Ok, so I need to remove my alternator but I cant find a way to get the belt tensioner pulley to stay in the loose position. This this is a real bitch to loosen, I needed a breaker bar just to get it to move, but it won't stay in one position. Is there any place that you can lock it at or something like that? It just doesn't make sense that they would expect you to try and hold that yourself. Bentley manual doesn't say anything helpful. :-(
How do I get the belt tensioner pulley to stay retracted?!?!
- Thread starter Pink_Floyd
- Start date
You're both right.... I needed to take off the serpentine belt and I was able to get it off but the tensioner is in the way of the alternator mounting bolt. The pulley is a spring loaded type and I used an 8mm hex bit on a ratchet to loosen it. I don't understand how there can not be any way to hold it in the loosened or retracted position though. The thing is really hard to move and it gets in the way of removing the alternator. :-(
I have not worked on a BMW belt tensioner (yet). On Volvos, there is a hole in the block behind the tensioner. When your move the tensioner to the loose position with a wrench, you stick a drift pin, screwdriver, whatever thru the tension pulley bracket arm into the hole. This holds in in place while you replace the belt. Try looking for a similar setup.
if you're just trying to hold the tensioner in the loose position, there's a small hex molded onto the tensioner housing that you can put the ratchet onto and turn (clockwise i believe). you can hold it there as long as needed. of course, if you're changing the alt, the tensioner has to come out or at least the bolt for it has to come out.
Ok, so I was wrong about the belt tensioner having to be retracted to remove the alternator. The bolt that I was trying to get at was not the alternator bolt. Once I found the correct bolt I was able to take it right out with no problem. I do still think, however, that it would be nice to have a locking mechanism. It was easy to remove/install the belt with the help of another person, but I could see it getting frustrating if I were to try and do it myself.