My car died :(

Malt_Vinegar · 2 Mar 2006 at 20:16

I replaced the water pump only 1.5k ish ago

Its not got any of the symptons i had from back then. I dont think its that, also because of the way the pump is on the M50 engine it usually pretty obvious when it is

Scania · 2 Mar 2006 at 20:18

Sounds pretty much like the water pump that failed on my dads 1990 e34 530i

That iirc, did pretty much the same thing.

Don't drive it, you run the risk of seriously warping the head.

Less than £80 from a specialist to fix it, the pump, not a warped head that is.

If the heads warped, the cars effectively scrap, unless you have a very cheap local garage....

Malt_Vinegar · 2 Mar 2006 at 20:22

R124/LA420 said:
Sounds pretty much like the water pump that failed on my dads 1990 e34 530i

That iirc, did pretty much the same thing.

Don't drive it, you run the risk of seriously warping the head.

Less than £80 from a specialist to fix it, the pump, not a warped head that is.

If the heads warped, the cars effectively scrap, unless you have a very cheap local garage....

The water pump has been done very recently and its not showing any of the same problems i had when it did go??

Apart from the waterloss, and it only ran slightly hot then, nothing like the way it heated on the way out this morning..

Bah, im so confused

Scania · 2 Mar 2006 at 20:30

Malt_Vinegar said:
The water pump has been done very recently and its not showing any of the same problems i had when it did go??

Apart from the waterloss, and it only ran slightly hot then, nothing like the way it heated on the way out this morning..

Bah, im so confused

Are you sure they actually replaced the pump? as I say, iirc the symptoms you describe are what my old mans e43 did, and that was the water pump, he drove the car for about 40 miles before it stopped completely and required a new head, all, thankfully for him, was under warranty at the time as the car was about 10 months old.

Have you asked on some of the BMW forums?

My £ still on the water pump however....

Malt_Vinegar · 2 Mar 2006 at 20:42

My dad is a big client of the garage. The guy knows im his son, and i really doubt he would try and do me over. Not for a simple job like a water pump, i was actually going to do it myself, but my dad gave him the go-ahead before i could say no

Looking back, it would seem it prolly nearer 3k ago it was done, not that that makes much diffo when the first one did over 180k

Plus, the actual wobbling, and horrible noise that came with it dying are now gone, and all is (was working fine again) I would be really suprised, especially seeing as it was MOTed by the same guy one Friday (I know the MOT is not a proof of a car in great condition) I asked about it and he said it felt great when he had driven it (7.2 miles according to the milometer)

Scania · 2 Mar 2006 at 20:46

Malt_Vinegar said:
My dad is a big client of the garage. The guy knows im his son, and i really doubt he would try and do me over. Not for a simple job like a water pump, i was actually going to do it myself, but my dad gave him the go-ahead before i could say no Looking back, it would seem it prolly nearer 3k ago it was done, not that that makes much diffo when the first one did over 180k

Plus, the actual wobbling, and horrible noise that came with it dying are now gone, and all is (was working fine again) I would be really suprised, especially seeing as it was MOTed by the same guy one Friday (I know the MOT is not a proof of a car in great condition) I asked about it and he said it felt great when he had driven it (7.2 miles according to the milometer)

I just hope "it felt great when he had driven it " isn't his speak fro he's given it a good thrashing! :eek:

3k ago, hmm, possible it was'nt fitted correctly, or, more likely something has been disturbed when the MOT was been carried out?

I'm a bit puzzled as to what the "wobbling, and horrible noise " could be though!

Malt_Vinegar · 2 Mar 2006 at 22:13

Ok, so i drove it home....

Any bets on what happened?

Lashout_UK · 2 Mar 2006 at 22:17

It's fine?

Or it turned into a mobile smoke screen?

agw_01 · 2 Mar 2006 at 22:17

It didn't overheat?

Lashout_UK · 2 Mar 2006 at 22:25

K'mon, don't keep us in suspense

Malt_Vinegar · 2 Mar 2006 at 22:25

Well, yer, i topped up with water. (bout 1.5 litres)

Drove home, nothing felt funny at all. Over the 10 miles it was never more than 1 degree over the middle mark on the guage.

Parked up, left it idling for 5 mins, still in the middle.

Turned it off - No warnings. left it for 45 mins, went back "BING BING - Coolant Low"

Moved it into the garage, and its a brand new garage, so im going to monitor floor markings

Lashout_UK · 2 Mar 2006 at 22:30

Well, get a good look in in the morning, sounds like you could be lucky

Malt_Vinegar · 2 Mar 2006 at 23:10

Lashout_UK said:
Well, get a good look in in the morning, sounds like you could be lucky

No can do, gotta burn off to work early again.

However on the weekend, expect a photo disection (sp? - help me out here) or where i think the fault may be

Malt_Vinegar · 5 Mar 2006 at 20:16

I managed to get a good look at my engine today, it seems its not just a coolant leak, there is a bit of an oil splattering around the block. There did seems to be some water in the oil.

So, i shall be cancelling my car insurance, SORNing the vehicle, refunding the roadtax.

Then i will need to purchase a head gasket kit. And find a manual for the M50 engine. I have never actually done anything other than a rocker gasket engine-wise before.

Then its time to get down to it. Learn my way around the Magical M50

I will try to document and photograph the removal re-build for the people of OCUK. I will start a separate thread when i start the strip. (tommorrow i should expect

)

Liverpool-Lad · 5 Mar 2006 at 20:37

SORN, cancelling roadtax? How long are you planning on taking?

Malt_Vinegar · 5 Mar 2006 at 20:44

Liverpool-Lad said:
SORN, cancelling roadtax? How long are you planning on taking?

Long time

Im going to be doing it over months, as i expect i will be doing other things aswell

I will be doing about an hour a night when i get the chance, and its also a way i can save on outgoings for a few months to pay back some more of my debt

Its also an apportunity to do things to the car that i cant do when its on the road and i want to be using it

Simon · 5 Mar 2006 at 22:41

Do you actually know the HG is at fault? A water leak will soon cause an airlock which would explain the temperature. Is the oil leak fresh?

Water in the oil or just a bit of mayo on the cap?

Might be worth making sure it is definately the HG before taking the car off the road

Malt_Vinegar · 5 Mar 2006 at 22:48

well, no i dont. im not an expert on this at all. However, there is little else i can do to know for sure?

Simon · 5 Mar 2006 at 22:56

Malt_Vinegar said:
well, no i dont. im not an expert on this at all. However, there is little else i can do to know for sure?

Compression test will help tell you if the engine is pressurising the cooling system.

To me it sounds like there was a leak which caused the overheating. You sure that oil you found wasn't there before. The higher engine temp may of caused oil to get past a seal too

Malt_Vinegar · 5 Mar 2006 at 23:05

Simon said:
Compression test will help tell you if the engine is pressurising the cooling system.

To me it sounds like there was a leak which caused the overheating. You sure that oil you found wasn't there before. The higher engine temp may of caused oil to get past a seal too

I have no way of doing a compression test, although i did google that if i do have a dodgy HG, then if i look at the expansion tank with the cap off, hold the engine at revs, the expansion tank might surge, which would be the exhaust gases exiting into the coolant?

Should i start with a total coolant system flush/re-build, then clean the engine up and see what happens?

When i say i saw water in the oil, i took the oil cap off (after it had been sat for a few days) and there was a bit of clear fluid settled on the metal part of the cap.