Changing belts. Any else while I'm in there?

[GillesBigCowboy]

Guess I need to get the e36 bentley for this engine, eh?
Also ordered a new toothed alt mount bracket.

Can't wait to get rid of the screeching at startup, but should I do anything else while I'm in there?

[110stx]

You could replace your water pump and thermostat as part of the job.

Fan clutch if needed ...

d.hitchcock

[Eecen]

You don't want to start the "while I'm in there" game. Just change the belts and get the fuck out.

[Dj Buttchug]

^ because the list goes on and on and on and on

[GillesBigCowboy]

Cool, I like keepin it simple.

[3bvert]

yep
get rid of the fan clutch and put on an electric fan
get rid of a/c
get rid of p/s

[Slowpoke]

I'm prepping to change my belts also. The e36 bentley does not seem to be very helpful with this. best i could find was this: http://www.m42club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=12735

[GillesBigCowboy]

Thanks slowpoke, I threw my back out and have not done this yet but Reading thru this thread you posted, the middle belt sounds tricky, or at least different. If you do it soon let me know what you learned, and what to watch out for... Especially on this middle belt. Good luck!

[Slowpoke]

Alright, so i tackled it this morning. In theory its pretty straight forward but....I ran into a couple of issues:

1. Getting the fan shroud off. Mines had no clearance at all between the shroud and the fan. Took another set of hands to lightly bend the lower part of the fan away from the shroud and i still broke part of the shroud off. I figured i would try and do most of the bending on the shroud and not the fan itself.
2. the tension adjuster nut on the PS pump was not griping the teeth on the adjuster slide. Looked like the diameter of the nut was not big enough to grab the teeth on the slide to loosen or tighten the PS pump. I had to remove both the tension adjuster nut and the bolt on the left side of the pump (this bolt acts as a pivot point). Once i got those of i could move the PS pump enough to remove and install the new belt.
3. the adjuster nut on the alternator was in good condition and came apart easily. I just loosened it most of the way out and the alternator moved enough to remove and install the belts. Problem was the adjuster nut was able to move to the tightest setting even with the new belt installed. This might be a problem when the belt stretches a little. Not sure what to do about this. I used a hammer pivot the alternator away from the engine while i tightened down the adjuster to get it at tight as i could.
4. The AC belt was easy, just remember to loosen both the allen bolt and the adjuster pulley nut.

When i started it up the belts were very quite, after a few miles i get a light squeal for a second or two at low RPMs and then it goes away. I think this is due to some of the belts not being tight enough, which is a problem as i am out of adjustment on one and have no way to properly tension the other. Still its a hell of a lot better than it was and i know i won't break a belt anytime soon, but i do hope i can get it quite all of the time.

This the images in this link where also helpful for reference: http://www.m42club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6075

Good luck! let my know if you have similar issues.

[GillesBigCowboy]

I finally did this job yesterday, and it went well thanks to the images in th post above.
All belts are now tight and quiet. The squeaking before the job was so loud it was embarrassing.
I unscrewed th fan then lifted fan and shroud out together. I think I should have done the job more from underneath the car from the as it is easier to access at least two of the belts from down under... Maybe I just prefer to be around Rosie's undercarriage.

I got a few bloody knuckles, and I also put pins in the hood hinge so that I can easily remove the hood in future. This is from godfather Patton on the spece30 forum
Problem: Hood is in the way for servicing
Solution: Grind off the outer swege that holds the hood pivot bushings in place.Drive the bushings out with a round punch (screwdriver). Replace the bushings with clevis pins from the hardware store. Now the hood comes off in 10 seconds.
(I used a sawzall to cut off one end of the bushings so that they could be easily driven out)
Here's th thread link:

http://www.spece30.com/forum/45-misc/52756-wish-id-knowed-thatlessons-learned-in-car-prep

[3bvert]

Alright, so i tackled it this morning. In theory its pretty straight forward but....I ran into a couple of issues:

1. Getting the fan shroud off. Mines had no clearance at all between the shroud and the fan. Took another set of hands to lightly bend the lower part of the fan away from the shroud and i still broke part of the shroud off. I figured i would try and do most of the bending on the shroud and not the fan itself.
2. the tension adjuster nut on the PS pump was not griping the teeth on the adjuster slide. Looked like the diameter of the nut was not big enough to grab the teeth on the slide to loosen or tighten the PS pump. I had to remove both the tension adjuster nut and the bolt on the left side of the pump (this bolt acts as a pivot point). Once i got those of i could move the PS pump enough to remove and install the new belt.
3. the adjuster nut on the alternator was in good condition and came apart easily. I just loosened it most of the way out and the alternator moved enough to remove and install the belts. Problem was the adjuster nut was able to move to the tightest setting even with the new belt installed. This might be a problem when the belt stretches a little. Not sure what to do about this. I used a hammer pivot the alternator away from the engine while i tightened down the adjuster to get it at tight as i could.
4. The AC belt was easy, just remember to loosen both the allen bolt and the adjuster pulley nut.

When i started it up the belts were very quite, after a few miles i get a light squeal for a second or two at low RPMs and then it goes away. I think this is due to some of the belts not being tight enough, which is a problem as i am out of adjustment on one and have no way to properly tension the other. Still its a hell of a lot better than it was and i know i won't break a belt anytime soon, but i do hope i can get it quite all of the time.

This the images in this link where also helpful for reference: http://www.m42club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6075

Good luck! let my know if you have similar issues.

sounds like somone has a wrong belt ( in size anyway). my alt belt , wheen new and just replaced a few weeks ago left about 1/3 of adjustment left

[GillesBigCowboy]

I also had about 1/3 adjustment room left.

[jrobie79]

I've noticed the gates belts, and some other brands dont really leave any room for adjustment...but if you buy the contitech OEM ones they leave plenty

[Slowpoke]

I've noticed the gates belts, and some other brands dont really leave any room for adjustment...but if you buy the contitech OEM ones they leave plenty

Yeah, they were the right belts, i cross referenced the part numbers and they matched. They where Gates brand, so that makes sense. I also used a pry bar to tighten them a tad more and it stopped the squealing, unless it is below 20 and the engine is cold. I'll use contitech next time, thanks for the tip.

BTW, Cool tip on the hood!

[GillesBigCowboy]

I used the contitech and size was perfect.