Rattle/squeak from front of engine

[andyglym]

The water pump bearings seized on my Seat Alhambra, locked up the timing belt, shredded it and took out the cylinder head.

I bought it from a main dealer at 60k who said the water pump had recently been changed with the belt. It went at 119k 2 years later, 2 weeks before it was going to be routinely changed with the belt again. I strongly suspect the dealer told a complete lie. If the water pump on an Alhambra is changed every 60k with the belt that shouldn't happen.

Moral of the story. For the sake of £60 for a thermostat and water pump (and that's for decent Behr/Mahle & Meyle parts respectively) and 1-2 hours of your time, always change them.

Similar on our Galaxy at 126k miles.

 

[t-tony]

The water pump bearings seized on my Seat Alhambra, locked up the timing belt, shredded it and took out the cylinder head.

I bought it from a main dealer at 60k who said the water pump had recently been changed with the belt. It went at 119k 2 years later, 2 weeks before it was going to be routinely changed with the belt again. I strongly suspect the dealer told a complete lie. If the water pump on an Alhambra is changed every 60k with the belt that shouldn't happen.

Moral of the story. For the sake of £60 for a thermostat and water pump (and that's for decent Behr/Mahle & Meyle parts respectively) and 1-2 hours of your time, always change them.

Generally speaking I would agree but a belt which was fitted with even slightly too much tension can shorten the lifespan of bearings causing premature failure.

Tony.

 

[SvenG]

Thanks all, of course, now I'm scared that we'll wreck the engine as soon we drive it

Just kidding, but the warnings are appreciated.



-Sven

 

[t-tony]

Hi Sven, don't worry unduly about using your car but best to do this repair as soon as practically possible, for safety's sake. I hope that's not a contradiction. The tensioner pulley on my Z3 2.0 got very noisy very quickly.

This was with the new one fitted, listen after 15 sec. mark when the smog pump shuts off.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUojMoDNgUQ


Then, this is the one I removed which had done approx. 75,000 miles.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3B1bWF0Lic


Tony.

 

[t-tony]

Do you ever venture up to Orlando at all? I'll be at our villa in Kissimmee from 5th. May for 3 weeks.

Tony.

 

[SvenG]

Do you ever venture up to Orlando at all? I'll be at our villa in Kissimmee from 5th. May for 3 weeks.

I'm sure we'll be up around there from time to time as there's a Costco and Trader Joe's up there. The Z3 would help us save some money since it doesn't hold a huge provisioning load

So you are migratory too ?

We'll probably be heading to Sweden for a bit at the end of May.



-Sven

 

[Bonzeau]

from Bonzo and Z3lda..... Another of our cousins from the New World with impeccable taste and class choosing a 2.8 litre Z3.

Sir, I raise my glass of Southern Comfort to you!



Bonzo.

 

[t-tony]

I'm sure we'll be up around there from time to time as there's a Costco and Trader Joe's up there. The Z3 would help us save some money since it doesn't hold a huge provisioning load

So you are migratory too ?

We'll probably be heading to Sweden for a bit at the end of May.



-Sven

Yes Sven, we get to Kissimmee twice a year for around 3 weeks each time, until I can retire from work when we hope to spend a little more time at our base and then travel across the USA. We had a few days trip up to the pan handle last year which we both enjoyed.

Tony.

 

[DavidM]

Welcome from Ireland!

 

[SvenG]

I got a quote from a BMW service place. A bit of sticker shock but it would be nice to get it taken care of, if we're not being taken to the cleaners ?

Water pump $186.78
Thermostat $105.61
Coolant $16.00
Fan Clutch $298.51
Ribbed belt $63.03
Idler pulley conversion $478.26

labor for radiator hoses , water pump . fan , and thermostat $769.39
additional labor for heater hoses that may require the intake manifold to
be removed .​

Which comes to 2330 USD.

Gulp !



-Sven

Edited because tabs don't display correctly inside text.

 

[t-tony]

Gulp indeed.

Tony.

 

[andyglym]

I got a quote from a BMW service place. A bit of sticker shock but it would be nice to get it taken care of, if we're not being taken to the cleaners ?

Water pump $186.78
Thermostat $105.61
Coolant $16.00 labor for radiator hoses , water pump . fan , and thermostat $769.39
Fan Clutch $298.51 additional labor for heater hoses that may require the intake manifold to
Ribbed belt $63.03 be removed .
Idler pulley conversion
$478.26​

Which comes to 2330 USD.

Gulp !



-Sven

A hefty sum Indeed, however, that's another 20 years in the bag. I'm circa £8k in 3 years into mine, nearly their ...........

 

[Nodzed]

 

[SvenG]

Thanks for all the advice. We bit the bullet to get potentially catastrophic issues taken care of and had the local BMW shop replace a whole bunch of hoses and seals as well as the water pump etc. In the end the radiator was exchanged too so we went to Fort Knox to get the Z3 out of hock

Despite the cost we are very happy with the result. There are still a few old-age rattles but the disturbing ones under the hood are gone. We don't feel like a breakdown is right around the corner and the Z3 is a beautiful Roadster !



-Sven

 

[t-tony]

Good news Sven. Maybe see you in Kissimmee, now it looks like it'll get you there.

Tony.

 

[SvenG]

Good news Sven. Maybe see you in Kissimmee, now it looks like it'll get you there.

Yes, since we've been stuck on the hard getting the engine in our boat• replaced we're ready for some land cruising. The plan is to drive down to the Keys in the next week or two. Kissimmee is certainly on the agenda after that.

•the boat engine story is here in part: http://www.grenander.com/Senta_II/Blog_II/Entries/2017/11/19_When_the_worst_case_strikes.html



-Sven

 

[t-tony]

We're wondering about a road trip down to the Keys in May whilst we are at the villa. Hopefully the folks down there will be back to something like normal if we go, although we realise they need tourists down there to put money into the local economy.

Tony.