Interesting that you say that. I would say that it is 36mm, despite your experience (I could be wrong). The rent-a-tool things work so poorly on these because of the 3 bolts instead of the more common 4 bolt pattern. In the future, look for an Assenmacher 36mm wrench (part no. 8036) and the pulley holder tool they also have that's made for the AJV8. Makes the job a whole lot easier. I too had slippage problems with the commonly available rental tools.

 

I think you misunderstood my post. I said 'another person on that thread complained about their fan nut must not really 36mm'. It is 36mm, but the rental wrench had spread to '38-40mm' so I pounded back into square.

The second time I did this procedure I used the wrench that holds on the pulley nuts, they are a problem as you noted (because of the 3 bolts on the LR). I went back and got a pulley holder tool. That was definitely the ticket.

 

Ah my mistake. I had similar issues but was not able to get around them without the exact tools (fan had never been removed for 8+ years in east coast humid weather). Took all the force I had to pry that thing off.

 

Opinions on this noise being a bad pulley bearing? Specifically around 0:16.

 

What was the sound at 0:04?? Your door? I guess it's hard to tell what I'm listening to because I usually listen in-person and not through a vid. Sounds kinda normal to me.

 

About all I can say regarding noise on my 3 is that about a month ago, I replaced both tensioners and the one idler pulley, plus installed both belts new even though the existing were good.

The reason for the new "pulleys" was that I was hearing a bit of a squeak from somewhere in the front of the engine. Other than belts and the radiator fan, I had not previously replaced anything up front so I figured if one bearing was making noises, they all will be, hence replace them all now before you find out for certain.

To my pleasant surprise, now that all the belt related stuff is new, when standing outside, my engine at idle sounds a lot quieter than prior. The engine seems more like I recall it sounding when new.

As such, I am quite happy plus I was wondering when and where the bearings would give out, and if there would be any warning.

On the side of the road in the mountains in the winter is not the pleasurable experience the ski films might suggest. For me, that is to be avoided.

I have 235,000 km ( 145,000 miles) on my 3, and in summary, one of the tensioners seemed to have a bit of play while the other still felt OK; it was probably the idler that was squeaking at times.