E30 Alternator Squeal
I own an 88 325i e30 Sedan and have been noticing a slight squeal on startup and idle from my engine bay. Any little noise from the engine bay that is not natural bothers me, and I hate having noises that can be heard from outside the car. I had a general infection done by a mechanic a few weeks ago in which he gave me a fairly detail oriented write-up on the things I could do and fix (as I'm sure many mechanics do). Now, he says it could be the alternator or one of the belts. Is this something I would have to replace the entire alternator to do, and is it fairly easy to do? I don't have the greatest experience mechanically, and fairly new to the e30 community as well as only possessing a basic tool-set and no garage. I want to resolve the issue as soon as possible, I just need some guidance on how to go about it.
Also, I have yet to replace the timing belt from when I got it from the PO and have heard that you might as well go in there and replace the water pumps and timing belt if you are going the pulleys or belts form the alternator. I would rather hold off on the timing belt due to financial constraints, and I think I should be good on it for at least another few months. The PO said he recently had it done and the sticker in the engine bay reads until 210,000 (my odometer reads 175,000, but the odometer stopped working supposably a few days before I purchased it in November). I have some faith in thinking that the timing belt is good for a while and willing to take the risk is not spending the money on it just yet. But I would certainly like to fix this annoying squeal. Any information or help is much appreciated!
Also, I have yet to replace the timing belt from when I got it from the PO and have heard that you might as well go in there and replace the water pumps and timing belt if you are going the pulleys or belts form the alternator. I would rather hold off on the timing belt due to financial constraints, and I think I should be good on it for at least another few months. The PO said he recently had it done and the sticker in the engine bay reads until 210,000 (my odometer reads 175,000, but the odometer stopped working supposably a few days before I purchased it in November). I have some faith in thinking that the timing belt is good for a while and willing to take the risk is not spending the money on it just yet. But I would certainly like to fix this annoying squeal. Any information or help is much appreciated!
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