Alternator Belt Break and overheat

whoops !

The cooling runs off the alternator pulley. The alternator shaft goes right through the alternator and out the back (front) where it has the cooling fan atached.

So, not belt - no cooling.

I hope your engine is not too bad, tho I suspect the worse.

Next time your belt brakes STOP !

Rich

Rookie wrote:

The big cooling fan inside the fan housing is connected to the back of the alternator. The belt is there to drive the electrics and the cooling. I hope no permanent damage occurred.

I keep spares of the belt, the accel cable and the clutch cable in a emergency kit. It's cheaper than the alternative.

............If it was working, I find it difficult to believe that your oil pressure light didn't come on before ten miles. And why did you need to find a lighted area? Do you think that criminals can see in the dark better than you? It's too late for your engine but you need to be bestowed with an air-cooled edition of the Darwin Award.

I can't see the original post... any way the cooling system is connected to the alternator and alternator spins because is connected to the belt. If the belt is broken, there is no cooling system working... a RED light should be on when it happens (alternator light). When a RED LIGHT is ON we must stop IMMEDIATELY and not when we want, if we care about the engine.

Joao

Ouch! Hope you didn't do too much damage.

I take it you have not done any work on your bug? There's nothing wrong with that but you may want to educate yourself on the basic maintenance and care because a mistake like this can be costly.

Since he thought only his generator was having problems, he probably wanted better lighting in order to be able to diagnose the problem.

I know these are going to sound like stupid questions, but indulge me...

When the fan on an aircooled motor stops running (as the original poster's did), what happens as the motor begins to get hotter? How long does it take (I imagine it's a slower process than running out of oil) for significant motor damage to occur? What area(s) suffer the greatest amount of destruction?

-- Christian

Save Darfur --

The closest thing I've done is drive 70 miles in 100F summer weather with the oil cooler plugged up. The trip was about 100 miles but the engine seized up at 70. 1984 - before I knew much about VWs.

The drag beetles can make 1/4 of mile without the cooling system.... Joao

..................If you're talking about a full race bug that's built for drag racing, a minute or two of running time with only 10 to 15 seconds of full throttle and then an extended period of cooling with an electric fan in the pits between races still only gets you a handful, maybe a dozen(?) weekends at the strip before it's time to start over with a total rebuild including new heads and probably a new case.

...........I'm actually amazed that any engine could push a car for ten miles nonstop without any cooling system in operation.

Yes, I as talking about a bug that's built for drag racing. I'm also amazed with the performance of that bug, without a cooling system...

Joao

I'm wondering if it will turn over after it's cooled off.

Get one of these:

Has anyone seen am "Engine Blow" event? It's where they run an ACVW engine wide-full-open without the air cooling until it blows.

I'd be careful doing anything, especially since he is not that familiar with his car. Truly no offense intended, but if one does not know what drives the cooling, it might be best to have the bug checked out by someone that knows how the car works and how to check for damage. The engine may not be seized, but you can do all sorts of unseen damage by overheating that may not be immediately detected by just restarting the car.

So, what destroys the motor is that the metal parts become too hot and expand causing it to contort and/or increase friction?

-- Christian '71 Bus -- Turtle

Save Darfur --

That's neat, but how do those prevent the belt from breaking?

I think I would have to start killing people, if I saw them wasting good VW parts like that. Nothing personal, it's my job.

It has different pulleys in order to use a stronger, wide belt. I can shoot a better pic if you like.

You would be killing the world's best ACVW engine builder, Jake Raby. Well, actually you probably couldn't - he's a Marine veteran. :)

Legend has it that one of the engines Jake intentionally blew was the same engine he built blindfolded for a show. I wish I could find pictures.