Garage ****ed my car up BAD... need advice ASAP.

[e34.535i.sport]

I tend to do all jobs on the car myself, don't trust anyone else to touch it (besides the captain of course)... Decided to take it to the shop to
get the clutch done... Got it back this afternoon and here's the most recent picture of my car...
http://img34.picoodle.com/img/img34/4/4/22/f_Image036m_06ad058.jpg (http://www.picoodle.com/view.php?img=/4/4/22/f_Image036m_06ad058.jpg&srv=img34)

Got it back and clutch felt fantastic so took it for a 30mile drive (15 each way). Almost home (about 4mile away) and all sorts of lights come
on... It overheats so I pull over ASAP. Alternator/waterpump belt has come off and some coolant lying around but can't see a burst hose.
(Could be the ones going under the manifold though don't know yet).

I also notice this while waiting for the tow truck... WTF?
http://img37.picoodle.com/img/img37/4/4/22/f_Image030m_846b3e7.jpg (http://www.picoodle.com/view.php?img=/4/4/22/f_Image030m_846b3e7.jpg&srv=img37)

And another pic...
http://img33.picoodle.com/img/img33/4/4/22/f_Image035m_d30faec.jpg (http://www.picoodle.com/view.php?img=/4/4/22/f_Image035m_d30faec.jpg&srv=img33)

Turns out to be a 17mm socket with a 10" extension on it left in the engine... Obviously from the BMW specialist that done the clutch. I am
pissed.

My argument is if he's dumb enough to leave this big ****er in my engine I'm assuming the cunt has not tightened the alternator belt properly
when putting it back on... He will have removed it for the clutch job won't he? Going to get on to him in the morning and tell him the
score... If he's leaving things in the engine I'm guessing he could have been incompetent enough to not tighten the belt correctly.

I know the belt was good as I replaced it only a couple of months ago with OE part from the dealer and double checked it was tightened
myself recently.

I'm hoping its only a coolant hose and not the Head Gasket. If it is i'm ****ed cash-wise and I can't get him to admit guilt.

Any thoughts or advice welcomed and info on wether he will have removed the belt for the clutch job... I'm assuming he will have.

It's unbeleivable that the first thing I get done in a shop in my ownership ends up like this... :(

[Ferret]

lol got caught rockin the M badge. Base model e34 ftw!!

I wouldnt call a 535i sport a base model...

A lot of UK spec 535i sports were shipped badged as M's from the factory - in fact the first E34 I ever had the pleasure of driving/working on was an M535i.

It appears they were special editions or something, as they were shipped with sports suspension, Mtech lights all round, Mtech steering wheel, Mtech shifter and handbrake parts, Red Clocks and cloth sports seats (upgrade to leather avail.)

Sadly they're quite rare these days.

[Lordsneldon]

What a pric springs to mind!

I wouldnt have thought the alternator belt should have needed to be taken off for this job - could of course be coincedance but it seems strange for a so called grease monkey to leave his tools floating around someones engine?!?!?! I should have a good look your self and try and decide what the score is, i doubt the headgasket though. best of luck

[winfred]

it ain't hard to forget a tool in a tight spot especially if someone is annoying you while you work, it happens to the best of us


ps you don't need to touch the starter on a m30 to do the tranny, the starter is totally bolted to the block

[Blitzkrieg Bob]

That's not an ///M badge on your trunk is it?

[Ross]

There is no reason to mess with the belts during a clutch job, nor the starter as has been stated. Probably why it was forgotten.
This sort of thing is why I don't work on peoples cars I don't know.
Keep the tool if it makes you feel better.
I see no correlation between the clutch job and your belt going away. Didn't over rev 'er did ya?

[bmwpower]

I can hear it now.... "That's not mine...".

What brand of tool is it??

[nirvana19]

http://www.bimmernut.com/forum/showthread.php?t=34999

Read my first post, sound familiar? Never figured out what caused the belt to shred, but the car runs today... though the belt squeals and slips when its cold (shop put it on too loose after the water pump chaos explosion?)

You probably didn't blow any hoses, when the system overheats coolant spills out from the hose that leaves the expansion tank (opposite of the return hose into the top) and lands somewhere near the rear exhaust side of the engine.

[nirvana19]

That's not an ///M badge on your trunk is it?

BTW, recently saw an original BMW accessory catalog from 1989 and the M badge is actually listed as a FACTORY accessory for non-m cars. I don't have one, but anyone with one of those M badges can say it came from BMW and was intended for my car...

[vuyodaddy]

lol got caught rockin the M badge. Base model e34 ftw!!

[mamilapon]

Used to fix Boeings for a living, if you left ANY tool around the engine and down the track they trace it back to you...you are GONESKI!!!!

[Adnan]

Hi,

Sorry to hear of the problems. I feel bad given that I steered you towards having someone else do the job. So much for professionals!

I had a belt disintegrate too, and for no good reason. It was relatively new, wasn't on too tight or too loose and just suddenly came apart. I ended up having to replace the HG.

Here's the unfortunate part - just because there is no mixing of oil and coolant doesn't mean the gasket hasn't blown. Mine blew outwards, that is, if you looked closely, you could see steaming coolant coming out the sides. They were just wisps, but they were there. Take a close look with the right lighting, just to be sure, or run a compression check.

I hope you have escaped with nothing more than a new belt being required. Fingers crossed. The M30 is very touchy about cooling and I have always considered it to be its Achilles heel.

Regards,
Adnan

[e34.535i.sport]

Hey Adnan don't even worry about it, entirely my own choice.

The only steam I saw was a very brief tiny bit on top of the engine where coolant had landed after coming out of the hose that joints to the expansion tank...

Ran it again earlier up to normal operating temp and no signs of steam or leaks around the head from what I could see. I'm assuming I'll notice signs after driving it a while if there is a HG problem, anything to look out for besides the obvious (oil/water mix, loss of coolant, exhaust smell)?

Seriously hoping I got away with it. I did turn it off as soon as the warning came up when it happened, and it was half way into the red bar on the guage.

In terms of a compression test, do I need to get that done at a main dealer? What does it involve?

Whiskey, I don't think its a pulley sticking as it ran fine earlier after putting the belt back on... Had a feel before I did put it back on though and the alternator spun fine as did the pump pulley. It is a mystery.

Fingers crossed no damage done... HG is my worst nightmare.

[e34.535i.sport]

P.S the car is running the sameas it was before... I.e not any rougher on start up. Been reading around and symptoms seem to be running rougher on initial startup if its the headgasket. My idle is **** but it was before and at least its consistent.

[whiskychaser]

I cant see why anyone would touch the belts when doing a clutch. Not being funny but they are the wrong end of the engine for a start. What DOES surprise me a bit is the belt hopping off-would have thought it would scream a bit first and give you a clue. Either way, hope both you and your motor have cooled down and the only damage is a new belt

[healtoeit]

Turns out to be a 17mm socket with a 10" extension on it left in the engine... Obviously from the BMW specialist that done the clutch. I am
pissed.

Stupid mechanic, just plain stupid, give them hell, and make sure he doesn't work on another BMW again. Send em to ford. If that happened at the shop I work at I would be fired before I could register what I did.

[e34.535i.sport]

Hey guys... All points taken and appreciated.

I'm not familiar with the workings of the clutch so I thought they just might have taken the belt off to make something easier at the other end.

Still, leaving things in the engine is not on... no matter how easy it is to do it. At the end of the day if the extension had flew off and hit the fan or the belts or the radiator or whatever things could have been much worse.

Can't see why the belt came off myself to be honest, I checked it recently and thought I may have even done it too tight... No warning on the belt but I must have been doing 50mph at the time.

Anyway, car is still alive, no coolant/oil mix so HG is hopefully still fine. This was my main concern as I couldn't find an outlet for the coolant anywhere! I think the prize goes to Nirvana on that one, thanks!

I made sure the coolant was full, put belt back on (it looks ok but I'll replace it at the weekend), and checked all the hoses. Fired her up (it took a second as the battery prob lost a bit of power yesterday) but all seems good - no overheating or anything unusual. Ran it for ten minutes or so keeping an eye on the temp and giving it a few revs. Think the viscous fan clutch may need looking at in the near future maybe as it seems to wobble a little, but not urgent.

Oh and guilty on the M-badge but it is the M-sport in my defense! I wouldn't put an m5 badge on as I don't believe in false advertising!!!

I'm hoping there won't be any ongoing problems after this, but I'm scared to drive it now... Feel like I should take it easy on it now its overheated incase the H-gasket has been weakened. Worrying.

Anyway, thanks for the input - I needed to have my facts straight for when I rang the garage. It won't be going in again I'll tell you that.

[whiskychaser]

Can't see why the belt came off myself to be honest, I checked it recently and thought I may have even done it too tight... No warning on the belt but I must have been doing 50mph at the time.

Perhaps a little late to ask, but you havent got a pulley sticking by any chance?

[CharlesAFerg]

That's not an ///M badge on your trunk is it?

Wow,

http://www.danheller.com/Movies/Hellboy/nazi-robot-big.jpg

[Ross]

Used to fix Boeings for a living, if you left ANY tool around the engine and down the track they trace it back to you...you are GONESKI!!!!
The running joke in the av shops I know of is that a missing tool will always show up in the wreckage.

[Adnan]

Hey Adnan don't even worry about it, entirely my own choice.

The only steam I saw was a very brief tiny bit on top of the engine where coolant had landed after coming out of the hose that joints to the expansion tank...

Ran it again earlier up to normal operating temp and no signs of steam or leaks around the head from what I could see. I'm assuming I'll notice signs after driving it a while if there is a HG problem, anything to look out for besides the obvious (oil/water mix, loss of coolant, exhaust smell)?

Seriously hoping I got away with it. I did turn it off as soon as the warning came up when it happened, and it was half way into the red bar on the guage.

In terms of a compression test, do I need to get that done at a main dealer? What does it involve?

Whiskey, I don't think its a pulley sticking as it ran fine earlier after putting the belt back on... Had a feel before I did put it back on though and the alternator spun fine as did the pump pulley. It is a mystery.

Fingers crossed no damage done... HG is my worst nightmare.

Hi,

Sounds like you may be just fine; you are one of the lucky ones! A compression test is pretty simple but you need a compression gauge. Essentially, you remove all the spark plugs and screw the gauge into a cylinder and crank the engine. Repeat for all cylinders and compare the readings. Depending on the age of the engine, there will be some variation but the rule of thumb (I think) is a 10% variation or less. Those with more M30 knowledge should chime in, if they know. Advisable to disconnect the fuel pump and ignition when cranking.

As for things to watch out for, I think you've identified the main ones. Keep an eye on that temp gauge to see if it's erratic.

Regards,
Adnan

[e34.535i.sport]

Hi,

Sounds like you may be just fine; you are one of the lucky ones! A compression test is pretty simple but you need a compression gauge. Essentially, you remove all the spark plugs and screw the gauge into a cylinder and crank the engine. Repeat for all cylinders and compare the readings. Depending on the age of the engine, there will be some variation but the rule of thumb (I think) is a 10% variation or less. Those with more M30 knowledge should chime in, if they know. Advisable to disconnect the fuel pump and ignition when cranking.

As for things to watch out for, I think you've identified the main ones. Keep an eye on that temp gauge to see if it's erratic.

Regards,
Adnan

Hey I don't know what I'd do without you guys sometimes... This forum has helped me through some bad times (car-wise!).

Drove it to work and took it easy, maximum of about 3200 revs... Seemed like I was watching the temperature guage more than the road sometimes! It hit marginally above dead centre as it always has and never moved past there which is good news.

I'm going to look into a compression guage, see how much it is. Are there any other things it can indicate rather than a HG failure?

[e34.535i.sport]

You can get compression guages off ebay (yes I know its pikey but I do love it) for about £20 from what I recall, when you see one you will be able figure out exactly how it works.

I've been ill for the last few days and just seen this thread, that is really bad news, I think this may just have turned out to be bad timing though and maybe nothing to do with the garage? Other than the whacking great spanner left in the engine bay! I've had it done to me, the tool was quite small though, and so was what they left in the engine! I complained and nothing ever came of it but no damage was done so I left it at that, I just gained a small snap-on wrench out of it - maybe I was lucky it did no damage.

As for the M-badge, the car is a sport so its well justified, and even if it wasn't its not the most dis-tasteful mod in the world. Sadly mine has an M5 badge on the back which was the brainchild of the previous owner, haven't had the guts to take it off in case the paint comes off with it.

Good luck with the car, hopefully its all sorted now, but keep checking that belt as well as the temp.

Hey cheers man, All seems well now but still a bit pissed about the tool thing! BMW specialist as well. Phhhffff.

Anyway, best way to remove your badge is to use dental floss... then sticky stuff remover you can get from B & Q if any is left over! I done it successfully on my e34 to take the 316 badge off it... I know its silly but it was the base model!

[leicesterboy15]

You can get compression guages off ebay (yes I know its pikey but I do love it) for about £20 from what I recall, when you see one you will be able figure out exactly how it works.

I've been ill for the last few days and just seen this thread, that is really bad news, I think this may just have turned out to be bad timing though and maybe nothing to do with the garage? Other than the whacking great spanner left in the engine bay! I've had it done to me, the tool was quite small though, and so was what they left in the engine! I complained and nothing ever came of it but no damage was done so I left it at that, I just gained a small snap-on wrench out of it - maybe I was lucky it did no damage.

As for the M-badge, the car is a sport so its well justified, and even if it wasn't its not the most dis-tasteful mod in the world. Sadly mine has an M5 badge on the back which was the brainchild of the previous owner, haven't had the guts to take it off in case the paint comes off with it.

Good luck with the car, hopefully its all sorted now, but keep checking that belt as well as the temp.