Idler Pulley Replacement? Aux Belt broken

[jaylazy2020]

I had planned to change both belts and all three pulleys but I was struggling to get a 21mm on the crank hub to turn over the engine in order to get the water pump belt off.

One advice I can offer is that it’s good to test out all your torque wrenches and extensions before you commit to it as I found I needed to try a multitude of 3/8 1/2 and 1/4 drives to get the access and be able to get the hex or torx sitting square as the access is so so tight.

Twice I dropped a hex nut with a small extension but somehow I was able to wiggle my hand down and get it.

So even though I knew just changing the belt tensioner alone was not ideal to fix my belt chirp at idle I decided to do it anyway and bending the lock pin to the profile of the new tensioner really helps. I got the one out and new one in quite quickly.

The majority of the chirping sound comes from alternator area.

So if like to get a long socket bar to be able to access crank hub and then tackle the water pump belt, serpentine belt and two remaining pulleys.

Like some have said try tension on the new tensioner was notably stronger

[jaylazy2020]

Got my complete belt and pulley change done last night

I was nervous about removing the oil lines as I thought oil would go all over the harmonic balancer and I wouldn’t be able clean it and I’d be worse off!

Anyway I watched some mossel man thermostat install videos I decided to go for it.

So glad I did.

All changed and chirping sound is gone! I’m guessing it was the idle pulley as that seems to be the culprit. Although I was worried it was the alternator as the sound appeared to be coming from there.

I was wasting my time trying to get access to the idle pulley with a T50 so once oil lines were removed and the the rubber connection at the bottom allows them to be set to one side.

It was so much easier and I was able to torque everything to spec

Turning over the crank hub to release tension worked exactly as per videos although I got a fright when it popped back when I put tension back on it!

One thing that worked well for me was to put surgical gloves over the ends of oil lines to stop oil spewing out when manoeuvring the lines to the right.

All in all I spend €300 on oem parts and Bmw wanted €3k to do the same job!

So the €2700 saved must be spent on stage 3 turbos now!

[jfritz27]

Originally Posted by jaylazy2020

So the €2700 saved must be spent on stage 3 turbos now!

Nice, that's always a great feeling.
Wouldn't cracking the filter housing and engine fill caps help to vent out the oil from the lines to minimize spillage?

[jaylazy2020]

Originally Posted by jfritz27

Nice, that's always a great feeling.
Wouldn't cracking the filter housing and engine fill caps help to vent out the oil from the lines to minimize spillage?

In the words of The Coach in The Gentleman played superbly Colin Farrell

“NOW YOU FUCKING TELL ME!”

only joking. Prob would have but I don’t have an oil filter housing tool.

Must get one for next oil change.

Cheers.

[jfritz27]

Originally Posted by jaylazy2020

In the words of The Coach in The Gentleman played superbly Colin Farrell

“NOW YOU FUCKING TELL ME!”

only joking. Prob would have but I don’t have an oil filter housing tool.

Must get one for next oil change.

Cheers.

Hahaha..... yeah, if situation permits, timing this job along with an oil change seems ideal

[Driver407]

FCP Euro did a how-to for anyone in the future. Saw that it came out the other day. Figured id share here.
Feel pretty good having done this myself. When a FCP euro video is 50 minutes long. You know it is a serious job. My previous posts on this thread will still be real useful for anyone with a crank bolt capture. Complicates things for this job.

[Detroit1er]

Thanks to all on this post, I was able to correctly identify this issue and was on the cusp of attempting this repair myself.

I decided to reach out to my local Euro shop who quoted/completed the work for $1k(usd) in labor plus parts.

Sharing incase someone is also on the cusp of DIY or paying to have your time spent elsewhere...

[knightarmor]

Just another post to thank everyone who contributed to this thread. I did this with the help of a friend yesterday. I'd say this is probably an easier job than most think for someone who is more experienced working on cars.

As several people mentioned, all of this can be done from above. No need to drain coolant and remove the fan assembly.

And as has already been pointed out a few posts back the oil lines that run from the oil filter housing have to be disconnected to get clearance to the upper idler. Unless you have drained your oil prior expect a good amount of oil to come out. Ended up removing under carriage shield to clean up the mess. Took the opportunity to clean up all of the debris I've picked up in the past year through the center air dam.

Some pics.

[b_w.]

I'm in the same boat with alternator belt spaghetti! Lost power on track...car went into limp mode and died....just across the finish line.

Didn't get home until 1 am after waiting for a tow but suspect the tensioner failed. I have deleted AC so have a shortened belt and luckily have another on hand but looks like some wiring got sucked in with a bit of loom wedged under the water pump pulley.

Quick look at the tensioner and alternator pulleys they still spin freely. No apparent self destruction there. When your belts failed was the tensioner obviously destroyed ? The tensioner was replaced last year so it's pretty new.