Belt Snapped!

[JinormusJ]

I didn't know what was wrong, and everyone kept screaming "WOLF! (waterpump)" so I was thrown off.

It was a fast fix once I knew what was wrong, but it took me a while to figure out due to inexperience (this happened on my first e30 about 3 years ago)

My problem was my belt, throttle body heater gasket, and water-pump/thermostat hose

Like I said, that's where I would check first seeing as those are the weakest points on the e30 cooling system

[tonyloban]

Alright. that's where I'll start. Thanks for the help!

[tonyloban]

I purchased the belts today. All 3. Going to do the work tomorrow. The car wouldn't even start so I couldn't get it into the garage which sucks.. lol. I'm assuming that's because of the alternator belt? What would I have to do to get in there in put the belts on? Jack it up and do it from under or take the hood and radiator off and do it from the front?

[ButtJuice]

It's straight forward, you'll need to work from inside the engine bay and maybe under the car. It's all preference. You don't need to be ridiculous and remove the radiator or anything. Just do it!

Just FYI I don't think replacing those belts are your biggest problems, you need to figure out why you're leaking coolant. Don't over heat your car.

[tonyloban]

It's straight forward, you'll need to work from inside the engine bay and maybe under the car. It's all preference. You don't need to be ridiculous and remove the radiator or anything. Just do it!

Just FYI I don't think replacing those belts are your biggest problems, you need to figure out why you're leaking coolant. Don't over heat your car.

I'M DOING IT! haha. Tomorrow though.

Well once I get in there, I'll check out what was leaking and I'll post pics here of the stuff. I don't need to drive it until Tuesday so I won't until I figure everything out.

[JinormusJ]

Replace the belts first
That way you can start the car and keep it running due to the alternator belt.
That belt will also turn the waterpump and help you track down the coolant leak

Running and driving a car for 10 seconds to move it won't kill anything. If your system is bone dry, do not run it longer than 20 seconds coolantless (or put some water in there as a safety net)

[tonyloban]

Replace the belts first
That way you can start the car and keep it running due to the alternator belt.
That belt will also turn the waterpump and help you track down the coolant leak

Running and driving a car for 10 seconds to move it won't kill anything. If your system is bone dry, do not run it longer than 20 seconds coolantless (or put some water in there as a safety net)

That's what my padre said. Put some water in there. Thanks for the tips. Let's hope it's not raining tomorrow, because I have to do this on the street. It's too far from the garage to push and it's a little bit on a hill too. I think I'll have to have a friend come tow it to my garage so I can have it on a flat surface.

[tonyloban]

Here's a picture of a of an engine. I believe it's an m20b27. Is there much difference from the m20b25 when it comes to V-Belts? I read that it has a different higher stroke so I'm assuming the engine practically looks the same probably.

Can someone show where each specific belt goes? Like draw it in ms paint for all I care. The PDF Bentley I have has impossible to see images which makes it of no use to me.

I'm thinking I'll do a write-up/DIY for the next noobs after me to come, but I need the right info to un-noobify my experience. lol. So who ever has the time and knows for sure which one goes where, please help a brotha out. Thanks in advance!

http://nanaki.affenfelsen.de/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/e28-dorm-parkingdeck-old-waterpump1.jpg

[tonyloban]

Anyone? I don't know which belt goes where. I removed the radiator, and about to remove fan. Also the hood.

Just a quick drawing in paint will do. Please. And thanks

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[susej1981]

this should help, someone correct me incase I make a mistake. the photo should look familiar as that's what you're looking at with your engine at the moment. the belts you bought should be labeled. if not, look up the part numbers on a site like bmaparts.com and it'll tell you what each part # goes to.

the belt in the photo that is already on connects the alternator and the water pump together. this belt takes up the pulley closest to the engine block, furthest back pulley from the front of the car.

the yellow lines I drew in are for the ac compressor. this belt comes next, and is the middle pulley out of the three pullies on the crankshaft bundle of pulleys

last belt, the red lines I drew in are for the power steering.

when putting the belts in, go from back to front it's the easiest

[susej1981]

in the words of rob schneider

[tonyloban]

Haha. Rob Schneider...

Thank you very much! Exactly what I needed! Yeah, the belts were labeled when I bought them.

[tonyloban]

How do i loosen the alternator belt because mine is still on, but i want to change it

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[susej1981]

to loosen the alternator/water pump/ crankshaft belt, you need to undo the tensioner on the alternator.

there's a bracket with little teeth on them, what you need to do is turn the nut (red arrow) so the alternator starts moving closer to the engine block. not exactly sure but I think it'd help if you also undid the yellow arrow/green arrow a bit.

by doing that it should undo the tension and you can then put on your new belt and re tighten it by doing everything reverse. make sure you don't strip the little gears/teeth otherwise you won't be able to get the slack you need.

[tonyloban]

I took the bracket off and then put it back on, but it wouldn't bite or loosen or tighten the tension.

I think that thing brings the whole alternator closer to the main location (moves it to the left looking at the picture), but mine wasn't doing that. I have some pics. Maybe someone can point out how to loosen and tighten the other sections to get the other belts on. I can't figure it out and I don't want to break anything.

And I couldn't get the fan off. If someone knows how too, that would be nice to know also.

LOOKING AT FRONT, BOTTOM, LEFT > RIGHT







LOOKING AT FRONT, TOP.







BTW, those pictures with the arrows are helping A LOT! Thank you very much for that! I'll figure this out!

EDIT: It looks like the teeth on my bracket aren't actually inside the connector piece. Maybe that's why? I'll update on other stuff tomorrow. I'm done for today. Right now, I need to know how to loosen and tighten the other belts, including this one. Again, thanks.