The accessory belt on my 2005 R53 failed the other day. It looks like the tensioner marred the crank pulley so I'll be replacing both of those along with the belt. I'll probably go ahead and add a tensioner stop while I'm at it.

Being that I'll already have the tensioner and crank pulley out of the way, I should replace the idler pulley as well, right? The car is at 82k miles.

I've read that since the crank pulley will be out of the way I should be able to get the tensioner out without raising the engine, is this typically the case?

One more thing, since all of that will be out of the way would I have clearance to change the S/C pulley while I'm in there? Or would it still require jacking the engine because of the location?

Thanks!

 

It's been a while but...
When I replaced all 3 of the aforementioned -Yes, I remember removing the top passenger engine mount, lower engine mount / "dog bone" and jacking up the right side (passenger side). It is almost necessary especially if you are replacing the SC pulley as well. Might as well do a SC oil check/change seeing now that the plug is easy to access. The idler pulley should be cake - Since it's only a 10mm bolt.
I can't recall if I removed the wheel liner for easier access....but I may have.

 

>while I'm at it / while I'm in there

The four most dangerously seductive words of the car hobby

Could always just go front end service mode, then in addition to tensioner, idler pulley and belt (while you're in there):
>Supercharger oil service & pulley swap
>water pump
>radiator hoses
>upper bleed pipe and screw upgrade to aluminum / brass unit
>fan resistor (guaranteed low speed circuit fried by 82K)
>thermostat & housing (upgrade to aluminum)
>expansion tank upgrade to alloy, new cap
>coolant drain & fill
>air filter (gotta remove the air box for the thermostat & housing)
>crankshaft position sensor o-ring
>pan gasket
>upper passenger side engine mount / dampener - if not already leaking it soon will be
>and of course an oil change

See how this works - while you're in there?

 

Yep, I have a list that's grown to about 10 items when I replace my bypass valve... gaskets, thermostat, housing, clamps, O-rings, supercharger oil, water pump...
Trying to address all the known trouble spots can definitely make for a long list!

As a devil's advocate though - I wouldn't necessarily do everything you can do in a single sitting. The reason is kind of like scientific method... Any time you change more than one variable and observe some problem, you don't necessarily know which change was the real culprit. I mean, some things may be clear, but others - not so much.
If you happen to be disassembling to a pretty deep level like I have to to get down to my bypass valve - then of course it doesn't make sense to re-assemble everything, make sure all is well, then totally tear it apart again to do some other part. But for parts that aren't blocked in by other parts, those I'd save for their own effort - just as the science method geek who's screwed himself this way in the past.

 

If you watch the ModMini YouTube video for this, it's great. I followed his advise exactly for mine - including the chain vice grip to ensure the stock pulley puller doesn't pop off. There's great tips in there.

I wouldn't sweat the motor mounts - he advocates removing the right side and lower motor mount, which I did, and it was fine. The one upper bolt on the lower motor mount was a bit of a PITA to get to, but really they were both easy and when you remove them it gives you the ability to pivot the motor on the remaining motor mount... so you can jack the right side of the motor up, and down.
You'll NEED to pivot it up to remove the supercharger pulley, if you are doing that mod at the same time (and why not, if you are pulling off the belt and tensioner anyway).

I believe you may need to pivot it up and down a bit to get to the bolts on the tensioner as well. Once the bolts are out, sure, you could drop the tensioner out the bottom, but I think you'd save time and dollars in the swear jar just by doing it his way.

I had a suspected issue with my crank pulley, and was planning the supercharger pulley upgrade - so I also replaced my tensioner just as a maintenance item - and the supercharger pulley came with a new belt, since it needs to be a little shorter.

When you have the crank pulley off, you should replace the main seal behind the pulley - it's easy, and again watch his video for that.
I'd do all those together, so you not only get a fix out of it, but an improvement, and in a single effort.

 

Thanks everyone. I've started ordering parts, etc, so this weekend I'll be able to really dig in and see whats up.

I probably won't try to do all of the "while I'm at it..."s right now, I'll end up down a wormhole and probably end up with a different car (for better or worse) by the time I'm done.