Greetings! I have a few questions: my serpentine belt came off, and it is possible for the belt to be so mangled around the crankshaft or any other object that it would take many hours to remove it? Asked differently, is possible for the belt to be so wedged around the crankshaft that you would have to take the crankshaft out to remove the belt? is there enough room for it to be so wedged that I would need to remove the crankshaft? Is that even possible? If it's wedged around the crankshaft, can I unwedge it by turning the crankshaft the opposite way while pulling on the belt? In any event, in the worse case scenario, how long should it take to remove the belt, know matter what? In my opinion, and after looking at the N52 Engine design, it shouldn't be a major problem getting the belt off. If anyone can afford me some input, I'll appreciate it! And, does any one know of any reliable Master Technicians in Manhattan (or New York City) that has their own shop? Thanks for everything! BMWKAT
I don't have much familiarity with N52's, but - in one sense, I suppose anything's possible. I don't know if the belt is only rubber, or steel-reinforced, or reinforced by some material, but seems plausible to me that it would be reinforced, and if so, if it got tied up around the mechanicals on the front of the engine, that it's likely plausible that any fiber, metal, or whatever reinforcements could make it very difficult to extract. I don't know that crankshaft removal would get you anyplace, if it's wound up tightly - sounds to me like pulling and mechanical force alone isn't getting you there, you may have to resort to cutting, which might take something like careful use of a dremel tool or something like that - tricky, you run the risk of hurting yourself, and the last thing you'd want to do is cut or damage your crankshaft, or anything else for that matter. If the belt is not reinforced, or only fiber-reinforced, maybe an x-acto knife, though tedious, might be effective - obviously that won't cut steel. I would think that it's possible to cut the belt off, even if it has to be done a bit at a time. A lot of light on the area in question would help to see what you're getting at, and no big or sudden moves with a cutting tool like a dremel. Not knowing, I'd err on the side of caution and not risk reverse-turning the engine. If there's a Bentley manual for your car, that might be helpful, not sure if it would be of major help, but it likely would explain the serpentine belt replacement procedure so you'd know how it's supposed to go. If your local chapter has a websight, you might check or pose your question there for shop recommendations, or chapter contacts to ask. Also, check http://www.bimrs.org/2008MapPage.html
No one will be taking the crankshaft out to remove the belt. Maybe, and that's a big maybe, they'd have to remove the crankshaft pulley if it really got wound around and made a real mess. Sounds like your idler pulleys took a dump, fell off, etc., and you're left with the aftermath. They must have made a hell of a racket before they departed. Is the guy giving you the quote the same guy who maintained your car to this point? And whether or not the quote is bogus depends on what the quote was, since you didn't really say, and whether or not you heard or interpreted it correctly. Certainly any price our hours of labor quoted should include replacing the idler pulley.
Thanks for the replies MGarrison and BMWCCA1! Yeah, a crooked Service Advisor in NJ told me that this is a "Big job" to take the belt off because "it's sucked into the engine and oil pan, and I would need to take the front of the engine off and the crankshaft off just to get the belt off". He said it's a three day job, quoted $3,700 just to get the belt off. Although I'm not a Master Technician, I knew instantly he was trying to stiff me bad for labor hours. With my common sense, I asked other BMW owners, and emailed some Master Technicians, and they all told me that they could take the belt off with no problem. One Master Technician told me that in the worst case scenario he would have to take the damper off real quick. Therefore, I'm going to see the Master Technician Saturday, and he said he'll take the belt off in a NY minute. Maybe I'll have to replace the idler pulley and tensioner, but this never sounded like a big job like the SA claimed... AND the idler pulleys didn't fall off; the SA said everything else was fine...and this is the dealership I usually go to, but my SA is on comp, so i had to deal with this other underhanded chap... thanks for the replies again! BMWKAT
If you are replacing that belt tensioner, don't forget to replace it with a new aluminum bolt. They are supposed to be torqued once.
