M60 water pump woes (rant and long)

[632 Regal]

Jim,

as you are screwed for time, I would try to pull the tubes and clean the ends with fine paper or steel wool, I think you can insert new O rings into the back of the manifold but not sure. Insert the pipes into the rear first then insteall the pump again. as for a rad I got one in 2 days from autrohausAZ

[Rusty Bavaria]

(Questions at bottom of the rant)
Ok so it’s almost 4 days before the E34 meet which is only 30 minutes from my house and for the god forsaken life of me I have been unable to get my stupid 530i put back together correctly, and subsequently I’m pissed:

Started off with the fan clutch locking up and having to drive the car home in Chicago rush hour traffic. No big deal fan clutch is one of the easiest things to replace, right?

Sure, try my usual tricks to get the fan clutch off, not budging. Borrow a fan clutch “tool” to hold the pulley, nope not coming off, I break the water pump pulley in the process and finally decided that all the all the smacking, and beating that my water pump bearings are taking can’t be good so why don’t I just order a new water pump and pulley and replace the whole mess since I can’t get the fan clutch off.

What a great idea, and I also thought thank god that I didn’t get my water pump done last December when I had my intake gaskets done cause this fan clutch would have locked up and welded itself onto a new water pump and I would have been pissed.

So I tear the front of the car down, radiator out, fan and shroud out belts and everything else that needs to come out. I have a late model 95 which has the stupid (stupid stupid!) emissions tube running in front of the water pump. Get the pump out making SURE not to remove the coolant tubes from under the intake.

….Put the whole thing back together, nice shiny water pump, non rusted fan clutch bolt, blue BMW coolant, my garage floor is a swamp I’m tracking coolant in the house everytime I come in, but who the hell cares, this project is now DONE!

Fill the car with coolant, I’m super confused with this self bleeding cooling system, but fine we’ll fill it up and everything will be good. Fill the car up let it run for a bit, it’s hanging out at ½ and so I go drive it around the block, temp starts to creep up above ½, so pull back in the driveway, guess I’m going to have to add some more coolant…Walk around the front of the car to see coolant dripping off the front of the engine. Sh#t

Ok so I mop up the garage floor, pull the car back in and see what the hell is going on. Turns out the water pump is leaking from the coolant tubes in the front of the engine. So after some choice words I go the BMW dealer get a new gasket and two new o-rings for the pump and start the process again.

Remove fan and fan clutch, shroud, belts etc. I get to the water pump. Did I mention that I have a late production 95 with the emissions tube running in front of the water pump? As I’m trying to get the water pump out from between the engine block and the Stupid Pipe I hear a clink, and then another clink as both of the coolant bypass tubes come out of the pipe at the back end of the engine.

(insert choice curse words) X 2

So I jump on the board and read about how you “might” be able to stick these back into their holes but mostly it means that you’ll have to remove the intake manifold to get them back in correctly.

I just paid my mechanic a couple months ago to replace my intake gaskets... (insert more choice curse words).

Ok so I have to be one of those .001% of M60 water pump replacing DYI people who get the coolant tubes back into those holes with no leaks.

I sand the ends of the pipes, I put a little coolant on them for lube and I go forth to get them reinserted. I take my time, they seem to go in fine, I reinstall the water pump, realizing that went I went to put it in the last time I put it in at an angle and then reattached the thermostat cover and didn’t seat the water pump straight on the pipes…so that leak is figured out and won’t happen again.

Put everything back together this afternoon, start the car, everything seems OK…let the car get warmed up, top off the coolant, shut down the car and I hear “SSSSSSSSS” noise from the front of the car, I look down and there is a crack in my radiator tank, then I look under the car and I see it, the drip down from the front of the transmission…I shine my light down into the 2mm of space in the back of the intake and see a small puddle on the valley pan…

(insert choice curse words) X 10

I need a new radiator.
I need to fix the coolant leak at the back of my engine underneath the manifold that has gaskets that are less than 6 months old.

I hate this car right now.

Part of me wants to call the mechanic and have him fix it. But I started this mess and I need to make it right.

I need a radiator to start with, anyone have a radiator in the Chicago-land area for a 530i?

Anyone have any advice or ideas how to deal with this leaking coolant tube? Is there any way to repair it without removing the intake? Can I drive the car like this or am I just asking for trouble, it’s not a steady leak but it’s a drip every 5-10 seconds.

Should I just ride my bike on Saturday?
GRRRRRRRR

Thanks in Advance
Jim

[Tiger]

Been there... radiator first... then waterpump... and then thermostat housing...

[Vanguard]

radiator.com can get you the radiator the same day or next day. depending on what time you call. They sent me a Nissen.

If you can, I'd do my best to replace the o-rings in the back. Make sure you get a good pump as well. I had different problems with both a Meyle and URO pump. I finally ended up with a Graf I think. Had a welded stainless impeller that did the trick.

[SnakeyesTx]

You DID take the bleeder screw out of the radiator when you filled it right? I kept thinking I topped off mine when I was almost 2 gallons short. The screw is that + right by the radiator cap. When you pull it and pour the coolant in, you'll see the bubbles gurgling through that hole. I believe that's what they meant by "self bleeding" since you can remove the air with that screw.

[Rusty Bavaria]

Ok, I regrouped after writing that rather pathetic post the other day. Started the car up last night and the low coolant check came up, so I added coolant (like 1/2 gallon!) no drips. mopped the garage floor again and ran the car for over 1/2 an hour, heat working great no leaks from the back of the engine, temp gauge stayed in the middle where it should be. I obviously had a HUGE air bubble in there. I'm cautiously hoping that "leak" was just coolant from the overflow pipe, and spills dripping down from the overflow tank. Radiator started to leak about 1/2 an hour into my "test", but I have a new one sitting in the garage and I'll replace that tonight.

fingers crossed
Jim

[Tiger]

540i radiator has no bleedder valve... or any bleeder valve at all. It is all self bleeding via the little hose on the top of the radiator to the reservoir.

[MBXB]

If you follow that line from the radiator to the cap, you'll see where it goes into the reservoir. Remove the cap and make sure that the opening isn't gunked up. I drilled mine out to the next oversize with a hand drill.

[Rusty Bavaria]

Replaced the radiator last night, added coolant, ran the car for 20 or so minutes, everything looked good, no leaks etc. Took the car out to run a quick errand and "test" the car, about half way into my 2 mile drive the temp gauge starting showing the car running hot, I turned on the heat that seemed to control it a bit, though the ride home (2 miles) I had to pull over a couple times due to the temp gauge getting over the 3/4. It seemed like when the car was at idle it would sit at 1/2 on the temp gauge, but when driving (average 1500 rpm, roughly) the gauge would start to move up. Once I would pull over and sit with the car idling the gauge would go down. Went out this morning and added about 1/4 gallon more coolant. Once again I'm hoping that this is just another air bubble that showed up, but I'm starting to get suspicious. I'll take it for a spin today and see what happens.

I will look at the self bleeding tube and make sure that is clear also.
Sadly I don't think I'm going to make it to the meet today.

Jim

[tim s]

mine was blocked & it would not allow the car to bleed properly.
it is the small hose that runs back up to the res. tank.
tim s.

[SnakeyesTx]

They appear to have brought that feature back on the E39 as both of mine have them... perhaps that hose thing proved less effective?

[Rusty Bavaria]

Yesterday afternoon I took the car our for a drive, actually back to the Chinese restaurant that I drove to Friday night when it overheated. :) Temp gauge stayed at the half way mark the whole time, no low coolant, no overheating.

Took it out again later on with no problems. Kept checking the coolant level throughout the day and the reservoir stayed full.

Just checked it this morning and the level is down slightly from the "engine cold" mark on the tank, though not enough to have the low coolant light come on, guess I'll let it go for the moment and see if it continues to drop.

I really hope I can put an end to this project.
Jim