Alternator pulley misalignment - HELP

[Gk-89E30]

I have been having issues with an intermittent squeal from the alternator belt. After much investigation I think I found the culprit. The alternator pulley appears to be sitting at a slight angle. The result is that the belt doesn't sit flush on the pulley. See the image.

Is there away to adjust how the alternator sits. Does the alternator support bracket have some play room? How do I adjust this so the pulley's align???

[e30davie]

Is this on an m20? There are rubber bushes on the alternator on an m20, and mine is similar but not quite as bad as yours yet. The rubber disappears over time and you get misalignment, nothing lines up properly. and eventually it squeals.

You can either buy new oem ones, or some companies sell aftermarket ones.

https://www.iemotorsport.com/product/urethane-alternator-bushings-e21-e30-m3-e24-e28/

I was considering making some out of brass.

[reelizmpro]

Yeah that's way off. If your alternator has bushings then I'd definitely look into changing them. If it's solid mount then look at the adjuster bracket to see if it's bent or cracked.

[Gk-89E30]

e30davie yes its an M20. Where do the bushings go? The alternator doesn't budge or wiggle. Would you expect the alternator to have some play? As reelizmpro suggests I suspect that there might be something wrong with the adjuster bracket's mount to the engine block.

I am going to dig into removing the alternator and the bracket to really see whats going on

[e30davie]

https://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/showparts?id=1182-EUR-06-1985-E30-BMW-323i&diagId=12_0558

Parts 9 and 12 in this.

[Gk-89E30]

I found the issue, the alternator pulley belt was so worn out it looked like there was a warp. Here is a shot after the replacement of the belt.

[jbontke]

I found the issue, the alternator pulley belt was so worn out it looked like there was a warp. Here is a shot after the replacement of the belt.

That doesn't seem right. Maybe changing the belt aligned all of the brackets better than it was. You can tighten something of of alignment.

[Josephcarr83]

I had this same problem with the alternator belt slightly misaligned and running on the crankshaft pulley and wearing out and getting loose. I ended up grinding about the thickness of a washer on the bushing, to bring the alternator forward slightly to clear the pulley. I slid a washer on the other side as I put the bolt back in to make up the clearance. I bolted everything back and the belt is no longer rubbing and the belt looks much better aligned now and is working great. Also I added a washer under the ratchet strap bracket to even out the top part. Hope that helps someone.