Club 80-90 Forums

Hello all,

I have had a recent engine change from a CS to AEF engine from a Polo. The guy who did a good job on converting it, removed the bits from inside the PAS pump to utilise it as an idler puller, retaining the serpentine belt set up.

On running, it was noticed that the alternator belt was chewing up on the engine side, and on closer inspection, the PAS pump pulley was out of alignment. In fact the pulley hub was right up against the PAS pump housing. This was causing the belt to pull in.

Last night I managed to get the pulley/shaft moved outwards and back into align but, as soon as it was run up, the pulley (and shaft?) soon moved back to the pump housing.

I have thought about removing the pulley and shimming, but it would need about 5mm or so.

Does anyone have any tips from their set up? What would happen if I put a PAS pump on without removing the vanes etc?

Any assistance is much appreciated, before I pull the pump off next week when I return from work.

Thanks

Hi, IIRC the AEF is a 'normal' VW I4 of the period, so can accept a variety of accessories (PAS,A/C) and different models of alternator. Various brackets, pulleys and belts were used to mount these accessories, depending on the car model. So in principle, with an appropriate choice of brackets and belts, it should be possible to 'bolt together' a setup without modifying anything, which works perfectly. If you don't need PAS it should not be necessary to retain the pump.

In the parts catalogues (eg. ETKA or its online copies) there's a useful page if you've not seen it, in the electrical section, named 'list of v-belts', which shows the various belts setups and the placement of the various accessories. Using this you should be able to figure out something that'll work for you, though you may need to swap the alternator bracket.

Also note some designs of ribbed belt tensioner can cause the belt to run off, when excessively worn.

On my TDI I have a 'no A/C, no PAS' setup, using the alternator type that's tensioned using a spring underneath.