So I bought a Continental belt from ECS and swapped out the old one, only to find that it was 2-3cm too big. So I decided to deal with it for a month and then today I decided I had had enough. So I went to Canadian tire to buy one and surprisingly they had 1 Certified brand belt in stock. Get home only to find out it fits the same as the Continental. The Continental is 10 x 965mm and the Certified is an 11 x 965mm. Any ideas as to why this could be? Also "yes" I have it around both the fan, alt, and crank pulley. I'm at the point that I'm considering extending the tensioner bracket a few cm. As a side note the car is a 85' 325e running with Motronic 1.3 w/ 87' hardware. ie alt, tensioner (it was less rusty) and crank pulley. From what I see on RealOEM and other sites it makes no difference. Any help would be appreciated.
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Last edited by blood_sweat_&_gears; 11-20-2015, 08:18 PM. -
Just go back and get a slightly shorter belt. Or did I miss something?Originally posted by blood_sweat_&_gears View PostSo I bought a Continental belt from ECS and swapped out the old one, only to find that it was 2-3cm too big. So I decided to deal with it for a month and then today I decided I had had enough. So I went to Canadian tire to buy one and surprisingly they had 1 Certified brand belt in stock. Get home only to find out it fits the same as the Continental. The Continental is 10 x 965mm and the Certified is an 11 x 965mm. Any ideas as to why this could be? Also "yes" I have it around both the fan, alt, and crank pulley. I'm at the point that I'm considering extending the tensioner bracket a few cm. As a side note the car is a 85' 325e running with Motronic 1.3 w/ 87' hardware. ie alt, tensioner (it was less rusty) and crank pulley. From what I see on RealOEM and other sites it makes no difference. Any help would be appreciated.
http://i.imgur.com/DEsElAF.jpgOriginally posted by Andy.B -
The next smallest one they had was 10mm smaller and I tried that too but it wouldn't fit over the fan pulley. So how the 965 is 2cm out I don't have a clue. Tried NAPA and they don't stock them anymore. I think I'm just going to fab up a new bracket to make better use of the tensioner teeth. It seems that every picture I find the tensioner it maxed out.Originally posted by Ether-D View PostComment
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New Alt + Fan Belt loose
When you tried the 10mm smaller did you loosen the alternator gear bolt thing? You are supposed to loosen it then fit the belt then tighten it. Mine was messed up so I undid one of the pulleys and slipped the belt over the pulley then got the pulley to line up and it was perfect.BMW tech
Umass Amherst
05 wrx stiComment
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When I put mine on it was super super tight.. pretty sure it was also a 965. It's possible you need to add more tension using the alt tooth gear setup
it's a Kenny Powers quote on wheelsComment
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Maybe your alternator pulley is undersized.Comment
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I thought so too but the 325i uses the same size belt. Anyways I filled in the bolt hole with the welder and drilled out another hole 1/2 cm over. It was just enough to stop it from squealing. The lack of metal on the one side of the bolt concerned me so I tacked on a washer as well. Problem solved.Originally posted by AndrewBird View PostComment
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