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Old 09-10-2009, 04:39 AM
dville dville is offline
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Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: West Palm Beach
Posts: 66
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Had to wait a week for delivery as they said they had a rush of orders for this part.





Includes alternator o-ring seal










Took tools and part down to truck to fix it, and had to stop to buy a new Torx 45 bit from the auto parts store. ($5)
I forgot my digital camera at home, so I had to use my cell phone camera.

Opened rear hatch, removed spare tire, removed rear suspension leveling air pump, and and disconnected negative terminal of battery.

NOTE: I closed the read hatch when it started to drizzle.
You cannot open the rear hatch without the battery connected!
I had to open the rear door, lower the rear seat backs, lift up the floor from the front, and reconnect the battery from inside the truck.


Removed air filter intake bellmouth and hose.


Used a large adjustable wrench to remove fan nut (reverse thread, so Clockwise to loosen)
I used a long screwdriver to brace the bolts to stop the flange from spinning




Old alternator, not one or more bolts holding it in is blocked by the tensioner pulley, so I removed it.
You have to use a small screwdriver to pry off the black plastic cover


Here is the T-45 torx bit that I bought


Tensioner pulley removed


Coolant hose to alternator removed, and the coolant draining out.


Applied a little pressure to the casing to slip the alternator out of it's housing, and more coolant will spill out.
About a gallon or slightly more was drained out in the process.


I placed a piece of cardboard in front of the radiator to prevent damaging the fins.
I had to rotate and fight to get the alternator out past the power steering hose that is right in front of it. (the one that is going right down the middle of this picture from the top)


Old and new for comparison:


A look inside the water cooled alternator housing. Here is the coolant outlet hole at the bottom


and the coolant inlet hole at the top


New baby in place. I reused the original battery terminal bolt since it was nicer and had a plastic cover with the BMW logo on it.


Troublesome power steering hose on the right in this photo.


Serpentine belt back in place


Added coolant back to engine, and made sure air bubbles were all gone after thermostat was open.
Unlocked my instrument cluster to read voltage, and it looks good so far.


Cleaned up and drove 50 miles home!

Last edited by dville; 09-10-2009 at 05:12 AM.
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