M62TU Belt and Alternator Replacement Procedure DIY.
 

Alright, so I plan on changing the belts and alternator on the 4.4 tomorrow. I've seen the DIY's on here and the only current one I can find is a little confusing especially with all of the arrows pointing to various stuff.

So I am going to make one, set up just like the VPG procedure. Hopefully that one isnt 60+ pages long.

In any case, I had a question about the fan removal. Now I had a tool to hold onto the pulley, but mysteriously it is gone. Last time I used it was 2 year ago when I changed the water pump and I think I lent it out to someone and never got it back. Anyways, its been a while and I can't remember how the set up is and I don't have the time to fabricate a new one.

Now for those that have removed the fan without the tool and just using belt static friction, does the pulley stay in place once the 32mm wrench is attached? I mean I know I probably can't "bear" the thing off, so I will need to use a deadblow and hit it loose.

Can anyone confirm this. Also, let's say it does move and you need to wedge something between he 4 10mm bolts, are you holding on to the screw driver, or are you resting it on the floor and letting the leverage of the floor be your friend?

I'm excited to do this!!!

Subscribing for info on the diy as I will be changing belts soon .
I was considering an attempt at leaving the fan in place and sort of weaving the belt over the blades . The ac belt could be a challenge .
I seem to recall reading a post on a forum , perhaps on a 5 or maybe a 7 series M62 with the same fan where this can be done . Or was that some kind of diy fantasy dream ?
Also found the belt length on some site which would be useful to know at this point in time if I could find it again .

OK , I found the belt lengths on real oem .
alt belt 1635mm RealOEM.com * BMW E53 X5 4.4i Belt Drive Water Pump/Alternator

ac belt 1023mm RealOEM.com * BMW E53 X5 4.4i Belt Drive Climate Compressor
Divide to almost half length when the loop is stretched out .
The fan diameter is probably 500mm so looping the belt over the fan should be possible or am I just rambling due to lack of sleep .

The water pump pulley will stay in place. It's held by the belt. When you wedge the screwdriver, do it between the bolts and the shaft. It will stay there. Apply some antiseize to the fan clutch nut and the shaft before you put them back on. That would help the next time you need to remove the fan.

If you can beg, borrow, or steal the applicable open ended wrench for the fan nut, you can position the wrench such that the angle of the wrenchwould rotate the nut in the correct direction based on the vertical off-set. Then just smack the end of the wrench straight down with a hammer. Not like a baseball swing! Like you are punding a stake into the ground ('cept not violently - work up to just enough of a smack to get it done). You can (individual circumstances depending) break the nut loose that way.

+1. That's the way I took mine out a few times.

Fan nut...to remove mine, I used the end of a pickle fork to catch the nut on the right side. A quick blow with a hammer did the trick.
Simply spin the fan to the RIGHT and see if the nut is backing off the shaft.
If not, strike the nut again on the right hand side...spin the fan again to see if that did the trick.
Mine came right off.

When reinstalling...just catch the nut on the shaft and spin the fan to the LEFT.
It's much easier than you guys are making it out to be.

TwinTurbo,

Yeah, the pics are redundant for sure and like you said there's an over use of the arrows.
All in all, the pics did help to identify which parts needed to be removed.

In your write-up...I hope you'll address the torque specs for the alternator and even the "gotcha's" with regards to old hoses and such. I attempted to give a bit more detail but would be nice if there was a fresh thread.

Have fun!

Yeah that fan nut was simple. Actually I didn't even use a hammer to get it off. I placed my 32mm wrench on it, spun it a few times to see how it worked. Then I placed a 3 ft square bar on the wrench and just swiftly pushed to the right, loosened right up.

Started the job at 11am and am putting the hoses back in. SO I should be done by 2. I had to order new belts. I just had them replaced 2 years ago and they are cracked to crap. So I pulled my work order out and confirmed I asked for them to be done with the water pump... Guess what, they weren't done. They are the original belts.

Awesome!

Ha, that's about how long it took me as well. Next time, it would go much faster!
One of the biggest mistakes I made...I didn't release the pressure from the cooling system and removed a hose that ended up soaking me with a blast of coolant/water mixture. That was not a good way to begin!:rofl:

Alright, so all done. Job took me 4 hours... Or really 7 but I had to wait 3 hours for a part. So those 3 hours I spent eating lunch, cuttin the grass and some other errands.

So now I know I am definitely not taking my cars anywhere no matter how pressed for time I am in. Too many crooks out there. Basically long story short, things I asked to be don't and replaced last year weren't done, and yet I still paid. Funny how that worked out.

So now the x has new belts, new camshaft sensor, and alternator.

Starting the write up tonight and hopefully will get approved once I get it posted up.