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08 RT Generator Belt Replacement Tips?

$24

I just got back to work. I waited 25 minutes at the dealer and they charged me $24 to replace the belt.
Not bad.:dance
 
Well, for under $25 I'm buying that tool, thanks for the link, Don. I'll look at my belt soon, I still have to yank out that foam piece you educated me (us) about on another post. I'll look then. Great pics, great info, thanks again. (I'm thinking mine was "old belt"- and if the new one is smaller, it certainly would be some work.)
 
I'm with Don on this one. I've used the BMW tool and plastic. Even with the BMW tool, it takes more muscle to get the new belt on. (The old belt is more likely to slip when wet or damp- after a wash, humid weather, etc though it stops quickly. You'll know by the squealing).
With either, experience matters. First timers may futz a while even with the tool but should be able to succeed- its no real mystery- just enough muscle.

I wouldn't be worried about using the old style belt- not aware of any record of common breakage and the few I've taken off at service intervals always look fine though with less stretch left than a replacement.
 
Ah, you know that and I know that but BMW calls it a generator belt. If I started the thread with my alternator belt, I would have some guy say, ah you have a generator not an alternator.
You can't win them all.

You are both right, it is a generator of electricity, it generates a alternating current and called a alternator and needs a rectifier to make DC.
Generators of old generated DC and just used a regulator to maintain the correct voltage.

They are both generators of electricity.
 
Does anyone know if the old belt is still available? I have had no issues with the old belt and would see no compelling reason to go to a smaller, tighter belt.
 
Does anyone know if the old belt is still available? I have had no issues with the old belt and would see no compelling reason to go to a smaller, tighter belt.

The belt I bought in February from the dealer went on easily enough using Jim Von Baden's technique and a helper to turn the rear wheel.
 
Ah, those funny Germans....like the Brits and their "positive earth".

I always considered a "generator" as being single phase output, and an alternator as being three phase. Guess a 3-phase "generator" is possible.

I thought a generator created direct current and an alternator created AC that is converted to DC with diodes.
 
Even more controversy! I think of a generator as a device that uses permanent magnets to generate DC, and an alternator uses electric induction to create a magnetic field to generate AC, which is rectified later as the previous poster wrote.

But in every day use, I can't fault the swapping of terms anymore than I'd say "that is not a Kleenex, but rather a tissue!"
 
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