well the car drove home fine except for the battery light and power steering not working. Well I just tried to go start my car and it wont start? my car never gives me any problems so I am thrown off by this, but I am sure it has something to do with what happened to it last night, has anyone had this happen before or could anyone tell me what could possible be wrong?

thanks a million in advance,
Joshua

 

[Otto J]

IF you have no steering and the Battery light is on,
YOu have most likely lost the belt that drives them.
Also you must check all the pulleys and maek sure they rotate as one may have seized causing the belt failure

If you find no problem with the pulleys check the belt tensioner to make sure it is still spring loaded.

And if you heard a noise as such onceof the pulleys may have fallen completely off.

 

[87grandnat]

i will check that, but how would i have made it home fine (about 10 miles) if the pulley fell off? but it not start right now? i will let you know what i findout here in a bit, i think that the battery is messed up but when i try to start it it will crank but wont turn over all the way, if the battery was bad it wouldnt try to crank at all right?

thanks,
Joshua

 

[Otto J]

If you battery had a real good charge,You could travel 10 minutes no problem with no alt.
But the battery is draining the entire time,Hence why is it too dead to start today.
Lucky enough your watter pump must not use the same belt,If why I stated is the problem it owuld have most likely overheated on a 10 minute drive

If the battery still had little juice it would turn over real slow or not all all,You may just get a seiries of clicks from the starter

 

[87grandnat]

you are right! the belt came off, do you know if this is hard to do? me and my friend are going to try to do it but neither one of us are really good mechanical wise, it doesnt appear to be to hard but there is not much room in there

Thanks,
Joshua

 

[Otto J]

You must double check all pulleys make sure they spin free,

It is not normal for the belt to fall off for no reason.

Either a pulley bearing may be bad or the tensioner that keeps the belt tight(may be an automatic tensioner) is not doing its job

 

[87grandnat]

ok, i will check that too, does anyone know where i can find a diagram of the belt (serpentine)? i need a website i can look at to know how the belt goes on

thanks agin
Joshua

 

[darkred87T]

On most cars with serpentine belts, you can find a diagram somewhere in the engine compartment. If you can, charge the battery over night with a charger.

 

[josh watson]

I'm

I'm not saying you can't do it yourself......but if you don't have experience working on cars you might want to have a more experienced mechanic show you how to install the belt the first time. The idler pulley can be difficult to work with sometimes if you don't have the proper tool...(autozone will lend you this tool for a small fee)...I only suggest this because someone who has done it before can show you how to get the job done in 5 mins......mechanic friends are always a good idea ....good luck