Battery light flickering and smoke

[bcredliner]

I suggest getting a second opinion for a well recommended BMW specialist Indy shop. If you are losing power steering fluid the fluid level has to go down. And, if fluid is shorting out the alternator or causing the belt to slip at the alternator pulley there should be clear evidence of power steering fluid in that area.

[Canadian-boy]

Well there is oil all over alternator but def from past events. Pump has been changed for previous PS leak a yr ago. I haven't added a drop of pwsf since march and its not low?? Would you concere that Are they are bending me over? Lol

[bcredliner]

It wouldn't be the first time that has happened.

Are there any other power steering issues--like sometimes it the steering wheel is jerky when you turn or at full lock you a squeal or if you are moving at an idle and turn the wheel abruptly it is unusually hard to turn?

[Canadian-boy]

Nope never had any issues with turning or jerking?

Well when I went back to pick up my truck after my last post earlier, I asked the BMW adviser if he was absolutely sure the PS was leaking into alternator. I had already told him this morning that the grease on alternator was from a year ago when there was a PS hose leaking but that it had been changed twice .

This morning I had asked them to check the pulley's/ tensioners/ and said there is def something wrong because of the noise aka metal on metal sound and have reason to believe its a pulley/ tensioner etc.. After the diagnoses the advisor had told me That i had to change my alternator cause it was the bearing/pulley on it that was making the noise, change my battery cause it was the original & was weak, and change the hoses on PS reservoir because of leak and this was the cause for my battery flicker and the smoke and said nothing else was wrong and that pulley's/tensioners etc..were all good.

I didn't believe him and that was mostly because he said when we hooked it up to machine it said there was power steering leak. ( Even tho im not a mechanic, i knew this was close to imposible) considering that ive seen no leaks and never had to put fluid in resevoir)? So I asked him to bring my truck in and show me where its leaking. They brought it back in, then They asked me if I engine washed my truck recently and I told them NO I have never done it, just sprayed engine with armorall 2 months ago and they didn't believe me cause its so clean except for oil on alternator. Not only could they NOT show me where the leak from my power steering was, I Asked them to show me the charging and voltage of my alternator and battery and all proved to be A-OK. I then demanded them to take off the serpentine belt and check pulley's in front of me, and low and behold, alternator pulley/bearing was fine, but alternator hydraulic tensioner was absolutely finished and so was my serpentine belt! Belt was cracked and disintegrating !? I then said, Are u sure you diagnosed the right truck today buddy? I was so furious !

At that point I went back inside and spoke to a manager to voice my disgust with the false info and poor service I received, i was literally screaming and everyone was looking at me ! finally i was told we're really sorry about that sir, we were extremely busy and there must of been a miscommunication, so there's no charge for you today, we hope you'll come back to give us a second chance !!!? Are you FN kidding me? Was quoted 855$ to change an alternator that still works perfectly, $300 for a battery that didnt need changing plus another 600$ of misc parts,labour and taxes. Original quote Was a total of 1744$ for things that didnt need changed and when I finally left 2hrs ago, the proper quote was 70$ for tensioner and 50$ for serpentine belt ! Only a difference of 1600$ ???

Wow !!! What an experience and no wonder they've gotten a nickname for being the Stealer ship !! Unbelievable !!?? I'm speechless !!

[upallnight]

They aren't called STEALERS for no reasons. Most owners that have a factory warranty or a CPO warranty would not had care about the cost of the repair since the factory is picking up the repair, but that just cause the factory to raise the cost of the cars to everyone to cover their lost on factory warranty.

[stevekat]

The question is it incompetence, malfeasance or both.

Originally Posted by Canadian-boy

Nope never had any issues with turning or jerking?

Well when I went back to pick up my truck after my last post earlier, I asked the BMW adviser if he was absolutely sure the PS was leaking into alternator. I had already told him this morning that the grease on alternator was from a year ago when there was a PS hose leaking but that it had been changed twice .

This morning I had asked them to check the pulley's/ tensioners/ and said there is def something wrong because of the noise aka metal on metal sound and have reason to believe its a pulley/ tensioner etc.. After the diagnoses the advisor had told me That i had to change my alternator cause it was the bearing/pulley on it that was making the noise, change my battery cause it was the original & was weak, and change the hoses on PS reservoir because of leak and this was the cause for my battery flicker and the smoke and said nothing else was wrong and that pulley's/tensioners etc..were all good.

I didn't believe him and that was mostly because he said when we hooked it up to machine it said there was power steering leak. ( Even tho im not a mechanic, i knew this was close to imposible) considering that ive seen no leaks and never had to put fluid in resevoir)? So I asked him to bring my truck in and show me where its leaking. They brought it back in, then They asked me if I engine washed my truck recently and I told them NO I have never done it, just sprayed engine with armorall 2 months ago and they didn't believe me cause its so clean except for oil on alternator. Not only could they NOT show me where the leak from my power steering was, I Asked them to show me the charging and voltage of my alternator and battery and all proved to be A-OK. I then demanded them to take off the serpentine belt and check pulley's in front of me, and low and behold, alternator pulley/bearing was fine, but alternator hydraulic tensioner was absolutely finished and so was my serpentine belt! Belt was cracked and disintegrating !? I then said, Are u sure you diagnosed the right truck today buddy? I was so furious !

At that point I went back inside and spoke to a manager to voice my disgust with the false info and poor service I received, i was literally screaming and everyone was looking at me ! finally i was told we're really sorry about that sir, we were extremely busy and there must of been a miscommunication, so there's no charge for you today, we hope you'll come back to give us a second chance !!!? Are you FN kidding me? Was quoted 855$ to change an alternator that still works perfectly, $300 for a battery that didnt need changing plus another 600$ of misc parts,labour and taxes. Original quote Was a total of 1744$ for things that didnt need changed and when I finally left 2hrs ago, the proper quote was 70$ for tensioner and 50$ for serpentine belt ! Only a difference of 1600$ ???

Wow !!! What an experience and no wonder they've gotten a nickname for being the Stealer ship !! Unbelievable !!?? I'm speechless !!

[bcredliner]

Is everything good to go are are you going to DIY?

[Canadian-boy]

Originally Posted by bcredliner

Is everything good to go are are you going to DIY?

I'm thinkin maybe a DIY for my tensioner n belt. I should of just had stealer do it yesterday but i was so put off in the end I just wanted to leave there and get myself a drink to calm down i was ready to spend a few hundred anyways, but i cant stand being taken for a fool!

Am Waiting for either a warm break in the weather as its -11 today, but may also bring to regular mechanic. Belt and tensioner should be feasible by anyone as even I'm 100% certain I could do it with directions. I have a developed a certain distrust for mechanics with this truck as I've had quite a few bad experiences so far with people trying to screw me simply because its a BMW and they seem to assume you have money to throw at them. I'd like to find a trustable mechanic, and those seem to be hard to come by? I'm lookin though

[Canadian-boy]

So I just wanted to do an update. I ended up attacking this DIY today cause it was a beautiful 3 degrees outside! Not kidding ! For you people in the U.S thats about 34deg F . Was warm in the sun (kinda..and only if ur canadian You'd understand )

So i took off top cover over rad, unscrewed fan, popped out fan housing, air filterbox, popped off AC belt which i didnt even know i had? thought there was only 1 belt that connected everything! Oops, but thank god that belt was like new cause i only had purchased the other main drive serpentine belt. noob ! lol.. So i took off both belts, cleaned oil off of the alternator using an electronics cleaner ( was actually MAF sensor cleaner) and it worked great, then saw that it was the hose on power steering resevoir that had been spiradically dripping from connection ( more like sweating from the top of hose above clamp) and dribbling down the hose to the bend and then dripping onto alternator. I used wire cutters and clipped off the clamp and put a new .99c$ adjustable clamp on hose. Changed tensioner, put back both belts, fan and housing and.......drummmmrollll
She now purrs like a kitten and no more leaking from hose

So on a final conclusion, that video I did with that metal on metal sound was definately the hydraulic pulley tensioner. It was slightly loose and I wouldn't have thought that the little play it had was the cause for that noise, but it was. And the smoke, most certainly was a drip every now and then from power steering resevoir hose that would drop into alternator and also cause battery light to flicker.

Final price..26$ drive belt, 27$ pulley tensioner, 7$ sensor cleaner, .99c$ clamp
Total 61$ 2 beers and 1hour and 20 min of my time. Well worth every penny and very gratifying that I fixed it by myself. Also saved 1650$ difference which is what stealer quoted me ) glad i didn't leave it with them to fix blindly.

[Brandon002]

Glad you got the issue fixed man. Nothing more satisfying than solving the problem on your own.

I feel your pain too. Last week it was in the 20's (farenheit) in Chicago. I had to replace my alternator three times that week thanks to faulty remans..