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So for about a week or two now I have noticed a pulley squealing. I thought it was the water pump and didn't get to replacement.
While I was driving to work I heard this weird noise I can't explain, which seemed to come from behind the cluster. Not sure. It was a faint noise but I could hear it off and on. I don't know if this has anything to do with what happened but it may.
So on my way home I heard the noise once or twice again and I noticed my car was running weird. I just felt that I was going to break down or something was going to happen. About 15-20 miles into the drive home the coolant light came on. Which is weird because I filled it the other day. Kept driving. Then the battery light and abs light came on. Now I knew something was up. Next was the engine oil light, also weird as I did my oil change less than 2k miles ago. I finally got home and pulled into my dirt driveway to see what I hoped was dust.
It wasn't dust... Smoke from under the hood. I opened the hood up and I was enveloped with smoke. Grabbed my flashlight and looked around. There was (I think) coolant pretty much everywhere and smoke was coming from the front end of the motor, I couldn't tell where from. It got cold and it was too dark to take a deeper look
Did my water pump fail?
Am I fucked?

Thanks

MrHill wrote: Did my water pump fail?

Maybe. Hard to say. Could have been any of several things.

Am I fucked?

Thanks

Probably. You were only a minute or two away from home when things went south, right? No? Well you can hope and try to put water in it, but I wouldn't have very high hopes. The oil light came on? You might be looking at an engine, not just a head or head gasket.

What kind of car MrHill?

guessing it's a m30 motor...

86' 528e

MrHill wrote:86' 528e

MrHill I did not want to see you say that.

All I am going to say is that these BMW motors are very tough, tougher than most....

I really wish you the best of luck. take some pictures.

did you check your oil level after?

check what the oil looked like?

coolant too?

gosh this freaking sucks and my apologies to you.

when lights start coming on like that your supposed to pull over and check things out. not keep driving it because i think u can get home. this is exactly how so many people kill their cars so early in life.

I'm in LA...Im about to part an '84. The engine runs, I was going to do a compression test this weekend. Holla if interested.

Your biggest (and worst) mistake was hearing and feeling things going on but you kept driving! The moment you feel something is not right with your car you should pull over and at a minimum take a quick look and try to assess the situation.
I'm guessing your belt is gone and got stuck somewhere between the pulley and the motor and got burned. Hopefully you get lucky and this is all that it is.
Good Luck!

I only kept going because I was minutes from home. Time to go survey the damage. I'll take some pics. I really hope it's just the pump, as this is my dd. my one and only.

It only takes seconds to do serious damage.

Well it leaks water like a mother fucker

This water seemed to pour out of the water pump behind the fan, couldn't get a great look

Low on oil


Started it for just a second to see if anything turned. Took slightly longer to crank over. Ran to the front of the car no belts were turning, FUCK. Ran and turned it off.

How were the belts not moving? If the engine was running, the pulleys mounted on the crank/vibration damper would be turning.

Frybrid 524td wrote:How were the belts not moving? If the engine was running, the pulleys mounted on the crank/vibration damper would be turning.

Ran back out there and tried it again, I was wrong. The belt from the water pump isn't moving.
Good sign? Is it just the water pump?

That belt runs from the crank, around the water pump pulley, and around the alternator.

The battery light went on when the alternator stopped spinning and generating power.

Looks like you had a massive water pump failure and possibly (likely) cooked the engine.

So, Should I get a new water pump and belts and see what happens? What will I be looking for

Based on your intial post and almost every response I fear you have no good idea about what you are doing and need to find a mechanic who does. Someone who can asses if any damage has been done and what needs to be replaced.

If you are lucky they will determine you need a new pump, belts, coolant fill, maybe an oil change, and you can drive away. If the belt is still around the pump pulley maybe the pump seized and the coolant allowed the belt to simply slip on the pulley generating some squeeling and smoke, etc.

The oil light is the one that scares me though, that's a loss of oil pressure and very bad. If unlucky you lost all cooling or dumped coolant in the oil then cooked the motor, there is coolant in the oil, etc, etc... and you need to replace the engine. Have you pulled the dipstick to see just what the oil looks like? Do that before anything more.

btw, an engine will still run under some pretty sad conditions and the fact that it started means almost nothing here.

I'm hoping for you for the best.

Looks like the front of your engine has melted, and thus cannot keep its water inside.

Frybrid 524td wrote:How were the belts not moving? If the engine was running, the pulleys mounted on the crank/vibration damper would be turning.

Although not in this case, if the woodruff key breaks the main pulley will not turn with the motor running. So it is entirely possible to have a running car and not belts moving or pulleys turning. Part number 9: http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do ... g=11&fg=20

Hopefully this failed water pump abuse can be resolved with a proper water pump, timing belt, timing belt tensioner install.

Blue Shadow wrote:

Frybrid 524td wrote:How were the belts not moving? If the engine was running, the pulleys mounted on the crank/vibration damper would be turning.

Although not in this case, if the woodruff key breaks the main pulley will not turn with the motor running. So it is entirely possible to have a running car and not belts moving or pulleys turning. Part number 9: http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do ... g=11&fg=20

Hopefully this failed water pump abuse can be resolved with a proper water pump, timing belt, timing belt tensioner install.

Touché. Hadn't seen or heard of that failure before.

Kyle in NO wrote:Looks like the front of your engine has melted, and thus cannot keep its water inside.

MrHill wrote:Did my water pump fail?
Am I fucked?

Yes & yes. Where you work, do they have any eta engines?

davintosh wrote:

Kyle in NO wrote:Looks like the front of your engine has melted, and thus cannot keep its water inside.

I never could see the pics???

MrHill wrote: Am I fucked?

Yes.

I'd start with the easiest cheapest tings first.
The water pump is toast. Toasted. Replace it.
Check the belts while you're at it. Timing belt, maybe, also?
Add some oil. Fill it with water.
Drive it around the block.

So far what we got is symptoms. Without looking and checking, it could be the thermostat, and/or the water pump, and/or the radiator cap, etc.
If this was my car (and it kinda was a bit ago) there'd be more than one thing wrong. My brand new Bosch water pump had a porous casting, developing into a hole on the bottom. The water pissed straight out maybe two inches, onto the belts. The steam came out, the idiot lights came on, and the loud screeching started. After calming the wife down, and *finally* finding the cause, I could fix it.
Check everything. Trust nothing.

I would go ahead and replace the t-stat w/ the water pump. If the engine isn't locked up, you might be ok. You may have warped the head, though.

gidgaf wrote:My brand new Bosch water pump had a porous casting, developing into a hole on the bottom.

More Bosch water pump problems? I knew they were having problems with the M5x pumps, but M20 pumps too? I didn't even know they made pumps for these cars. I've always liked Bosch products, but I keep hearing they aren't what they used to be. Maybe when they quit being electrical oriented?

Kyle in NO wrote:

m20 fail?

I have a saleri water pump in my m30, hope those aren't shit!

wait wait wait wait

I'm an optimist, so I'm hoping for the best with this guy's motor issue.

Maybe after they started offshoring their production?
I dunno, it still seems like a nice pump, but-
there's a hole in the bottom of the casting itself.
I'm almost tempted to stick a screw in her, and see how she'd fare. At least for a spare.

It was dark, the hole is on the bottom, and it streamed directly on the belts. If it wasn't for green antifreeze, standing on my head, and trying to look up at the belts, I wouldn't have seen that two inch (maybe) spurt. I had all the symptoms of the OP, caused by that leak.

No doubt the WP gave up. That's the easy part to diagnose. Driving it farther and farther till smoke came out and the oil pressure light came on and realizing the belts were not turning is the unknown part of this equation. I think the OP needs help to solve for x.