Page 2 of 2 FirstFirst 12
Results 26 to 37 of 37

Thread: m62tu belt replace, reinstall, or retighten

  1. #26
    Join Date
    Oct 2005
    Location
    Ft. Lauderdale
    Posts
    977
    My Cars
    03 540i
    I need to do this soon and wanted to clear some stuff up.

    I have a worn AC belt , and a new looking main belt. I might as well replace both right because I will remove both to replace one?

    is common to replace rollers/tensioners when replacing belts? if so, which ones exactly? I don't have any belt squealing/squeaks...

    This job cannot be done without removing the fan clutch and blades?... so it is the perfect time for a new fan clutch? ( And I will need a fan tool too ? )


    thanks

  2. #27
    Join Date
    Oct 2010
    Location
    MA
    Posts
    477
    My Cars
    01 540iT
    Quote Originally Posted by bigjoe87865 View Post
    I need to do this soon and wanted to clear some stuff up.

    I have a worn AC belt , and a new looking main belt. I might as well replace both right because I will remove both to replace one?

    is common to replace rollers/tensioners when replacing belts? if so, which ones exactly? I don't have any belt squealing/squeaks...

    This job cannot be done without removing the fan clutch and blades?... so it is the perfect time for a new fan clutch? ( And I will need a fan tool too ? )


    thanks
    1. Yes, you need to remove the main belt in order to remove the AC belt.

    2. I have not come across any writing that recommends or says it is necessary to replace rollers and tensioners every time you change belts (~60K miles). I changed my tensioners when I did my cooling system overhaul at 100K. I probably would change them the next time around which will be about 190K miles. I go by Mike Miller's Old School Maintenance Schedule recommendations.

    3. People have changed the belts with the fan clutch/fan in place. I removed it because it was easy to do and gave me more room to access the main belt tensioner.

    Fan clutch/fan is easy enough to remove that you can change it when needed without having to think that you should change it now since you have it off. The tool is about 35 bucks on ebay but you can try using the 32mm open end wrench and a small sledge hammer method if those are already available. Mine came off after a few sharp blows.

    Good Luck. Don't over torque the tensioner bolts particularly the little one, mine snapped off.
    Last edited by yersole; 12-28-2012 at 10:40 PM.

  3. #28
    Join Date
    Jun 2006
    Location
    nyc
    Posts
    896
    My Cars
    BMW 6spd 550i w Sport Pk
    I use a wrench and a long flat head...works every time. Btw, Ive changed the belts with the fan still on in the past.

  4. #29
    Join Date
    Apr 2015
    Location
    Murfreesboro, TN
    Posts
    61
    My Cars
    1997 BMW 540i/6
    I got my belts changed this weekend. Thx for posting this. Made it a lot easier than going in blind. I didn't have to use the fan clutch tool either on mine.

  5. #30
    Join Date
    Jul 2007
    Location
    Santa Cruz Mountains
    Posts
    7,212
    My Cars
    '03 M-Sport 540iA
    Just browsing because I'm getting ready to replace the tensioners and pulleys. I thought this might make a nice addition to the OP's hand sketch of the belt routing for the M62TU. This is from the Bentley:

    '00 540iA Sport w/235k+ Original TCG's, Vanos and transmission.​*Trans failure at 244k+...FS Now

  6. #31
    JimLev's Avatar
    JimLev is offline Artifically Aspirated Moderator
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Location
    Sundance Mesa, NM
    Posts
    19,817
    My Cars
    00 540/6, '16 Highlander
    On the tu engines Bentley doesn't show the idler pulley that is between the water cooled alternator and the PS pump.
    It's shown in the pic in the first post that Topaz posted.
    Last edited by JimLev; 09-05-2016 at 09:53 AM.

  7. #32
    Join Date
    Oct 2015
    Location
    Orange, CA
    Posts
    61
    My Cars
    2001 BMW 540i
    Mine is a 2001, and I believe it should have a TU engine, but it doesn't have that idler pulley between the alternator and PS pump. Are TU engines supposed to have it or no?

  8. #33
    Join Date
    Jan 2014
    Location
    Buenos Aires, Argentina
    Posts
    4,542
    My Cars
    '97 523i5 - 99' 540iA
    Sorry to revive an old thread. My TU has no pulley between the water cooled alternator and the PS pump. It's missing?
    Diehard E39 driver.
    I'd rather die or take a walk before driving an E60 or any BMW made after Y2K.
    ​"Your momma's so ugly she makes Bangle cars look nice"

  9. #34
    Join Date
    Feb 2011
    Location
    Fairfield, Connecticut
    Posts
    1,339
    My Cars
    '98 540i '01 540i 13 E70
    Great write up--will this apply to an M62 as well? Any difference?
    Serpentine belt went last night--got to replace now!

    Thanks!

    Quote Originally Posted by topaz540i View Post
    all of the pictures are of my m62tu. your car may be slightly different.

    the belt tensioning systems on these cars are very easy to use and set if only you know how to operate them correctly.

    1. the first thing we do is draw out the path of the belt and the location of all the pulleys so that we know if we put it back together correctly or not.

    this is the main belt with the correct routing:


    here is my map that i drew:


    here is the a/c belt correctly routed:




    2. the next step is to loosen the belts. you need to locate the tensioner and the bolts that hold it on.
    this is the a/c tensioner


    this is the main belt tensioner:




    to loosen the tensioning device you need to loosen two bolts the first is the bolt in the slotted area. on the main belt tensioner it will be a 13mm and on the a/c bet tensioner it will be 10mm.

    the second bolt that needs to be loosened is the pivot bolt. the pivot bolt will be a 13mm on either tensioner. the bolt head is the smaller bolt resting on a larger nut that is part of the tensioner itself.








    now that the tensioners are loose the belt will just slide right off.

    3. before reinstalling the belt wipe all the pulley contact surfaces to make sure they are free of grease from your hands. you should also go inside and degrime your hands before touching the belt. how mad would you be if the belt slipped or squeeled because you got it contaminated with oil?

    refer to you drawing and replace the belt.

    tip: the smooth pulleys only ever touch the flat side of the belt and the grooved pulleys only ever touch the grooved side. if you have grooves touching flat anywhere you did the routing wrong.

    once the belt is on try wiggley the pulleys a little bit to make sure the belt is seated in the grooves and not crossthreaded anywhere.

    tip: the a/c goes to the back so make sure you put that one on first.

    4. to tension the belt correctly your will need to torque the tensioner around until the bolt in the slot is maxed and cant go anyfurther because there is no slot left.

    i will start with the a/c pulley. this one is a little tricky because is has a second pivot point and tends to flip inside out when you are trying to get positioned.

    what you will do is put a 17mm socket on the large pivoting nut and turn the entire tensioner by turning the socket until the 10mm is maxed out in the slot. while holding tight use a 10mm box wrench in your other hand to tightened the bolt in the slot. make sure it is tight enough that when you let go of the ratchet the slot doesnt slide then tighten the 13mm pivot bolt where your 17mm was a moment ago.




    on the main belt things are pretty much the same except that its upside down and doesnt have the second pivot popping out on you.

    note that in this pic of the main belt tensioner i provided leverage with the 17 wrench and not the ratchet.

    i used the 13mm ratchet to tighten the bolt in the slot. on this tensioner there is very little slot so you dont need to turn the unit that far until the slot is maxed out and properly tensioned.

    at this point you are finished. check the belts one more time so see if anything looks twisted or out of place.

    check both tensioners to see if there are any other loose bolts or nuts that could be tightened to help keep the tensioner from working the slot loose.

    on mine i had to also tighten these although i dont remember loosening them. they will help keep the pivot locked in place so it doesnt loosen:






  10. #35
    Join Date
    Nov 2017
    Location
    Michigan
    Posts
    3
    My Cars
    02 540i
    Fail :-/ could of used this....

  11. #36
    Join Date
    May 2005
    Location
    Durham, NC
    Posts
    307
    My Cars
    '03 540i/6, '87 325iS
    Any hope of getting the broken/missing photos from the first post restored to this thread?

  12. #37
    Join Date
    Jun 2010
    Location
    Bay Area, California
    Posts
    1,305
    My Cars
    325iT, 540iT
    Quote Originally Posted by sharkd View Post
    Any hope of getting the broken/missing photos from the first post restored to this thread?
    The drawing from the Bentley diagram shows the same information, both that and topaz's post are for an M62TU. If you need a picture, here's what mine looks like:

    IMG_8717.jpg

Page 2 of 2 FirstFirst 12

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •