Help!! Urgent

poonjag39 · Jan 6, 2011

I started my car my car this morning and as soon as it turned over there was a horrible sound coming from the engine bay.
- All I can describe the sound as was putting chicken bones down the disposal.

Immediatley turned the car off and havent touched it since.
Any ideas what it could be or what I can check?
There IS plenty of oil and gas in the car..
Any suggestions welcome..
Thanks,:dunno:

AnotherGeezer · Jan 6, 2011

Stop putting chicken bones down your disposal?

Not really enough information to go on. Did you open the hood at all and look for smoke..oil on the pavement...a squirrel caught in the fan?

Inquiring minds need more to work with.

cn90 · Jan 6, 2011

That noise is typical of starter motor going kaput but as already mentioned, open your hood and start looking around for chicken bones.

poonjag39 · Jan 6, 2011

I was to leery to start the engine for too long as the sound is scaring me.
I did not nitice any smoke coming from anywhere.
I do have a very small oil leak but not convinced that has anythig to do with it.
Nothing in the fan or disturbing it.
It sounds like its and internal engine problem??

AnotherGeezer · Jan 6, 2011

We cannot hear it so you tell us.

Eurojay89 · Jan 6, 2011

check ur idler pulley i had a similar noise and it was that my pulley had given out on me .....it was mssing like 4 ball bearings .... good luck

194449 · Jan 6, 2011

Any broken/missing belts? See anything on the belly pan down under the front of the engine?

bmw_n00b13 · Jan 7, 2011

Digital cameras usually some kind of rudimentary videoing capability. Try posting a picture of the noise on Youtube.

poonjag39 · Jan 7, 2011

Heres a video i just took. It is short because i was leery about having it running for too long to cause even more damage.

drivinfaster · Jan 7, 2011

wow that's scary!!! :yikes:

i would suggest taking the belts off and see if it an accessory or something inside the engine.

if the noise persists, then you are looking at something inside the motor. if it goes away, then i would suggest looking at the belt driven pulleys.

df

bluebee · Jan 7, 2011

drivinfaster said:
suggest taking the belts off

That's a great idea, to isolate the problem to inside the engine vs outside the engine!

Here are the noise videos in the bestlinks thread so far:
- Video of broken water pump impeller noise (1)
- How to diagnose noises coming from the drive belt system (1)
- Video of cold idle engine squeal (1)
- Power Steering noise (bbmw528i, bluebee,maxout2008)
- What does a VANOS rattling noise sound like (video)? (1)

cn90 · Jan 7, 2011

One of the pulleys in the belt drive system is probably gone to heaven.

If you wait longer, this is what you get. Time to search forum using keyword "E39 cooling overhaul".
http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/showthread.php?t=235010

bluebee · Jan 7, 2011

cn90 said:
this is what you get

Nice one for the pictorial thread on cooling system failures (which is sort of like the driver's ed movies you saw as a kid in the seventies in purpose and graphic display).

- Pictorial look at typical E39 cooling system failure modes (1) (2) (3)

franka · Jan 7, 2011

It sounds like a hole has rusted thru the exh pipe and we are listen to one of the banks running open. Thing is that the pipes are SS and do not rust. Still it sounds like an open exh pipe.

3sons66 · Jan 9, 2011

One of your pulleys for sure. Sounds exterior and not like a bad water pump...(ask me how I know). Luckily I think it'll be a realitively easy fix. Good luck.

cn90 · Jan 9, 2011

Actually it WAS the WP bearing!

I already told them to do a cooling overhaul, sadly some people don't listen to my advice re cooling overhaul.

bluebee · Jan 9, 2011

cn90 said:
Actually it WAS the WP bearing!

How do you know?

I don't see a response publicly from the OP on what it is/was.

If it's the water pump bearing, I'll add it to the bestlinks thread as all we have by way of sound is the sound of a broken water pump impeller.

lild · Jan 9, 2011

it's really hard to get a good ideal, me, it sounds internal, like valves or piston broked.

first540i · Jan 10, 2011

that sounds scary.....

post back with results!!!

poonjag39 · Jan 10, 2011

Water Pump

Finally got the car back from the mechanic and it was in need the water pump.
The bearings in the water pump were shot. This caused the rad. fan to be about 15 degrees off.
Hope this will help some others diagnose their problems.
ps. cooling system overhaul in the works sometime soon.. (currently 107,452 Mi.)

Help!! Urgent

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