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Sun Mar 23, 2008
07:02
I've been meaning to put up a quick post about this for a while now. I've mentioned it before, but the ABA swap into our Mk2 Golf is using a complete serpentine belt setup, completely eliminating the original v-belt. The serpentine setup is far easier when it comes to maintenance, and much less prone to slipping in wet conditions. For my application, this conversion was particularly easy, since I'm not using A/C or power steering. This leaves only the alternator and water pump that need to be driven by the serpentine belt. The alternator is easy - it can be used exactly as on an A3. The water pump is a little tricky, because even 4 cylinder A3s have a v-belt to drive the water pump and power steering pump. I used a fairly common trick, which is to bolt a VR6 water pump pulley onto my water pump. The VR6 water pumps are driven from the back side of a serpentine belt, so the pulley is smooth. If you use this pulley on a 4 cylinder water pump, then you must drive it from the ribbed side of the serpentine belt - otherwise the water pump will be turning in the wrong direction. This method works just fine, and you can even get the VR6 pulleys brand new from the dealer as well as most of the online parts stores (that is, if you can't find one in a junkyard). Next, you'll need to figure out what length belt to use. For my application, I'm driving the A3 alternator, water pump with VR6 pulley, and using the non-AC alternator bracket with automatic spring tensioner. The length of belt I ended up using was 41 inch. I believe that 40.5 inch might have been a slightly better fit, but 40 inch was definitely too small. Find a local auto parts store with helpful people behind the counter, and they'll be happy to help you get your hands on the different belt sizes.

Here are a couple of pictures showing the new serpentine belt setup. It is a much cleaner looking configuration than the factory A2 layout.
A2 ABA swap serpentine belt setup
A2 ABA swap serpentine belt setup


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