Start off by dropping the skid plate covering the bottom of your motor. Next, remove the timing belt cover. This is kind of a pain in the rear if you don't have Ethiopian style arms since the top torques screw is tough to get at. Once you have all the basic coverings removed now we get into the thick of it.

Next, we are going to remove the power steering pump to make room to get at the compressor. Get your line caps handy so we don't end up bathing like a supermodel underneath a waterfall in power steering fluid. A pair of channel locks or needle nose pliers will work fine for loosening the lock clips on the hoses. Take off the hose and try (notice I said try) and catch the power steering fluid that is left in the lines. Tie off or place the bottom line out of your way.

Next we will drop the power steering pump. It is 4 14mm (I think) bolts....2 front, 2 back. Remove these and there should be enough slack in the main line to let it rest on the floor. As seen in the above picture.

Next, we move onto removal of the compressor. Some might not think this is necessary. Personally I do because it will actually take twice as long to change the compressor clutch with it still mounted. This is my tutorial so drop the damn thing already! The bolts are a little tricky to get to or at least the top one is. The setup is just 2 16mm bolts. The best way I saw was to loosen the top one first.

Start off by weaselling your way up around the pulley with a short extension and break the bolt loose. Now go down through the engine compartment with a long extension and universal to loosen it up the rest of the way. Then proceed to take out the lower bolt. This is located on the same mount as the power steering.

Now time to get this thing loose. Your best bet is to use a small crowbar or a nice sized flathead and work it loose from the top side using the bottom of the block as leverage. This will take some time especially if your car has a lot of miles on it like mine does. Once the compressor is loose from the mount make sure that you don't just let it fall.

Once you got the compressor down now it would be time to get that nasty pulley out of there. You will see right in middle of the pulley there is a 14mm nut. You will need to hold the magnetic balancer with a pair of channel locks to keep it from spinning.

Break that 14mm loose and the balancer should slide off real nice for you..
 

Now you will have the outside clutch exposed. You will see a spacer and a c-clip holding it in place. Remove the ring spacer and get that C-clip tool ready. If you don't have a c-clip tool a pair of needled noses would suffice. Remove the c-clip. Now for the fun part if you don't have access to a gear puller. Luckily I did because this isn't my first trip around the block and hate doing this part. You might need an extra hand from someone to support the compressor if not a jack stand will help. If you don't have a gear puller, a light crowbar or other object to pry with will be needed. Using whatever you have go around the outside of the pulley prying until it is loose enough to pull by hand. Once it is off you will have the back section exposed.

Here is a comparison of the new VS old clutch. Can you guess which is the new one???

Removing the back section is very similar to the clutch. It is held in place by another but smaller c-clip. You will need to remove the electrical connection from the back section before it can be removed off the shaft. It can be a pain to get off with VW's stupid clip they have so I cut the connection BEFORE the connector. You have new one on the new back section so the old wire can be dealt with later (pic of connector in next post). Remove the back section. Now you should have the compressor exposed.

Now, take some 220 (or whatever grit just not to coarse) and lightly go over the outside of the compressor shaft to remove any metal burr's and remiance from the shaft. Remember, don't sand the splined shaft just the larger shaft. I knew you knew that but just making sure.

Next, we are going to install the new clutch and back section with new c-clip. They should spline on pretty easy, with just a little tapping. Now go ahead and throw that new c-clip in there just for giggles. When you put the new one in a flathead screwdriver is nice to make sure the clip is seated properly. Just go around the edges of the clip pushing it nice and tight to make sure it fits into the seat.

The magnetic balancer fits on last and with ease. You will see that it is keyed and that it has a little play from side to side but will not spin. You will have to support the balancer to keep it from spinning in order to tighten back down that 14mm. This is the exact reason God made lockable pliers.

Here is a site of the new clutch installed, quite a difference I think.

Before you go ahead and reinstall those compressor bolts make sure to clean out those pulleys. In my case the belt was dragging so hard it melted the plastic tension pulley and a lot of it seized fast to the alternator pulley. This will tear a new belt to shreds so clean out any foreign objects from all of the pulleys. Also now is a great time to disconnect that old connector from harness. A small flathead works nicely to pop her out of there. And simply the new one just snaps in. Here is some pics of the damage compared to the new stuff.

Now lets get that compressor up and the bolts reinstalled. Remember they are 16mm bolts. It is probably easiest to install the lower bolt because of the location of the upper bolt. It will take some wiggling to get it back up and in. Try using a screwdriver in the bolt holes to get the right alignment for the bolts. Watch the bolt ears on the compressor, they are only cast and can be broken off fairly easy.

Now get that power steering pump back up there. This pretty self explanatory. Just make sure when hooking backup the lines that you uncap them with the coffee can near to minimize the mess.

The tensioner is a pretty easy exchange. It is held on by 3 14mm bolts that are easy access from the top if you take the side cover off to give you more room. Here is a pic with the tensioner removed.

Reinstall the new tensioner with the original bolts. Next you are going to have to take off tension from the tensioner.

If you look at the top of the new unit you will see there is a threaded hole. What you will need is a 8mm bolt, 1.25" pitch and about 3" of that have to be thread. What this is going to do is take enough tension off of the tensioner for you to be able to install a new belt. Once you have the bolt tighten it down until it stops. Now it is time to move onto the belt.

When you take a close look at the belt you will notice that the two sides to it are a little different. One side is deeper grooved than the other. Just remember that the deeper side will face down towards your crank pulley and you will be fine. Start off be looping the belt around crank pulley. If you want you can next loop the opposite end of the belt around the alternator pulley. After looping it around the alternator pulley, the belt should pass over the tensioner pulley and then underneath the water pump pulley. Then around the power steering pump pulley. I know pictures of the belt routing would be golden but getting a digi cam between 2 1/2" of subframe and pulley's is out of the question. Once you see the layout it should be a little more clear. But anyway, once you think you got the belt lined up nice and it is not going to be dragging anywhere you can begin to start taking out the 8mm bolt from the tensioner. Once full tension is on the belt double and triple check the belt tautness and for clearance.

Now cross your fingers and fire it up to make sure there is no issues. Listen for abnormal noises and/or smells. Shut it down and re-check the belt for any drag marks or imperfections. If all is good just tidy up all the covers and you should be set. If you have any questions about anything you can get me here or via e-mail. Hope this helps you along if you ever need to dig into it.

VW TECH BY: evilgti2000