Help! Belt making noise and smoking [Video]

[Liquid Smoke]

alternator/accessory/serpentine belt, not sure on the exact name of it, but it suddenly got pretty loud today, and started smoking at one point.

some background, i've noticed a weird noise the past few weeks, like a squeaky belt type noise but couldnt narrow it down and it was intermittent, and went away for a few days. now today i notice it got much louder, usually it's louder on a cold start then quiets a little, so i drove about 10 miles and noticed a burning rubber type smell, and noticed some smoke coming out the engine bay, see video below, smoke is coming from that pulley area, i'm guessing the belt is overheating. also noticed some black powder being kicked up which is the belt rubber grinding off im guessing.

anyone see a similar issue? i'm going to the dealer in the morning, i'm thinking i can make it there it's about a 6 mile drive, i drove it back another 10 miles and luckily had no issues, hopefully will be able to get a short drive in. but anyway just wondering what it could be and what to expect when i get to the dealer. bad pulley/tensioner/belt? could it be just a simple misalignment? i'm expecting them to replace the accessory belt and pulley/tensioner? hopefully it's nothing major, but this definitely scared me earlier, hope it's not as bad as it looks.

[Alex1188]

Based off where the smoke is coming from and the reddish tint on the alternator I would say your over running pulley on the alternator is shot or maybe he front bearing.

[Liquid Smoke]

yea the belt itself wasnt as hot but that pulley piece was. belt didn't seem cracked or too soft or loose or anything. and i guess that can cause the misalignment too so it was grinding off some black rubber dust?

also i first noticed this sound after i got my starter replaced. maybe it was there before and just got louder around that time not sure, but is there any way the installation of the new one, or the bad previous starter would cause or contribute something with this issue? or is that just pure coincidence?

[TDIaholic]

Seized alternator

[Liquid Smoke]

so the dealer was too busy today and they close early on weekends, also no loaner available this week. i am going to just leave the car until monday morning and drive to my local audi mechanic.

Seized alternator

does that mean i have to replace the whole alternator? or can i do just the pulley or something? trying to narrow down what parts it could be. is it alternator pulley? anything with the accessory belt tensioner? anything else? i wanna repair it properly but dont want to unnecessarily start replacing stuff.

[Slick_B8]

Seized alternator

X2 and no, usually you just replace the pulley. It was actually a tsb i believe for a while

[shonseb]

Yeah something definitely seized

Edit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8IOq3v1-JPs

[Allowencer]

Seized alternator

I would concur.

Take the belt off and try and rotate the alternator yourself. You should be able to spin it with minimal effort. It should 'feel' smooth with nothing 'grabbing' it.

[Liquid Smoke]

so with a seized alternator, you're saying i can replace just the pulley? is it nothing internal that needs replacing or is whatever seized and the bearings and all that in the pulley itself? i'll prob replace the belt and tensioner at the same time as well.

[Allowencer]

I would think the whole alternator is toast; however, if the pulley and bearing are separate, then I think you could replace that. I've haven't worked on these alternators before

[Liquid Smoke]

i was asking a friend who is an Audi tech at a dealer, he said he's seen that sometimes, usually past 85k where the alternators seize up. he said doing the pulley alone won't fix it as it's bearings inside the alternator itself? so i guess it depends, the bearings may be separate and inside the alternator itself on ours. sucks because i dont think my alternator itself is bad charging-wise, no electrical issues with charging or anything, just the physical spinning seems to be the issue here.

so i'm going to prepare for that i guess, and will let the shop decide when they take an actual look. and i assume the pulley comes attached already with a new alternator right?

now i'm just wondering what to do. i definitely am not paying $800 for an OEM dealer one. can get the same bosch i've seen for $380ish, and then i've seen a post on here someone got a $180 rebuilt one from oreillys and worked? anyone have any input on that? are the remanufactured ones worth it for the price? i see oreilly's branded as Ultima, but the description says Bosch/Valeo, i assume they are rebuilt bosch/valeo units, just dont want to risk anything unless remanufactured ones are pretty reliable.

[TDIaholic]

Take off the belt like Allowencer suggested and try to spin the alternator. It should spin freely, which I'm 95% sure yours won't do seeing as the belt is not able to turn it. I'm pretty sure this is not just the pulley as if the freewheel inside the pulley seizes the alternator will still spin, it's just the pulley won't "slip" in the other direction as it's supposed to and this usually results in some noise and vibration in idle and while coasting.