New alternator and belt too long - Page 2

masurati · #11 10-05-2015, 07:02 AM

Its not so hard. I removed the fan shroud. Then removed the belt.
Then removed the secondary pulley mounted on the alternator. Disconnect battery.
After you remove the pulley you will see the bolt mounting the alt. to the
Engine bracket. Take this bolt all the way out and loosen the top bolt also
But dont take top bolt out yet.
Tricky part was actually pulling the alt. out. You have to use top bolt
As a pivot and rotate the alt. counter clockwise. Then Just grab it and pull it
Towards the front. The alt. is very heavy. You may need a second person to hold it while you remove the connectors. You may want remove top radiator hose and you have to move
Power steering hose out of the way which runs right in front of the alt.
I had 4.4 2005 x5 and alternator went bad on that too around 80000k miles.

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jfoj · #12 10-05-2015, 07:06 AM

Might consider replacing the regulator in the current alternator.

Not sure if this includes brushes, but could save you some money and headaches if this in fact the problem with your alternator.

https://www.ecstuning.com/BMW-E70-X5...al/Alternator/

masurati · #13 10-05-2015, 07:10 AM

Jfoj, i know all about the alternator bracket leak. Actually i had
A 05 x5 4.4 and that gasket started to leak after i replaced an alternator
On that too. I may have over torqued alt. bolt and messed with the bracket gasket.
Are you saying that it is possible to remove the bracket and replace
The gasket from the front of the engine while i have alt. removed?
I reachd down there and my hand went out dry. Means no fresh oil in there.
Means no leak yet.

jfoj · #14 10-05-2015, 07:20 AM

You may be correct that after replacing the alternator it can cause the bracket to leak oil. These are a PITA to access. I have not replaced one on the V8, but have replaced many of the I6 Oil Filter Housing Gaskets.

I would not dive into this until you have researched the level of difficulty. I do know for the cars with the oil cooler it is not so bad, but I recall there is either a bolt blocked by the motor mount or the engine needs to be raised up to access something. I do not recall the exact details, might see what the Pelican link above states, but again that link is not for an X5. There may be comments or a DIY on here as well.

Good luck with your alternator repair. It looks like these are very expensive and not the easiest item to access.

Here is what appears to be a new??? Valeo high Amperage unit on Amazon - Amazon.com: Valeo 439602 Alternator: Automotive

Might try this pricing tool and putting the BMW part number in and searching - BMW Part Number Price Comparison for Windows & Mac

masurati · #15 10-05-2015, 07:31 AM

If it starts leaking i will sell it. No way i am doing all that.

jfoj · #16 10-05-2015, 08:19 AM

So now I am a bit worried, I have an UltraGauge I run on my X5 most of the time and 2 times in the past few weeks I have started the engine and had an alarm for low Voltage. Looking at the UltraGauge it appeared that there was NO charging what so ever.

Voltage was reading in the 11 Volt range. Once I drove only a few car lengths, shut engine off and restarted it and everything appeared fine.

This morning, I was only going a short distance, so I decided to continue to drive and see if the the alternator started to charge, but nothing. Arrived at my destination, shut engine off and restarted and had proper charging.

No lights or warnings what so ever from the dash or iDrive.

So the question is to both of you, what was the indication and what where the symptoms that let you to flag the alternator?

How may miles on each vehicle when the problem showed up?

I am now worried that I am in a situation where the alternator or the IBS is starting to act up. I will probably scan the car for errors with a number of my tools to see if I can pick up any clues.

euge · #17 10-05-2015, 09:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jfoj

So now I am a bit worried, I have an UltraGauge I run on my X5 most of the time and 2 times in the past few weeks I have started the engine and had an alarm for low Voltage. Looking at the UltraGauge it appeared that there was NO charging what so ever.

Voltage was reading in the 11 Volt range. Once I drove only a few car lengths, shut engine off and restarted it and everything appeared fine.

This morning, I was only going a short distance, so I decided to continue to drive and see if the the alternator started to charge, but nothing. Arrived at my destination, shut engine off and restarted and had proper charging.

No lights or warnings what so ever from the dash or iDrive.

So the question is to both of you, what was the indication and what where the symptoms that let you to flag the alternator?

How may miles on each vehicle when the problem showed up?

I am now worried that I am in a situation where the alternator or the IBS is starting to act up. I will probably scan the car for errors with a number of my tools to see if I can pick up any clues.

My problems started at 107k, AWD/DSC/ABS malfunction, transmission malfunction, dynamic drive inactive errors.. 10 seconds later everything goes off completely

masurati · #18 10-05-2015, 01:11 PM

mine went out at 80K. Red battery showed on the dash.
I have a 10 dollar voltmeter that I plug in the cigarette lighter plug.
when normal: Before I start the car it shows 12 volts, which is battery voltage.
then I start it and voltage slowly rises to 14 volts, meaning that alternator kicked in.
If you start the car and voltage does not show 14 volts it means your alternator is not working.

Those BMW alternators are weird. They sometimes have voltage and sometimes they go out. So you have to monitor them by changing your engine rev speed. My alternator would sometimes kick in and work ok, but then it would cut out. That's usually a sign of a voltage regulator going bad. on my older X5 alternator would start working after 10 minutes of driving. showing, 4x4, abs and all kinds of lights.

wsmeyer · #19 10-05-2015, 01:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jfoj

So now I am a bit worried, I have an UltraGauge I run on my X5 most of the time and 2 times in the past few weeks I have started the engine and had an alarm for low Voltage. Looking at the UltraGauge it appeared that there was NO charging what so ever.

Voltage was reading in the 11 Volt range. Once I drove only a few car lengths, shut engine off and restarted it and everything appeared fine.

This morning, I was only going a short distance, so I decided to continue to drive and see if the the alternator started to charge, but nothing. Arrived at my destination, shut engine off and restarted and had proper charging.

No lights or warnings what so ever from the dash or iDrive.

So the question is to both of you, what was the indication and what where the symptoms that let you to flag the alternator?

How may miles on each vehicle when the problem showed up?

I am now worried that I am in a situation where the alternator or the IBS is starting to act up. I will probably scan the car for errors with a number of my tools to see if I can pick up any clues.

I've been logging mine for more than a month and this is the same behavior I see. We were discussing this in my electrical woes thread and I never did determine if this is normal or not.

euge · #20 10-06-2015, 06:44 AM

my problems slowly happened. first time it happened i didnt think much of it, just an old battery since my car was on the original battery from 2008. swapped it out, was good for a few weeks. then 4x4/dsc/abs/dynamic drive errors would show up 1 out of every 3 trips. then it kept happening more and more often till the battery would no longer charge and lights/errors came on almost immediately after an external battery charge.

I want to pull the alternator out myself and rebuild it, but it's in such a hard to reach area compared to other vehicles lol. I am 90% positive it's worn brushes. I have a 220 amp 4 zone alternator, VALEO

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