alternator bushing

[garyinwestoz]

Ive noticed when tighted the alternator belt, that the alternator has quite a lean to it. So I removed the alternator , and noticed that the bushing is really soft on one side and broken on the other - so they need to be re replaced.



once out looks like this.



one side is okay- the other is mush.



badly heat damaged of some chemical/oil caused this.

replacement part

FCP EURO have 2 part listed -

https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/bmw-al ... escription looks like metal - for $30 - I presume I need 2 of them


or this one all thats needed for $1.30 each - looks like the same plastic.

https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/bmw-al ... 33#fitment

local BMW parts supplier has them at $9 each and I need 3 of them- gees!

[canada karl]

Good to know about that bushing. I was wondering why the Alt on my 76 530i was tilted? That caused a lot of slack in the fan belt. I was using the Alt pulley to set the timing because it's a PITA to get a wrench on the crank pulley. So I had to rotate the the alt pulley with one hand and the other to push down on the belt.....then I didn't have a an extra hand to check for TDC on #1! I'm definetly going to have a look at the condition of that bushing.

[garyinwestoz]

Good to know about that bushing. ...snip.... I'm definetly going to have a look at the condition of that bushing.

the bushing is kinda easy to get out -
undo circlip
get a drift (punch/steel rod/something) and bash the metal bushing through - I rested the other end on a steel tube
if your lucky a plastic/rubber bushing may come out with metal bush. If not, its a bit more difficult- knock lower half with cold chisel or punch
flip over and knock 2nd plastic bush out

bits look all soft and melted like above, or a bit like my other Alternator- hard but slightly worn as per photo below.

[onovakind67]

This is one of the reasons I adapted an AC Delco CS130 into my car. It's mounted metal to metal and doesn't get squishy. It also is grounded by the same metal to metal contact. Plus it puts out 105 amps.

[garyinwestoz]

One of the things which I have difficulty with this alternator, is trying to uninstall/install it.

Ive just compared the length of the drive belt with the parts book (bmwinfo.org/realoem) - which says 12 x 1055

I have Bosch 13 x 1040


]

- gees the belt as installed is 15mm too short - no wonder - thankfully I have a spare 13 x 1055 in the boot of the E28 which I can use.

now to get the belt off - crickey ' its the first belt - power steering and aircon belt have to come of first.

so - anyone got any idea on how to slacken off the air con belt ?
- mine is tight and there appears to be no room for the aircon to move - as its hard against the support bracket! - gees is this belt short as well says conti 13 x 800
parts books says 12 x 800
different width may reduced its stretchable length.



a few hours later...

got the aircon belt off - had to remove the 2 lower mounting bolts and the top adjustment bolt, then push the whole thing forward - which enabled the thing go at an angle and thus enough slack to remove the belt. Install was reverse, however took ages to get the bottom bolts to align with the female part in the aircon unit.
I gotta say - a terrible design in this regard.

[garyinwestoz]

managed to get it one with the 1055 belt - but alternator is on quite a lean - will have to redo with new bushes when they come next week.

[HB528i]

A wider belt makes it shorter as it doesn’t sit as far into the pulley.

[Champie12]

I've always cut my AC belts off cause they're always old and my AC didn't work! But, once I got the AC going again, putting a new belt on that sucker was freaking difficult! Yeah, I agree, poor design. I ended up putting a 12/1981 e24 633csi oil filter, accesory bracket, and 90A alternator on my 76 530i. All i had to do was use the e24 power sterering pump brackets on my PS pump. I like onovakind67's alternator solution though!

[528i-1981]

I haven't tried this to re-seat the AC belt, but once again citing to the ever-resourceful Lock, he said he used a 1=1/2" C-clamp on the AC pulley to hold the AC belt in the groove to start it, and then rotated the engine to thread it into place. My solutions were far less elegant, relying on a pair of shorty screw drivers and working around the perimeter (coupled with ample cussing), and I was afraid all the while of nicking the belt or bending the lip of the pulley groove. I agree with everyone that this design is unnecessarily aggravating.

[Lock]

Yes that AC belt is a real pain. When I want it off (once a year or so), I just cut it, and I buy a couple at a time. It's really not worth the frustration of saving a $7 belt.
The best way I found as Eric mentioned, is get it started and then use a tiny C clamp to hold it on the harmonic balancer, and rotate the engine, it snaps into place. I'm sure the reverse could be true, pulling the belt off and putting a clamp underneath it and rotating. It really seems the AC compressor was tacked on later, as the alternator and power steer are easy.

[garyinwestoz]

Alternator bushings arrived today -from FCP euro - took about a a week from order to delivery - not bad form East coast USA to West Coast Australia.

Here the old ones (top) compared to new ones - I was surprised that they were softish - thought they would be hard plastic.



This alternator had different size housings - which required the small and large bushings - 2 of each @ approx $3.50 each


cleaned alternator housing and installed. Originals had a series of washers, but I couldn't see why they are needed, so left them out and just installed the circlip, as the central metal bushing is what is in contact with support bracket any way. The circlip location was right on the edge of the rubber bushings, so all that the washers would do is compress the rubber ( to get the circlip on).

Here is the bushings installed.





And here is the alternator installed - seems to be quite straight now.

[garyinwestoz]

This is one of the reasons I adapted an AC Delco CS130 into my car. It's mounted metal to metal and doesn't get squishy. It also is grounded by the same metal to metal contact. Plus it puts out 105 amps.

I did some online searching for something like that here - price is around the $230 mark.

[PatinaBeforePolish]

This is one of the reasons I adapted an AC Delco CS130 into my car. It's mounted metal to metal and doesn't get squishy. It also is grounded by the same metal to metal contact. Plus it puts out 105 amps.

I'm interested to hear which application you used. Most come with ribbed pulleys and there are different offsets and mounting widths. Any info is appreciated!

[garyinwestoz]

searched " ac delco cs 130 Australia"

https://www.partsforhotrods.com.au/shop ... nator-130a

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/GM-130amp-C ... 3710655186

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/GM-130amp-C ... 3710655186

https://www.summitracing.com/search/bra ... e/gm-cs130

[PatinaBeforePolish]

Thanks Gary. Assuming you swapped pulleys?