Todays problems ... need some solutions..

[bretttuk]

Right then, mk2 16v golf ... car has done some good miles over the past four days, in the dry .. everything was ok , no problems.. drive home today from leicester to leeds to manc in the torrential rain and all sorts of problems seem to arise .. if anyone can help or shed light..

1. Battery LED comes on sometimes , quite low and then brightens up etc... and then goes off sometimes, comes back on intermittently

2. Getting a horrendous squeaking from engine bay , sounds like a belt possibly slipping .... high pitched noise.

3. Coolant temp needle rises to the 3rd 1/4 of the travel along with oil temps rising to 120 , then things go normal and return down , this happened about 2 or 3 times in my 2 1/2 hours on the road.

4. Last 20mins of the journey, the coolant led starts flashing at me but all temps on car and needle remain normal.

if anyone can possibly shed some light on these issues and what to look for, i can then go out and hopefully sort...

thanks.

[Ozz]

I'm far from an expert on the matter but it sounds to me like your alternator belts slipping when its wet, causing your battery light to come on as it wouldnt be charging right, and maybe not powering the water pump sufficiently causing your coolant errors?

Thats just a guess mind, someone will probably come along and tell me I'm way off the mark!!

[westysgolf]

the noise sounds like the belt slipping which can cause problems with charging the battery. the temperature light coming on could be the sensor on the expansion tank. i've owned 2 golfs and had to change these on both cars! 

[GTI-BOY]

 I agree, chk your alternator belt and powersteering belt for wear or adjust the tension. This used to happen me when the road was wet, changed the belts and all is ok..  It may be daft question but what level is the water at in the expansion tank? Just thinking if it is too low it will cause the temp light to flash and if substantially low will affect the cooling of the engine?

[bretttuk]

Checked the coolant level, and it was considerably low so topped it up ... lets see what happens anyway, i may have a leak somewhere..

As for the belt slipping, its nice and dry now and not having said problems as before but alternator / belts have become quite noisy now which i am not liking .

i'll keep an eye on things..

[Organisys]

Change belt(s) ! !

[rubjonny]

Change the belts sharpish, the alternator one also runs the water pump, without it engine = bang

Only a couple of quid & 5 mins to do the job, really isn't worth taking a chance!

[bretttuk]

Is the alternator belt a quick off and on job ? Do i have to remove anything else such as other belts etc.. ?

brett

[rubjonny]

If you dont have power steering, its literally a case of loosening 3 bolts, push the alternator farward, replace belt, tension alternator and tighten the bolts again.

If you have power steering I'm 99.9% sure you need to take the PAS belt off before you can do the alternator belt, which is a case off loosening the bas pump bolts, push pump, remove belt, retension and tighten bolts again

Might as well replace both belts while you're there!  Haynes has the procedure for doing the job, if you don't have one let me know and I'll send you a pdf copy.