AA C38 stg1 belt too short

[whopwood]

Day 1 of the install went relatively smoothly until it was time to put the serpentine belt on. Dang thing is just a little too short to clear all the pulleys.

I have verified the belt number, SC pulley diameter, belt routing, and everything else I could think of in 2+ hours of messing with the biotch.

I tried using several pulleys as the last one to go around. The closest I could get was using the tensioner pulley last. I even tried unbolting the water pump pulley and pulling it on with the belt on already. Also tried walking it around by tuning the crank but that just caused belt damage. :(

If I had another 10mm of belt it would go on...


Any words of advise?



Cheers,
Will

[whopwood]

The AA kit includes an 060895 (2290mm) and I see there is an 060900 (2305mm) that would go on but might be too long.

Has anyone had to run another length than the 060895?

[JClark]

Mine was real close. Had to max out the tensioner to get it to slip over the SC pulley.

[camshaft]

Haha whopwood I ran into the same issue on my stg2 install. I could have sworn the belt was too short. In my case there was no way the belt would have gone on without two people, and at least one of them being very strong (my helping friend was the strong one, not myself). Here's what we ended up doing. Of the two aluminum pulleys on the SC bracket, unbolt the top one. Then put the belt on and once it's on hold the belt down where the aluminum pulley's supposed to be to keep the tension. Then look at how close the belt comes to the hole in the bracket where that alu pulley goes. Slide the belt around the engine through the pulleys until you reach a point where the belt comes closest to the hole. Since the belt still has some bends in it after you unwrap it, as you slide it around the belt will seem to move closer or farther away from the hole since you're moving those bends around to different places. Then You'll need either a long ratchet handle of breaker bar so you can twist the tensioner pulley past the point where the two holes line up for you to slide something in to lock it. If you just put something in the holes to hold it it won't be pre-loaded enough. Then one person holds the wrench to fully pre-load the tensioner, while the stronger person takes the alu pulley (ready to go with spacer on back - facing the right direction of course - and bolt in the center) and presses the pulley down onto the belt far enough to reach the hole on the bracket, at which point you screw it into the hole. In my case my friend looked like he was about to die right when he finally got the pulley bolt into the hole.

[iammarkhong]

Yeah i needed two strong people also. I know it's frustrating, being almost at the end. Have someone help you, pull the tensioner hard with the longest handled wrench amd wrap the belt around. I used the SC pulley to be my last, since it was the one on top, easiest to get to, used a flat headed screw driver to stretch the belt over. Scratched the pulley a little, but buffed it out later. It will fit, trust me. 280 RWHP here you come!!!!

[whopwood]

In my case my friend looked like he was about to die right when he finally got the pulley bolt into the hole.


Free case of beer to anyone that will stop by and be my "Bubba"!

[whopwood]

OK, tried the "upper idler install last" technique and this is as close as I can get.

Sorry about the blur, but you can see the idler bolt is at least one bolt width from the hole and the belt is tight and the tensioner is at max collapse. You can see light coming through from the back of the hole the bolt is supposed to go in.

This technique eliminates any possibility that pulley sequence is the issue as it allows me to put full tension on the belt without any angles being introduced.

I don't see this belt fitting. Even Bubba could do little more than overtension the bearings.:(
http://beergeeks.net/M3/Rotrex_C38/short_belt1.JPG

[camshaft]

OK, tried the "upper idler install last" technique and this is as close as I can get.

Sorry about the blur, but you can see the idler bolt is at least one bolt width from the hole and the belt is tight and the tensioner is at max collapse. You can see light coming through from the back of the hole the bolt is supposed to go in.

This technique eliminates any possibility that pulley sequence is the issue as it allows me to put full tension on the belt without any angles being introduced.

I don't see this belt fitting. Even Bubba could do little more than overtension the bearings.:(
http://beergeeks.net/M3/Rotrex_C38/short_belt1.JPG

Believe it or not you're actually a little closer to the hole than I was able to get on my own. That's why I said my friend looked like he was about to die. Once you get that close take a picture of yourself instead of the pulley and I'll tell you whether you're pushing hard enough :D Seriously, that leftover space you see is what you need the really strong guy for. If you can grab a camera and take a picture while doing it then you're not pushing down hard enough.

Austin

[whopwood]

Problem solved!

The correct belt (060900) makes all the difference :D It put up a small struggle but it finally complied and slipped over the tensioner pulley. For those that may be worried about it being too long; I rotated the crank until the belt made a complete circuit and the tensioner lock pin holes are still in alignment.

Now it's time for the new injectors to go in!


Cheers,
Will

[jszy25]

It will fit, trust me. 280 RWHP here you come!!!!
If you are only making 280, something is wrong.


Problem solved!

The correct belt (060900) makes all the difference


I guess I had the correct belt with my kit, because I don't remember having much of a problem getting the belt on at all. Im surprised to see that some of you guys had this much of a problem getting the belt on.

[marc1119]

Problem solved!

The correct belt (060900) makes all the difference :D It put up a small struggle but it finally complied and slipped over the tensioner pulley. For those that may be worried about it being too long; I rotated the crank until the belt made a complete circuit and the tensioner lock pin holes are still in alignment.

Now it's time for the new injectors to go in!


Cheers,
Will

I am glad you worked that out..Will....:)

[camshaft]

Problem solved!

The correct belt (060900) makes all the difference :D It put up a small struggle but it finally complied and slipped over the tensioner pulley. For those that may be worried about it being too long; I rotated the crank until the belt made a complete circuit and the tensioner lock pin holes are still in alignment.

Now it's time for the new injectors to go in!


Cheers,
Will

Which one actually goes with the kit though? I can't help wondering whether AA should have given a tad longer belt in my stg 2. Even after over 200 miles the tensioner pin holes are still almost aligned.

[whopwood]

Which one actually goes with the kit though? I can't help wondering whether AA should have given a tad longer belt in my stg 2. Even after over 200 miles the tensioner pin holes are still almost aligned.

What belt did they include and how big is the pulley? Not that I could translate a stg 2 pulley diameter into a new belt length, just curious.

I am so much happier with the 060900. Belt tension is now controlled by the tensioner spring and not some guy with big arms who is willing to sacrifice his life to stretch one on ;)

Cheers,
Will

[HeißeScheiße2]

I felt your pain. I had underdrive pulleys on mine so i didn't use the belt that came with the kit. I actually got a belt from Napa. It was a gates proV and it was tight as a drum. I had to have two people help me. One for the crank, one for the belt and me working the tensioner. If you want to run underdrive's let me know and i'll get you that part#.

happy boosting!

[camshaft]

What belt did they include and how big is the pulley? Not that I could translate a stg 2 pulley diameter into a new belt length, just curious.

I am so much happier with the 060900. Belt tension is now controlled by the tensioner spring and not some guy with big arms who is willing to sacrifice his life to stretch one on ;)

Cheers,
Will

I meant for your stg 1. I was trying to figure out whether you were saying you ended up using a belt slightly longer than the one the kit is supposed to use, or whether you were sent the wrong belt to begin with. Btw, once I started driving the tensioner pulley did take up slack. It's not twisted all the way to the locked position.

As for the stg2 I don't remember the pulley size. I can check tomorrow when I go into the garage.

Austin

[whopwood]

Glad to hear your tensioner is handling the bearing load :)

The belt they sent me was an 060895 (89.5 inch). The installation instructions refers to the belt as both a 6PKx2289mm belt and a 060895 part number. Maybe my math skills are shot, but 2289mm does not equal 89.5 inches. It's actually 90.11 inches. So even the 060900 is a tenth of an inch shorter than what the instructions call for.

I'm surprised that only 2 of us had a struggle to put on a belt that was 6/10ths of an inch shorter than the one called for.

[paul e]

Glad to hear your tensioner is handling the bearing load :)

The belt they sent me was an 060895 (89.5 inch). The installation instructions refers to the belt as both a 6PKx2289mm belt and a 060895 part number. Maybe my math skills are shot, but 2289mm does not equal 89.5 inches. It's actually 90.11 inches. So even the 060900 is a tenth of an inch shorter than what the instructions call for.

I'm surprised that only 2 of us had a struggle to put on a belt that was 6/10ths of an inch shorter than the one called for.

The naming convention on some of those belts can be a little strange.. Sometimes the inside length is used; sometimes not, depending on mfg.

['96 E36 M3]

The 060895 was too short and so we sourced a 060900 that fit just fine. My recommendation to those installing their own AA kit is to pick up a 060900 to have at the ready in case the 060895 doesn't fit.