engine overheated, belt slipped off; problems

c27s26 · #1 07-23-2006, 02:34 PM

The other day while my wife was coming home from work, when she called me saying that the truck was overheating, so I told her to pull over. After she pulled over and turned the engine off the front started to steam up and antifreeze fluid was all over the engine. The belt came off the water pump, and the fan was loose and wobbly when I touched it. The housing to check and add fluid to the radiator had a crack on the side. Right away I know I need a new belt, water pump, fan blade, thermostat, coolant housing + labor. Trying to see if any one has had these problems or had these parts replaced ($). This is a 2001 X5 3.0 with 58k, and no problems to date. Trying to get an idea of the stealership prices.

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JCL · #2 07-23-2006, 03:12 PM

Some have done it recently. A search on "water pump" will find a few recent posts, with prices.

http://www.xoutpost.com/search.php?searchid=380739

hayaku · #3 07-23-2006, 05:23 PM

since your engine overheated, beware of a warped cylinder head also. both the head and the block are cast aluminum and are subject to warping when overheated. hopefully you stopped the engine in time...

sounds like your water pump failed and seized. the drive belt jumped off the pulley because the crank was still spinning it... although 58k is very low miles and you shouldn't have to worry about water pumps and other cooling issues...

Zulu95 · #4 07-23-2006, 06:25 PM

These pumps are failing as early as 30K miles. This should just not be happening in "The Ultimate Driving Machine". If the part were designed correctly it should last 90K - 100K.
Now yet another owner is looking at around $800 for parts plus fitting and may need to replace the head with the associated high costs because BMW saved a buck on the water pump pre sale.

JCL · #5 07-23-2006, 06:35 PM

Zulu95:

While I hear your frustration, mileage does not always have a direct correlation to hte failure of a water pump. Other factors, that have more of a correlation, are time (this one was five years old); condition of the coolant (whether or not it was still protecting the cooling system); and belt tension (I have no information on this example, but you would be amazed how many water pumps fail after the belts get overtightened).

We do agree that the consequences can be high due to the aluminium cylinder head that can be damaged by overheating. That just makes regular cooling system maintenance that much more important.

Just my $0.02.

Zulu95 · #6 07-23-2006, 07:39 PM

JCL,
I appreciate what you are saying and do not want to start any kind of flame war.
These water pumps are failing across many of the model ranges (6 cylinder engines.) and have been doing so for many years. I was fortunate to notice the drip at 38K and it was replaced under CPO. Others less fortunate have had an expensive repair and in a lot of cases these vehicles were BMW workshop maintained. A recent article in Roundel magazine acknowledges the fragility of BMW pumps and touts a third party replacement pump that is properly engineered. I love the vehicle but hate to see $50 parts failing and taking out $1,800 systems. If we are paying for superior engineering then everything should be superior. Other vehicles that make no such claims regularly get 100K plus out of things such as water pumps, alternators, power steering pumps and the like without failure.
Everything mechanical has a limited life. All other things being equal BMW should not have such a high failure rate for low mileage vehicles.
Again I would stress anybody with 30K+ miles on your water pump should check it regularly and start saving to have it and the belts and thermostat changed before they fail and take out your engine. My dealer changed my pump for a remanufactured OEM. I have every intention of changing it out for the $200 after market if we decide to keep the vehicle for much longer.

motordavid · #7 07-23-2006, 08:18 PM

Pretty common imo, from my fading memory
of many posts here, et al...
and from my experience: had mine done at
48K jes' under the warranty wire.

c27s26 · #8 07-23-2006, 08:53 PM

Thanks for all the feedback, my ultimate expensive machine is at 68k not 58k, that was an error. But a $50 part should not be such a pain in the a#@. Any recommendation for aftermarket or OEM internet stores.

JCL · #9 07-23-2006, 09:13 PM

Zulu95:

Appreciate your comments. I fully agree with your recommendation for owners to regularly check water pumps, and plan to change them out as a PM item. I also think that owners should be aware of the risks/costs of overheating these engines, and not continue to drive them if they do overheat. While it can't always be caught on time, in many cases it is continuing to drive it once it is overheating that pushes the bill up into the stratosphere.

Jeff

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