1988 325IS alternator belt problems

#1

I need help , I keep breaking alternator belts! I ordered the Contitech belts from Pelican Parts and that failed after about 500 miles. Previous to that I locally picked up an Auto Zone belt and that failed with about 500 miles on it. Prior to that, I had another generic brand alt belt that failed too but not sure of the brand.

On the alt tensionor bracket, when I tighten the bracket, I’m at the end of the adjustor, and I feel the alt belt is loose each time I’ve had to put a new belt on. I’m using the correct alternator, the pulley’s look straight (no wobbles). I took off the alt bracket and it appears from my reference photos all over the net that it’s installed properly and looks fairly straightforward. Early on, I may have over tightened a belt and that could have stretched it but I’m not certain. Logic to me suggests that the belts I’ve been installing are too big and wide.

IMHO the Contitech belt that you Pelican sells, seems too wide and does not fit snug into the v-grove of the pulley and I think one installed over time, it wears down the sides making the belt weak then breaking, they have been great to work with BTW (www.pelicanparts.com)

Coincidently, I took off the power steering belt, and it fits nice in the alt pulley v-groove and seems short (length wise) than the alternator belt and I ordered that from Pelican last night. I am going to try the power steering belt as an alternator belt.

My father suggested, that I get some washers and add them to the alternator pulley when attached to the engine. He seems to think that by giving just a little more gap between the side of the engine and the alt bracket may be enough to help me tighten the alt belt. Should there be washers between the engine block and the alt bracket? When I took off the alt bracket the other day, there were no washers between the engine block and the alt bracket.

Why do you guys think I am breaking belts. This is the third time I’ve had this problem since last fall for a car that’s only driven on weekends.

This could be a simple problem, but I am stumped. I read online that the alternator could be putting too much load on the belt. How do I diagnose that? Should I just replace the alternator instead?

Thanks in advance for any help or insight this community can provide. I am fairly new to the e30 community and have even less exp working on these cars.

#2

I think you should have it as loose as possible until it starts squealing. There are no washers normally between the alt bracket and the block. Everytime I mess with the alternator belt tension my water pump bearings fail so I’m keeping it on the loose side now.

#3

Mine squeeks. :frowning:

#4

This should be figure-outable. Either the belt was bad, fit poorly, one of the pulleys is off axis, or one of the pullies is too hard to turn. It’s a pretty simple mechanical system…don’t jury rig a solution, figure out what the problem is.

Maybe someone put on a small pulley. Maybe someone goofed and the belt is too long.

I don’t now what the school solution is for how tight the belt should be, but I judge it by pushing the belt down in the middle between too pulleys and it shoves down an inch, maybe a little less.

#5

Mine does too. I tighten it and it doesn’t squeak for a couple starts then it squeaks again on startup. Stops once it is warm though.