Wtf?! Water Pump?

[nirvana19]

WOW, my car COMPLETELY died on me for the first time. I was driving at 6:30 AM yesterday, not too far from my house, with the windows down (had just started driving) and I see my ABS light come on and smell something burning. Uh, oh, start to pull over immediately but its a long stretch of road. 20 seconds later as i'm about to pull over "COOLANT TEMPERATURE", I say oh crap, put car in neutral and knock off engine IMMEDIATELY and pull to the side. Pop hood and naturally, a LOT of steam coming from the engine. Step out to see a puddle of green forming under the passenger side of the car (I know it should be blue, I was about to flush/change the coolant literally tomorrow). Look into engine bay, Drive belt seems shredded (not broken yet but stripepd to half its width and pulled off water pump pulley). Couldn't find where the coolant was leaking from, and I was stranded in the middle of the road. Water Pump replaced BY DEALER a year ago, I have all the receipts from previous owner. I know this sounds like a case of poor maintenance but the car has been consistently maintained for virtually its entire life and I have the records to show it. The only thing that looks wrong is the green coolant and the hoses haven't been replaced for two years (belts just replaced). The only thing that makes sense is Water Pump locks, belt slides off pulley but keeps spinning alternator, some sort of back pressure or heat or something blows a hose off somewhere?? Is this just bad luck or did I do something wrong? Car had to be towed to a shop by AAA to Autowerke in Rockville, MD because I had to go to st. marys city for the day

[aston_jag_tech]

WOW, my car COMPLETELY died on me for the first time. I was driving at 6:30 AM yesterday, not too far from my house, with the windows down (had just started driving) and I see my ABS light come on and smell something burning. Uh, oh, start to pull over immediately but its a long stretch of road. 20 seconds later as i'm about to pull over "COOLANT TEMPERATURE", I say oh crap, put car in neutral and knock off engine IMMEDIATELY and pull to the side. Pop hood and naturally, a LOT of steam coming from the engine. Step out to see a puddle of green forming under the passenger side of the car (I know it should be blue, I was about to flush/change the coolant literally tomorrow). Look into engine bay, Drive belt seems shredded (not broken yet but stripepd to half its width and pulled off water pump pulley). Couldn't find where the coolant was leaking from, and I was stranded in the middle of the road. Water Pump replaced BY DEALER a year ago, I have all the receipts from previous owner. I know this sounds like a case of poor maintenance but the car has been consistently maintained for virtually its entire life and I have the records to show it. The only thing that looks wrong is the green coolant and the hoses haven't been replaced for two years (belts just replaced). The only thing that makes sense is Water Pump locks, belt slides off pulley but keeps spinning alternator, some sort of back pressure or heat or something blows a hose off somewhere?? Is this just bad luck or did I do something wrong? Car had to be towed to a shop by AAA to Autowerke in Rockville, MD because I had to go to st. marys city for the day

Same thing happened. ABS, ALTERNATOR, HAND BRAKE, and some other lights came on when the water pump belt shredded. Can you manually move the water pump?

[Ross]

Water pump bearing(and seal) has failed.

[JMI]

... Look into engine bay, Drive belt seems shredded (not broken yet but stripepd to half its width and pulled off water pump pulley).

The only thing that looks wrong is the green coolant and the hoses haven't been replaced for two years (belts just replaced).

Who replaced the belts? Sounds as though they may have been set too tight, leading to bearing failure.

Jim

[Dave M]

Who replaced the belts? Sounds as though they may have been set too tight, leading to bearing failure.

Jim

Is it possible to over-tighten a belt on the M30? M50 has an hydraulic tensioner. Belt too small maybe? Either way, check every accesory, puly, idler the belt contacts. I'm with Ross though, from what you've said, most likely water pump and seal.

Dave

[Sam-Son]

I've seen High performance water pumps for sale. What do these do? will they be better at keeping my car from overheating?

[Dave M]

I've seen High performance water pumps for sale. What do these do? will they be better at keeping my car from overheating?

Big question is............does your car overheat now? If no, unless you plan on putting your e34 through the ringer by towing or racing around town in stop and go traffic, a good 'stock', non-plastic impellered pump will do fine. Additional water flow under normal conditions will do no more than keep your thermostat closed longer.

My 2 nuts,

Dave

[Sam-Son]

Big question is............does your car overheat now? If no, unless you plan on putting your e34 through the ringer by towing or racing around town in stop and go traffic, a good 'stock', non-plastic impellered pump will do fine. Additional water flow under normal conditions will do no more than keep your thermostat closed longer.

My 2 nuts,

Dave

No I have zero reliability problems with my car despite the fact that I drive around like my hair is on fire. The needle is just the slightest bit to the right of the center but...

[Jon K]

Don't go with Stewart Warner pumps that claim 30% more flow etc. Its cheaper and more logical to replace a $60 pump 3 times than replace a single $200 pump. I don't buy the "more flow" stuff. Not worth it IMHO

[Bin_jammin]

Don't go with Stewart Warner pumps that claim 30% more flow etc. Its cheaper and more logical to replace a $60 pump 3 times than replace a single $200 pump. I don't buy the "more flow" stuff. Not worth it IMHO

Not when you factor in the cost of replacing a head gasket.