....OK.......need help

[duckhunt]

Well today I started the following work:

Replace:

Thermostat & housing
Expansion Tank
Water Pump
Belts
Viscous fan coupling

It's been a bit of a pig so far. I'm in the process of removing all the old bits.

It started because one day I started the car, There was a loud shriek and whine, I then shut the car down, restarted and no noise. But since whenever I'm above 2.5k revs, there is a whistling/whining sound that sounds almost like a quiet supercharger? I thought it may be the belts so this is where it started. The car has got up to and maintained temperature fine.
Although I am beginning to think it may be a vacuum leak? I'm fitting M50 manifold next so depending on how this turns out if the noise is still there I can investigate further.

But I just removed the water pump:

I'm panicking a bit now, as I cant find the broken off bits, stuck my fingers in the opening but cant reach/ feel anything.

1. How bad is it that I cant find the bits and can I get to them anyhow?

2. Do you think this could be the noise culprit?

Feeling a bit disheartened, I have driven the car about 60 miles since the noise so if it was this then its not exploded anything......

Cheers.

 

[Shelly]

Good luck with all your work
I'm sure it will be worth it

 

[Rudyrov]

The Obvious....... If it made it through the engine its at the bottom of the radiator, if not... its stuck in the engine someplace. Follow the cooling system flow if possible. Also, not sure how harmful this could be, depends on parts size. Try flushing the system, backwards if possible??
Maybe this has happened to others as well.

 

[Grumps]

@Lee or @t-tony should be able to help you with this.

 

[Gundun]

if I were you I would try to flush it with a hose from the opposite direction: it's no big deal if you have some debris in the water jacket as long as they don't obstruct it (typically on new engines there's some light casting residues that do no harm). If you manage to get the big chunks out you should be fine. Then replace it with one with an aluminum impeller

 

[duckhunt]

Cool, where would I stick the hose?

Like I said no idea how long it's been like this?

The Coolant I'm emptiing is green, replacing it with bmw blue. Is a mix bad? I haven't drained the block drain plug. Cheers for the help

 

[t-tony]

If you can't feel the broken bits its most likely they're lodged somewhere safe by now. When I had that type of noise on my Z3 2.0 It was the suxilliary belt Auto tensioner bearings that we're failing.

Tony.

 

[raymond]

What about using one of these wet vacuum hoovers? Or a fish tank pump with a tube. If nothing is found I predict the parts could end up at thermostat which is where they could be now

 

[duckhunt]

What about using one of these wet vacuum hoovers? Or a fish tank pump with a tube. If nothing is found I predict the parts could end up at thermostat which is where they could be now

Yea I've taken the thermostat off, nothing. Tempted just to put it back together and crack on, if they're stuck somewhere,

 

[duckhunt]

Just had a long chat with neighbor who's worked at bmw for 20 years, said he has seen this all the time. His recommendation is to put it back together. We went around each bit of the cooling system and I'm feeling much better about it all now.
The water pump was totally knackered and making a horrible grinding sound when turning (which it shouldn't) he was surprised It hadn't overheated.
Bonus he found out that the big air con fan on the front is knackered too, doesn't spin freely. So that could be the noise, and another job to do..
So it'll be going back together tomorrow and I'm hoping for the best.

 

[t-tony]

The aux belt tensioner isn't cheap Sam but make sure the bearing is sound. Just spinning by hand doesn't necessarily mean it's ok, it can still be noisy with pressure of the belt pulling on it.

Tony.

 

[duckhunt]

The aux belt tensioner isn't cheap Sam but make sure the bearing is sound. Just spinning by hand doesn't necessarily mean it's ok, it can still be noisy with pressure of the belt pulling on it.

Tony.

Do you mean the pulley or the whole Tensioner unit?
I've replaced both Tensioner pulleys. Cheers

 

[t-tony]

I didn't think that you could get the tensioner pulley as a seperate item, but if you have it should be eliminated mate. The complete tensioner is around £55.

Tony.

 

[duckhunt]

I didn't think that you could get the tensioner pulley as a seperate item, but if you have it should be eliminated mate. The complete tensioner is around £55.

Tony.

Yea they were about £15 each from ECP.

Lots of candidates for the bad noise, some replaced. We shall see...

 

[Dino D]

For the aircon fan I've used this one for an e36:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/371139420534

Only difference is a piece of plastic trim which can be trimmed off. The same fan for a Z3 is double the price!
https://zroadster.org/threads/electric-fan.7828/page-2#post-115084

 

[Antm72]

Hopefully it will all be fine it could have been worse and as said lucky it never overheated.
Goodluck

 

[duckhunt]

Hopefully it will all be fine it could have been worse and as said lucky it never overheated.
Goodluck

I know cheers, having a few e36s, it becomes habit to keep an eye on the temp. Would like peace of mind after this.

Similar situation. Those who are familiar with the swirl flap issue, I was doing them on my e46 330d a few years back and on uncovering, one had already snapped off and got lodged an inch down the inlet, only stuck because of the soot buildup.

 

[duckhunt]

Well all sorted today, got it back together and bled Coolant. Sits spot on temperature, had a long drive today and feels smooth. And the bad noise has gone! So happy.
Ready for a Polish and wax, and m50 manifold conversion now

Shiny tips, exhaust sounds perfect, smooth and deep.

 

[t-tony]

Well all sorted today, got it back together and bled Coolant. Sits spot on temperature, had a long drive today and feels smooth. And the bad noise has gone! So happy.
Ready for a Polish and wax, and m50 manifold conversion now

Shiny tips, exhaust sounds perfect, smooth and deep.

View attachment 55135
View attachment 55136

Good to hear it's all sorted mate.

Tony.