Cmyers41 Posted May 4, 2023 Share Posted May 4, 2023 Greetings all! Been having a heck of the time with the infamous HES. I'm quickly learning BMW stands for, Bikes Made Weird... A little background on my bike. 1999 R1100rt - 107k miles, I it ride almost everyday to work in the summers, and it's been reliable thus far. Had all the symptoms of a bad HES, got it out with little to no issue. Looks like my previous HES was already a remanufactured one, judging by the date written on it in Sharpie. The wires were basically disintegrating, so I've ordered a new one. Looks like it'll be a while before it arrives so I decided to clean things up and "practice" putting things back together, which is where things get weird, for me, as a guy that has ridden and worked on Japanese bikes for 30 years. First off, the alternator will not push down any further...I was able to get the belt off by just unbolting the crank pulley. The alternator is loose but it will not go down enough for me to get the belt back on. I found where to adjust the height of the alternator and went to do so. Turns out that 6mm hex bolt was pretty corroded and I inadvertently wallowed the hex head. Looks like that little cog/adjuster is fairly well seized up. Any way I can work around this? Or fix it? It seems very difficult to get anything in that tight awkward area. The other issue I'm seeing is the crank pulley itself. It's in two pieces, which look like it's supposed to be, but its a massive PITA trying to get the thing lined up when it's in two pieces. Is the thing broken? I don't see anything that would secure the inner piece to the pulley. The one time I did get it on, I turned the engine over to see how it spun and it did not spin evenly (oblong). Feels like I'm missing something there. I don't want to put the HES on, and then destroy a brand new part due to my incompetency. I think I'm approaching the point to where I need to, "Put down the wrench, and walk away." or maybe even take it to a professional. However, my stubbornness is getting the best of me. Thanks! Link to comment
dirtrider Posted May 4, 2023 Share Posted May 4, 2023 53 minutes ago, Cmyers41 said: Greetings all! Been having a heck of the time with the infamous HES. I'm quickly learning BMW stands for, Bikes Made Weird... A little background on my bike. 1999 R1100rt - 107k miles, I it ride almost everyday to work in the summers, and it's been reliable thus far. Had all the symptoms of a bad HES, got it out with little to no issue. Looks like my previous HES was already a remanufactured one, judging by the date written on it in Sharpie. The wires were basically disintegrating, so I've ordered a new one. Looks like it'll be a while before it arrives so I decided to clean things up and "practice" putting things back together, which is where things get weird, for me, as a guy that has ridden and worked on Japanese bikes for 30 years. First off, the alternator will not push down any further...I was able to get the belt off by just unbolting the crank pulley. The alternator is loose but it will not go down enough for me to get the belt back on. I found where to adjust the height of the alternator and went to do so. Turns out that 6mm hex bolt was pretty corroded and I inadvertently wallowed the hex head. Looks like that little cog/adjuster is fairly well seized up. Any way I can work around this? Or fix it? It seems very difficult to get anything in that tight awkward area. The other issue I'm seeing is the crank pulley itself. It's in two pieces, which look like it's supposed to be, but its a massive PITA trying to get the thing lined up when it's in two pieces. Is the thing broken? I don't see anything that would secure the inner piece to the pulley. The one time I did get it on, I turned the engine over to see how it spun and it did not spin evenly (oblong). Feels like I'm missing something there. I don't want to put the HES on, and then destroy a brand new part due to my incompetency. I think I'm approaching the point to where I need to, "Put down the wrench, and walk away." or maybe even take it to a professional. However, my stubbornness is getting the best of me. Evening Cmyers41 First thing, the BMW service manual calls for gluing that timing cup on the pulley (Black Max works good). Do you have the correct belt? Your 1100 doesn't use the later Elastomer belt. Can you get the old belt back on easily, if so then suspect you have the incorrect belt. If you have the correct belt then put it around the alternator pulley then rotate the lower pulley using a wrench on the pulley bolt while feeding the belt on the lower pulley. If the alternator won't go down any farther then is there somethin caught under it (like a harness connector? You can adjust the new belt tension without that toothed adjuster but if it is seized up you will have to either remove it or find a way to free it up. You can CAREFULLY put a pry bar under the alternator to tension the belt BUT it is very easy to damage the thin alternator housing so great care need to be taken to not damage that. Link to comment
Cmyers41 Posted May 4, 2023 Author Share Posted May 4, 2023 4 minutes ago, dirtrider said: Evening Cmyers41 First thing, the BMW service manual calls for gluing that timing cup on the pulley (Black Max works good). Lol...wow. My redneck self was seriously considering gluing it...turns out that was the correct option. I'm your average YouTube mechanic, so my skills and tools are somewhat limited. Thanks! Link to comment
dirtrider Posted May 4, 2023 Share Posted May 4, 2023 2 minutes ago, Cmyers41 said: Lol...wow. My redneck self was seriously considering gluing it...turns out that was the correct option. I'm your average YouTube mechanic, so my skills and tools are somewhat limited. Thanks! Evening Cmyers41 You need to very careful to get that timing cup on correctly & centered with the locating tit in the crankshaft notch. If it isn't centered correctly it will chew the HES up in a nano second once the engine is cranked over. Link to comment
Cmyers41 Posted May 4, 2023 Author Share Posted May 4, 2023 How about the alternator adjustment bolt issue? Any insight on that? Thanks! Link to comment
dirtrider Posted May 4, 2023 Share Posted May 4, 2023 2 minutes ago, Cmyers41 said: How about the alternator adjustment bolt issue? Any insight on that? Thanks! Evening Cmyers41 I covered some of that in my post above. That is one of those deals that you either have to free it up or remove it. Link to comment
Cmyers41 Posted May 4, 2023 Author Share Posted May 4, 2023 43 minutes ago, Cmyers41 said: How about the alternator adjustment bolt issue? Any insight on that? Thanks! Ah, I see that now. Thanks! Link to comment
Jim Moore Posted May 5, 2023 Share Posted May 5, 2023 Make sure you have the right belt. You want the part number that ends in 779. Link to comment
Cmyers41 Posted May 5, 2023 Author Share Posted May 5, 2023 2 hours ago, Jim Moore said: Make sure you have the right belt. You want the part number that ends in 779. It would appear I have the right belt? 1 Link to comment
KDeline Posted May 6, 2023 Share Posted May 6, 2023 I just did all this a few months ago. Do as DR states, spin the belt on with a wrench, it will feel tight as it goes over the pulleys no matter if the alternator is all the way down. Then don't even bother with the adjuster, gently tension the belt with a screwdriver or prybar under the alternator. Does not need much tension, I did it to the point were the belt could be pinched a little less then a quarter way in. I anticipated this and felt the belt before I took it off. Link to comment
Jim Moore Posted May 6, 2023 Share Posted May 6, 2023 On 5/5/2023 at 8:44 AM, Cmyers41 said: It would appear I have the right belt? Yep. Link to comment
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