Changing the waterpump, should I remove the radiator?

[Carrerax]

Take the thermostat housing off the W/P (4x 10mm bolts) then take the W/P under the pipe and out.

[TriX5]

Just found a post where they recommend to take the damper off the hub. So, if I take the T-stat off the pump no need to remove the damper?

Thanks for the help!

PS How does the alternator come off? Not sure I'll change but would be good to have look at that already anyway.

[Carrerax]

You need to take the t stat off and also the dampner. The alt is only 6 10mm bolts.

[TriX5]

The T-stat is off but the damper is on with Torx style bolts. Splendid, time for an outing to Sears.

I have a feeling that if I could get the tension roller for the alt belt off, I could slip it out that way but it escapes me how that comes out.

[wallyx5]

I'm stuck at removing the damper. Trying to get the bolts off and hold the damper so that it does not spinning is a real pain. I have sprayed the bolts with penetrating oil but the bolts seemed rusted on. Any tips??

Thanks.

[TriX5]

Use the 27mm socket on the central bolt to hold the main shaft.

[HEISING]

This is where a small air impact would help. Thats how I removed mine. That still doesn't remove the movement problem when you have to re- install it though.

[TriX5]

Bugger is out! The bolts for the damper were not very tight, I did not have to block at all.

I considered buying an angle impact wrench but I hardly use my regular one.....might still get one if I can get it at a good price. Certainly for this stuff is useful.

Time to look for parts.


Many thanks CarreraX!

[TriX5]

Ordered the parts from AutohausAZ, they seem to be a wellstocked source with a useful website. Pelican off-late has been hit and miss on what they stock.

Decided to let the alternator be, it is not part of the coolling system, so not sure that I agree it needs a change as part of the WP change. Most likely failure mode is a bad voltage regulator, trying to predict that break down is like trying to predict when your TV will fail.... Also, now that I have been in there I feel I understand it well enough and peeling out the alternator later-on is not such a big deal. I can see the logic the other way around. Once the alt goes might as well change WP as the cost of the WP is not too bad.

Finally, I peeked into the engine bay of my 06 and was amazed to find that BMW did things quite differently after the face lift. Should be much easier to fix the WP but not sure about the alt.

Thanks to all who helped and posted on this topic in the past! It is a rich source of reference material.

[c4racer]

ALT failed on my 4.6is at around 80K miles - unrelated to the water cooled section, it just fried. And the ALT on my 740i failed at around 75K miles or so and that was due to a leak of the cooling system portion. So I guess they can fail both ways and at any time above 60K or so miles. Would I replace mine if I were you? Can't say that I would - I would let it fail on it's own. That said I am going to do a water pump / thermo / rad replacement at 115K miles and there is nothing wrong with any of these items currently. But as we know they are going to fail, it's just a matter of when.