Timing Belt / Water Pump DIY - Step by Step Pictures

[njnj.uouo]

The only way to remove the crank pulley bolt is with an impact gun. Once removed, you would need a pulley puller to remove the crank pulley.

[91greg325i]

The only way to remove the crank pulley bolt is with an impact gun. Once removed, you would need a pulley puller to remove the crank pulley.

I'm not sure what you mean, do you care to elaborate? Unless this is something unrelated to the timing belt/water pump DIY, I think that you may be mistaken. I have never had to use an impact gun or any special pulley puller to complete the task...

[blefevre]

Do you have to remove the radiator for this? Currently I have my aux fan zip tied to the front of my radiator (no a/c condensor) and I don't know if theres room to wiggle it out as a whole unit. I don't really want to re-zip tie the fan to it and destroy more fins.

[e30jan]

Thank you!

This post saves me some $100's

Nice write up!

[91greg325i]

Do you have to remove the radiator for this? Currently I have my aux fan zip tied to the front of my radiator (no a/c condensor) and I don't know if theres room to wiggle it out as a whole unit. I don't really want to re-zip tie the fan to it and destroy more fins.

I'm not sure if you HAVE to, but it definitely makes the job exponentially easier...

[e30iwite]

Thanks. Will definitely refer to this when I change my belt in the summer. Too fucking cold now. No garage Gotta work in the driveway.

[CBRSTi]

Thanks for the write up! It helped a lot when i was doing the belt change.

Unfortunately it seems like i must have made a mistake somewhere. The idle is extremely rough, and the car eventually sputters and dies. I made DAMN sure that i didnt move the cam or crank shafts individually, so im confused as to the cause of the idle problems. Is it possible for the tensioner to be too tight, causing the belt to stick or be unable to move freely?

[91greg325i]

Thanks for the write up! It helped a lot when i was doing the belt change.

Unfortunately it seems like i must have made a mistake somewhere. The idle is extremely rough, and the car eventually sputters and dies. I made DAMN sure that i didnt move the cam or crank shafts individually, so im confused as to the cause of the idle problems. Is it possible for the tensioner to be too tight, causing the belt to stick or be unable to move freely?

It sounds like textbook "timing belt off by a tooth"... Be absolutely sure that your cam gear and crank are lining up at TDC at the same time... The tensioner wouldn't be able to cause sputtering/dying as far as I know (Unless you forced it to be way way WAY to tight, and even then I don't think it would happen).

[CBRSTi]

Thanks for the quick reply!

Yeah my friend's father also made the "timing belt off by a tooth" diagnosis. Looks like i'm going to have to tear it all apart again. But hey at least it should be quicker this time.

TDC stands for top dead center correct?

Also, does the orientation of the large plate in this picture matter?
To clarify i mean the one that has the green fluid on it.

Thank's again for the write up. It was definitely extremely useful for a noob such as myself.

[91greg325i]

Thanks for the quick reply!

Yeah my friend's father also made the "timing belt off by a tooth" diagnosis. Looks like i'm going to have to tear it all apart again. But hey at least it should be quicker this time.

TDC stands for top dead center correct?

Also, does the orientation of the large plate in this picture matter?
To clarify i mean the one that has the green fluid on it.

Thank's again for the write up. It was definitely extremely useful for a noob such as myself.

TDC=Top Dead Center, correct (it looks a lot like TCD which is Turbocharging Dynamics...)

The orientation does matter, because I believe the alternator belt goes in the groove you can see in the pic. You have it installed correctly, judging from that picture. I once installed one backwards (I'll admit, it was a stupid mistake), the groove for the pulley broke into multiple pieces, not good... Luckily I had a spare.

Good luck with the re-do. It definitely goes faster the more you do it. Just put on some tunes and get to work.

Side Note:
I believe you can simply remove the top parts of the assembly and get the timing belt off the cam gear, move it into place, and reassemble. A friend of mine did this successfully, I haven't had to change my timing, so I haven't tried, but do whatever you feel is comfortable.

[CBRSTi]

Ok so one week later i completed timing belt change round 2. I made sure everything was lined up correctly and then started it to make sure it was fine. Idled perfectly. I put everything else back on and turn it on to bleed the coolant, give it some gas and it hesitated. Then i try it again and it revs fine but with some more throttle it almost bogged out. Does this sound like a timing issue again, or does it seem like the diagnosis for a bent valve?

Thanks

Edit: To avoid posting another reply, I took it out for a drive and it was running fine. I was just being a bit paranoid due to the previous error i had made. Thanks again for the write up.

[Harry's E30]

i am struggling removing the fan bolt it wont break loose from the thread anyone got any ideas of how to remove it

[Harry's E30]

Nevermind, if anyone else had that problem a vise grip on the pulley works well to get it removed.

[blackhawkimpact]

Takling this job as we speak, Took off everything, and turns out the belt is pretty new and that I'm missing the tensioner bolt???

[Tico Frank]

Ok so I did my timing belt, waterpump, and cam seal over the last couple of days. Today was the first day I dialed it in.

The value of an extra set of hands is priceless especially if you have not done one on a BMW bwfore. Example, it is 100 times easier to have someone push on the tensioner as you tighten the bolt. Mounting the hood was a snap with two people.

All in all its pretty straight forward.

In the process of changing the belt I found out that the timing was off by 1 tooth so either the belt slipped from being so old or someone set it a tooth off. The car ran pretty good before but is alot smoother now. I'll post pics of how the timing was in the morning.

Edit: Just do the cam seal while you are at it. It took no more than an extra 15 minutes MAX and cost 2 bucks or so.