Alternator Belt

[jojo]

Should a new belt fit easily ? I'm trying to install a 4PK592 on my 04 RT but it is just to hard to get it around the pulley. all 3 bolts are slacken. is there something I'm missing?

[hopz]

I just replaced the belt on my 1100, and at first thought the same thing... is your alternator loose enough to move up and down by hand?

 

Mine was not at first, but after a good bit of tinkering and adjusting the tensioning bolt-- the alternator just decided to get loose. Once it settled in the lower position it was very easy to slip the new belt on.

 

GIve it a try.

[OoPEZoO]

Your not missing anything........its a royal PITA to install a new belt. At least mine was. We put a new one on last week when my HES crapped out on me. We ended up having to put the belt around the crank pully, then lined up the belt on the alternator pully (on the throttle side of the bike). Then we turned the engine over (clockwise) using a wrench on the crank nut. The tension/grip of the belt should grab and pull itself up onto the alternator pully.

[Paul Mihalka]

Your not missing anything........its a royal PITA to install a new belt. At least mine was. We put a new one on last week when my HES crapped out on me. We ended up having to put the belt around the crank pully, then lined up the belt on the alternator pully (on the throttle side of the bike). Then we turned the engine over (clockwise) using a wrench on the crank nut. The tension/grip of the belt should grab and pull itself up onto the alternator pully.

That method works even better if you first put the belt on the alternator pulley and then press it onto the crankshaft pulley and keep pressing on the belt while you turn the pulley with a wrench.

[Ken H.]

Find the ABS bleed procedure here, for the rear wheel circuit and bleed it. Actually, might as well do all four circuits while your at it. That should get you back on the road.

[Jim VonBaden]

You slackened the bolts, but did you move the alternator down? I have not had this problem with many R1100/1150 belts changed. There should be plenty of room to get it on.

 

Jim 8)

[steptoe]

squeeze the two sides of the belt together and the alternator should move downwards

[jojo]

That method works even better if you first put the belt on the alternator pulley and then press it onto the crankshaft pulley and keep pressing on the belt while you turn the pulley with a wrench.

 

Thanks guys. It did the trick

 

You slackened the bolts, but did you move the alternator down? I have not had this problem with many R1100/1150 belts changed. There should be plenty of room to get it on.

 

Yes- the alternator was resting right on top of the engine. I couldn't move it further downwards.

The new belt was about half an inch shorter than the old one. Probably due to an elongation after 3 years and 33k miles or maybe the new belt comes from a bad batch.

btw, the old belt was still in very good condition after 33k

[ShovelStrokeEd]

It also could have been the wrong belt.

Belts of this design come in a number of different sizes and there are 3 that more or less fit. I don't have the numbers handy but the variation between sizes is only on the order of 20mm and that is length overall which means there will only be 5mm difference in the center to center distance the belt will accommodate. When the belt went on my 1100S, there was not enough of the old one left to make a measurement so I just dropped the alternator, measured c-c on the pulleys and worked out the overall length I needed. First approximation was too short and I just went back into Pep Boys and traded it in on the next longer belt.

[jojo]

It also could have been the wrong belt

 

That's what I thought first, but the new belt had the same p/n as the old one (4PK592) and that's the one recommended for the '04 RT.

It seems that some are lucky enough to get a new belt that is easy to install and others aren't so lucky and need to force the belt into the pulley. I guess I was in the second category

[1100RTGuy]

sorry to hijack the subject but I tried to take the cover off my r1100rt to change the alternator belt and it would only go to the header pipe, Looks like I may have to loosen the header pipes so the cover will drop all the way down,is this right?

[glwestcott]

sorry to hijack the subject but I tried to take the cover off my r1100rt to change the alternator belt and it would only go to the header pipe, Looks like I may have to loosen the header pipes so the cover will drop all the way down,is this right?

 

No, you don't have to loosen the pipes. There is a thing called the "shark fin" that the fairing mounts to below the engine area. It is a bracket and plastic part that is held on with one bolt. Remove that and then you can get the cover off easily. If you cut the cover in half horizontally while it is off - won't hurt anything, its just a dust cover - you can remove the cover next time even without removing the fairing.

[1100RTGuy]

Thanks all!

[1100RTGuy]

OK I was a bit hasty in my reply . I couldn't find the "shark fin". I do have two fairing supports that connect to the alternator support cover which y's off to a mount with a screw on the right side and that's where I am at. I'm not much of a wrench. I do have a clymer manual which isn't much help. Thanks again!

[Joe Frickin' Friday]

OK I was a bit hasty in my reply . I couldn't find the "shark fin".

 

Look for an upside-down shark-fin, painted same color as the main tupperware panels. It's a few inches long, and is situated just in front of the cylinder head, and inboard (I think) of the exhaust header pipe. A metal stanchion holds it in place, and the other end of that stanchion reaches several inches downards and bolts to the front of the engine with two allen bolts. There are two shark fins, one on the left side of the bike and one on the right; you only need to remove one of them to extract the cover.