Failed Water Pump. Aftermath not pretty

kgbmw02 · Jan 20, 2011

The pictures below show what happens when you neglect the noise coming from the water pump bearings.

The Last photo shows the finish job.
These are the parts I replaced
-Water Pump metal impeller
-A/C and Water Pump Tensioners both mechanical
-Both belts
-Water Pump pulley old got damage during removal
-Thermostat
-Idler pulley

The whole job took about 2 1/2 hours.

jvr826 · Jan 20, 2011

How many miles on the car when this happened?

Starless · Jan 20, 2011

My guess is...150K +

kgbmw02 · Jan 20, 2011

108K. It was well overdue, I was just hoping it would have lasted til summer cuz the weather here in Boston sucks. But I was force to do the work in freezing rain yesterday.

bluebee · Jan 20, 2011

OMG. Those pictures are horrid. I'm adding them to
- Pictorial look at typical E39 cooling system failure modes (1) (2) (3)

so that others can benefit visually from your experience!

thanks for sharing, especially these two pictures!

I'm curious ... what were your symptoms?

mujjuman · Jan 20, 2011

that sucks
Sorry to hear that. At least it's fixed now and you had the skill to DIY and only took 2.5 hrs

Thanks for the warning. What did the warning noise sound like?

kgbmw02 · Jan 20, 2011

It started out with noise coming from the fan area over time it grew eventually the car would idle very rough, but would go away once it was warmed up.

manchego · Jan 20, 2011

Kinda concerned when you mention the noise from the fan area. Do you mean the A/C area in the interior? I have a cricket from the A/C fan but I haven't been that concerned by it because I'm told it's not an uncommon issue that has to do with another part, not the water pump.

Should I be more worried? My E46 is right around the 107K mark.

tttomttt · Jan 20, 2011

kgbmw02,

Truly it could have been worse. You are very lucky it did not wipe out your radiator as well. Every once in a while the good guy wins.

T

kgbmw02 · Jan 20, 2011

If you have 107k. You are walking on thin ice. You should do an overhaul and replaced all the part I listed above, my car has never run smoother it's better with the MPG's also.

Nando779 · Jan 20, 2011

Wow, looks like they must of had/have an oil leak (possibly the VGC) with all the caked oil on that water pump. Or maybe it is caked coolant with some dust on it. Anyways they were well overdue. Did you use the Graf water pump?

kgbmw02 · Jan 20, 2011

Yes Nando it was a Graf pump w/ metal impeler. As for the oil my coolant bleeder screw blew up a few months earlier and spill antifreeze all ova the engine bay.

Nando779 · Jan 20, 2011

I see, I bought a brass bleeder screw and so far it has been very nice since you do not have to worry about stripping it when you are loosening it or tightening it. A good little buy.

e30_for_life · Jan 20, 2011

When was the car produced? I wonder if that's the plastic impeller or composite? The impeller itself look in descent shape.

Sorry for your mishap.

kgbmw02 · Jan 20, 2011

It was produce on 09/2001. The actually impeller wasn't in bad shape it was the outer bearings on the fan pulley that failed. Thankfully the fan itself didnt get damage. One of the pump pics clearly shows one of the bearings.

smolck · Jan 20, 2011

Same failure happened to me when I was 3 hours from home. Also had a girl from Tennessee who came to my town for a wedding have the same failure at 77k miles! It is a common failure if you try and ignore the numerous warnings from this forum about the need to replace this stuff on YOUR terms by doing it before this happens. But, life gets hectic and circumstances cause us to "push it" (I'm guilty too) and then we are forced to deal with it. Just be glad you weren't 3 hours from home!

kgbmw02 · Jan 20, 2011

Thankfully it happened shorty after my girlfriend took her out. My roadside assistant covered the tow since it was less than 15 miles away. I'm glad it happened then, because in the summer I drover her 9 1/2 hours to PA.

catso · Jan 20, 2011

You're lucky. I once had one that let go and took out the radiator and condenser. Had to junk the car.

325xizemer · Jan 21, 2011

Could you describe the sound you had before this happened/ location? (I realize there are 1x10^5, threads on this topic)

My wife's car has 50k (2004) and I am thinking the cooling system is ready to EXPLODE! -maybe

Indications include-
(1) Sounds like a screw is loose behind the instrument panel- contacting the fan- almost as if there is a screw that holds the fan on and is loose. It rattles when going over bumps. It rattles in D, N, but not really in P. (Maybe due to the vibration from the transmission engagement).
(2) Coolant level- about 1 cup low 1.5 months ago. Again, today I checked, and 1 cup low.
(3) no visible signs of leakages
(4) not sure if it related- there is a high pitch mechanical whine coming from ?? Cylinder thing on passenger side (about 5 inch in diameter with an outlet into VANOS area).-I can't locate a pic from realoem, the wiki, etc.??
This happens on cold starts intermettantly and goes away with in 2-3 minutes, but it sounds angry.

Thanks for any input.

smolck · Jan 21, 2011

2. Pretty normal, 1 cup is nothing.
4. That is your smog pump, they make horrible noises when they are about to fail. The reason it goes away is because once your car is warmed up, it isn't doing anything.

mrblorry · Jan 21, 2011

Uh, dude, you do know your new fan belt is routed incorrectly in your final photo, don't you?

smolck · Jan 21, 2011

Good eye, didn't catch that.

A smooth pulley contacts the smooth part of the belt, a ribbed pulley contacts the ribbed side of the belt. You have the belt over top of the top idler pulley and it shouldn't be.

kgbmw02 · Jan 21, 2011

Haha thanks for looking out. I just double checked the bentley book an you guys are right thanks. I'll take car of it tomorrow.

catso · Jan 21, 2011

This is easier to follow.

smolck · Jan 21, 2011

Nice photo.

Failed Water Pump. Aftermath not pretty

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