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Tools for a pulley and belt job

8K views 64 replies 15 participants last post by  E462005 
#1 ·
I've looked at several posts for the pulley and belt job. I know I'm going to need either a hex or torx tool. Not exactly sure. But if anyone wants to give me a list. Also I found this. I know that's just for the belt replacement.
 

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#2 ·
You likely have two mechanical tensioners. If so you'll need a plain jane 15 or 16mm socket (forgot which) or a 5/8" works fine as well. Thats to release the belts. You may need a torx bit to remove the actual pulley from the tensioner. Either case, make sure you have a full socket set, torx set, and allen head set. you'll need all of them anyway to work on these cars. GL!!
 
#3 · (Edited)
If the pulleys are bad will I be able to tell just by looking at the belt while its spinning? Because the noise only happens in the morning. 4-5am then after I get off work 330pm. It's noisy for a few minutes then it stops. I looked at the belt while the car was on and it looked like it was running fine .
 
#18 ·
Let me add more stress to your life. Since you biggest issue is taking the fan off, you might as well change to WP and thermo. I have an 05 as well and just hit 90,000. My idler pulley was making noise for months till it finally exploded one morning. The WP and Temp usually go around 80,000 miles any ways, so if your up there in miles, change them!!! Good time to replace lower rad hose, which is a bitch to take off, I hear.
 
#34 ·
Welcome to the world of owning a used E46. If you don't know the service history when purchased, plan on spending up to $2,000 the first year of ownership just to take care of the critical maintenance items so you can drive worry free. Once you get past that, your maintenance costs will fall off dramatically.
 
#23 · (Edited)
I ordered this off Amazon yesterday:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004NUZ50I/ref=oh_details_o01_s00_i00

I figure $30 isn't much to do the job right. I'll at least get 2-3 uses out of it anyway.

The procedure is fairly basic. The only thing that concerns most first time DIY-ers is the tightness of the WP nut and the lack of space to work within (initially...)


That's a ton of room to work with compared with some other projects. The steering guibo comes to mind as my most cramped project so far. It's only rivaled by the driver side control arm inner ball joint nut.
 
#25 ·
That was another shitty one. You can't really get a good position to hold yourself up so you just end up getting a back cramp. Also there is the lower intake boot hose clamps that are impossible to get to. I failed to reach mine when I tried to remove it. I think I'm gonna buy new clamps and cut the old ones off. The current position is ridiculous.
 
#44 ·
Just a note regarding the Torx bit to get the tensioner loose: Some of those bolts use either a Torx bit or an Allen bit, depends on the car. I think newer cars and all replacement bolts have the Allen (8mm I think?). When I replaced the tensioner bolt recently the replacement (from BMW) was an Allen.
 
#47 ·
...the lateral load from the tension of the belt on the pulley is in all likelihood greater than what miniscule force is applied tapping the fan off. Have you ever done one with a hammer? It's easy, and much better than risking a bent a screwdriver (which generally requires a lot more force). I have done both, and will never try to "pry" one off again.
 
#51 ·
Physics says otherwise. The screwdriver method won't send a shock down to the WP shaft. The force applied will be smaller for a longer duration. The hammer method will apply a surprisingly large force for a very short time. If you want to do it that way, you'll probably be fine, but I just don't like wacking things unless I know they're sturdy (control arms). To me it's not worth the risk of either damaging the WP or screwing up and causing collateral damage to other parts I don't have lying around.
 
#50 · (Edited)
Looks correct.

So is their like a visual picture or video of this?
If you're just replacing the belt...
Really no need for a pic/vid. Just loosen the tensioner and slip the serpentine belt off, let it dangle from the waterpump and follow his simple step below >
you do not have to remove the fan to do the belts. put the belt down between 2 of the fan blades, hold the belt with one hand and spin the fan with the other. after you make it all the way around once it will be off. repeat in reverse order to put it on.
 
#57 ·
Alright belts have been changed. Belts were bad. The only pulley I changed was the idler pulley. My power steering was leaking from the top and apparently fell into the idler pulley and ruined it. That's what it looked like to me. But the rest of pulleys and tensioners were good. And the fan did NOT have to be moved out the way! Did it from working on top and from the bottom! Easy job tho!

Btw that's the smaller belt. The bigger was cracked really bad.
 

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