Engine Shake

I just had my water pump and thermostat changed and now my car has a constant rough shake. I thought it may have been due to a vacuum leak or air in the cooling system as many of you suggested in another thread. I bled my cooling system and its now fine (heater blowing hot), but the shake is still there. I took my car back to the shop for them to take a look at it and they say its the fan clutch that's gone bad. Is this a fair assessment and what are the chances that the shop created this problem during the first set of repairs?

I've never heard of a fan clutch making a vibration, (unless the cross threaded it ) but I've heard of amateur mechanics bending up pulleys and stuff , which will make a vibration no doubt .....

Observe your pulleys spinning while the engine is at idle and observe your fan clutch for circular rotation

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Check your coils. I had coil go out in cyl 4 a 6. Replaced all 6 since they all looked old with some torn. Changed spark plugs and now the car is running smooth again. Nothing like a Bimmer when it's running right (as you already know). Hope this helps.

Originally Posted by Burning2nd

I've never heard of a fan clutch making a vibration, (unless the cross threaded it ) but I've heard of amateur mechanics bending up pulleys and stuff , which will make a vibration no doubt .....

Observe your pulleys spinning while the engine is at idle and observe your fan clutch for circular rotation

send from space command

its definitely wobbly :-(

Boo ya ... amature tech cross threaded your fan clutch, take it back and demand a new fan clutch and maybe a,water pump if they really mangled the threads

send from space command

DON'T drive the car if the fan clutch is cross threaded. You will damage the hood 100% (the fan blades will desintegrate sending shrapnels through the hood and slicing your belts & hoses). You might need a new waterpump as well. Also, make sure you have an OEM fan.

0.02

Originally Posted by doru

DON'T drive the car if the fan clutch is cross threaded. You will damage the hood 100% (the fan blades will desintegrate sending shrapnels through the hood and slicing your belts & hoses). You might need a new waterpump as well. Also, make sure you have an OEM fan.

0.02

Just ordered a new fan clutch from OEMbimmerparts.com. I'm going to keep the car parked and drive it to a different shop(about 3miles) once the part arrives. No way am I taking it back to the same idiot who caused the problem in the first place.

if the shop is 3 miles away really, i would remove the fan clutch b4 driving it...
you might be able to save that fan blade as well...

i wouldn't even know where to begin.

chances are that if you have been driving it like this you should be ok to make it to the shop...

but precaution, keep the engine rpm's the lowest you can, if its a automatic nvm.... but if its stick try to keep it under 1500'r

dont let it warm up... when your ready get in it and go...

also as i said.. if the guy mangled the threads bad chances are a local shop isnt going to have the thread files to fix the threads on the waterpump.... you might be looking at that also... unless the next guy can get it threaded on correctly

im really sorry to hear this... i suspect that you wont be going back to the first guy again?

do you have a picture of the fan and clutch from the top view looking strait down?

Originally Posted by Burning2nd

do you have a picture of the fan and clutch from the top view looking strait down?

Is this good enough? Also just noticed there's a missing blade on the fan

no i cant tell, but fan is scrape now, fan clutch has some nice old rust of the nut, and bleeder has been leaking...

you have some maintenance ahead, you should try to find a reputable mechanic in your area,
or learn some home do it your self type stuff, altho i really dont recommend that everyone start wrenching on your own cars, just as i wouldn't attempt to start cleaning my own teeth, (lol as a dentist) or building my own roof,

you have a new water pump and t stat, your sure? by the sounds of this already it looks like your coming up on some coolant system work

theres a bunch of threads here for things to look for, how to do it your self..... best of luck

that bleeding was all me last night trying to get air out the system. the heater works now. success?

i suppose success,

your fan clutch looks old by the way... the rusty nut tells a little bit...

i cant really confirm that the fan clutch is cross threaded your going to have to do that..

but i can tell you with no doubt that anything that spins that is out of balance will make you engine shake... and since your engine shakes at idle its a sure give away that something is out of balance..

and with a missing fan blade your 2 seconds away from a exploding fan, that will most likely take out your hose's and ive read people also loosing there radiator


dont drive it, and get it addressed asap

Originally Posted by tcvivrant

that bleeding was all me last night trying to get air out the system. the heater works now. success?

Did you ever has any success with this? I'm having the same issue as I have a missing fan blade with a new fan clucth

There is a fan blade missing? Does the snapped off plastic look fresh? The mechanic most likely dropped it while unscrewing it. I have almost done that everytime i have taken it off.

If the blade fell off while driving it would have went theu your hood. Do a search and see how common that is. Almost every one has resulted in radiator, hose and hood fatalities. If you absolutely must drive it, drive at low rpm only. The faster the rpm the faster the fan spins . The fan is a ticking time bomb.

FYI, last post by the OP was 18 months ago.

Originally Posted by Topaz540i

There is a fan blade missing? Does the snapped off plastic look fresh? The mechanic most likely dropped it while unscrewing it. I have almost done that everytime i have taken it off.

If the blade fell off while driving it would have went theu your hood. Do a search and see how common that is. Almost every one has resulted in radiator, hose and hood fatalities. If you absolutely must drive it, drive at low rpm only. The faster the rpm the faster the fan spins . The fan is a ticking time bomb.

Thanks for the input. I had to bring this thread back to life because this is what’s happening with my car now. I replaced the water pump, thermostat, belts, fan clutch, radiator and expansion tank. I started with a crack radiator and took the opportunity to replace everything else as well now I have a shake like the guy who started the thread. I’m waiting for a new fan since I did drop it on the reinstall and broke one of the blades and now my cars shakes. I just wanted to know what to look for as causes of the shake so I can eliminate it. Didn’t think a missing fan blade was cause a car to shake like that. Plus I won’t be driving it until I can figure this out.

if its shaking the entire car that bad imagine the beating on the water pump shaft and bearings that it is connected to.

Many people here have deleted their fan for fearing of it exploding so you should be safe in the winter if they do it all year.

Originally Posted by Topaz540i

if its shaking the entire car that bad imagine the beating on the water pump shaft and bearings that it is connected to.

Many people here have deleted their fan for fearing of it exploding so you should be safe in the winter if they do it all year.

Thanks for the help. As soon as I removed the fan the shake went away. I'll just keep it off until I get the new fan blade in then I will put it back on the car.