Belt setup on a 1990 Jetta TD

bvolks · Post by **bvolks** » Thu Jan 22, 2009 12:46 pm

My brother's Jetta has been destroying AC belts with a couple hundred kms (first one broke, second one wore really fast) and we're trying to figure out why. The PS belt was off when he got it and the car had been sitting for a while.
Does anyone have any pics/ diagrams of the belt setup on a 1990 Jetta TD with AC and PS ? My mechanic claims it should have a freewheeling pulley on the water pump that acts like an idler for the AC belt but I see no mention of it anywhere else. He claims that if there is no freewheeling pulley then the PS belt should only run from the crank pulley to the PS pump, not around the water pump too. The way this one was setup when we got it had the water pump driven by both the AC and PS belts, which doesn't seem right to me.

Quantum TD · Post by **Quantum TD** » Thu Jan 22, 2009 1:31 pm

Your mechanic is right. At least on the American 1990 TD (or ECOdiesel) the water pump had a free-clutched water pump pulley. It is similar to the design used on the 1985-1992 gas cars, but is smaller in diameter.

Here's the PN for the one used on the 1991-1992 ECOdiesel (should be the same for yours):

068 121 028

For reference, the gasser one looks similar and is PN: 027 121 028

If you need an image, go to www.vagcat.com. You'll need to sign up for an account before you can view images.

bvolks · Post by **bvolks** » Thu Jan 22, 2009 2:06 pm

Thanks. I was hoping the gasser one was the same since I already have one but I see it's different. So I guess I have the choice of getting the proper pulley or leaving it as it is and running a shorter belt from the crank pulley directly to the PS pump.

surfcam · Post by **surfcam** » Thu Jan 22, 2009 3:03 pm

Hears the bad news. That pulley is pretty well a dealer item. At lest I haven't found it anywhere else. Its over 200 dollar touch. It only seems to last 60,000 to 100,000km. Mine is shot again. I loosed the belt a bit and ran with it for a while but now its starting to make a sound like a big flag flapping in the wind. The elections over so I guess I'll have to pony up for a new or they'll think I'm to patriotic for my own good.

bvolks · Post by **bvolks** » Thu Jan 22, 2009 3:08 pm

He does have a couple other TD Jettas he could pull the pulley off of. Worse case scenario, we'll get rid of the power steering.

Golf/Jetta · Post by **Golf/Jetta** » Thu Jan 22, 2009 5:02 pm

try a thicker beltÂ¿

Post by **Fatmobile** » Sat Jan 24, 2009 2:23 am

See if the pullys are smooth.
Rusty pullys will grind a belt right down.

VW cat · Post by **VW cat** » Tue Jan 27, 2009 9:22 pm

We have a noisy belt on our Jetta, makes kind of a clattering sound sometimes. Belt life is shorter too. Spray water on it while it's running to verify.

We have found that the pulley was dented in a couple of places. Straightening these dents out sounds easy but it's very easy to add a 'high spot' further down inside the groove, while straightening the dent on the outer part of the pulley.

These pulleys are very fussy about their shape, not to mention what they will do to a new belt if the pulley suffers from wear. Phil