Holy Mother of God. A Pulley tensioner and oil filter housing story

[Mtnman]

So, i was on my merry way to go pick up my son from daycare yesterday. At a stoplight, i felt a strange dip in the rpms. it was brief. The light turned green and i got about 100ft before my battery light came on. I immediately pulled into a shopping center and parked the car. I opened the hood to find the main serpentine belt was a complete mess, and something metal and cylindrical was hanging on the belt below the fan. Crap. I got a ride home and got back to the car today. Took it to my Brothers house which was about 1/2 mile away. During lunch today, i came to his house and took off the intake and radiator fan. Sitting on the splashguard was my tensionser pully. it had sheered off. One bolt was missing, but the threads were still in the hole where the bolt sheered off. Well, that sucks, but i can figure out how to drill that out. I pull the tnesioner pulley out of the car and just about pooped my pants. The other bolt that holds the tensioner pully onto the car was still attached to the pulley, and it still had a piece of metal attached to it. Holy Mother of God. To me, it looked like this was attached to frame or engine block, which meant a major repair bill.

http://i1091.photobucket.com/albums/i398/booneflyfisher/2012-02-16_15-00-30_94-1.jpg

Took the part to BMW Asheville where I have made friends with one of the techs named George. George looked at the part, and his first reaction was "Oh shit". Very similar to my reaction. Luckily, we took the part over to the computer and looked some things up. Turns out, the tensioner pulley is attached to the oil filter housing. Whew. Well, oil filter housing is $310 from BMW. (but hey, it includes new gasket!) He and the Parts guy both know that i work on my own car, and advised that i go to advanced auto to get the pulley tensioner. They said if they did it, it was a mandatory upgrade to the hydrolic one. That saved me some cash too. Luckily, i just changed my oil last week, so that oil is going to have to be removed and replaced with this repair. Figures.

Ill Try to post pics of the repair if I can keep my wits about me putting this in. Luckily, I have my son all weekend next weekend, so I may have to take a say off work to finish this next week. Oh happy happy joy joy.

/rant.

[zj96sc]

Oh wow, that would've been such a nightmare.

I'd recommend you get INA brand pulleys and tensioners and also do the hydraulic upgrade. ECS, Pelican, Tischer, bmwpartstore can all get you the parts at good cost.

[Crickett]

Wow, that sucks! I wonder how it failed like that; what gave up to cause such carnage?!

Glad to hear that the fix isn't astronomical & can be DIY'd. Good luck!

[Mtnman]

Exactly. Somehow something seized to either strain the tensioner, or kicked the belt off and that caused the strain. I wont know until I put it all back together and see if something else has failed too. Ill make sure to hand turn all the pulleys while the belts are off before I put it back together. Even knowing the fix to the current problem doesn't assure me I found the root cause. Hope I find it before it goes back together, or ill have a few days worth of diys to share.

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[Johnmadd]

Damn, crazy.

[GT172I]

It'll be fine....
http://toolmonger.com/wp-content/uploads/2006/12/post-jbweld.jpg





kidding, kidding. That's ridiculous especially to happen just sitting at idle

[az3579]

Man, you are definitely gifted to be able to fix this yourself. I can easily see a repair bill over $600 in labor alone. With parts, over a grand.
I wish you the best when you put it back together; hopefully you'll find the cause.

[RVAzhp]

that is insane...

[ryankokesh]

Holy crap.

I did the hydraulic conversion last year, and it really wasn't bad. I wasn't in this situation though :)

[kayger12]

Damn. Sorry to hear, David.

Wish I was closer. I'd come to turn the wrenches with you (and, of course, bring the beer).

[LivesNearCostco]

Don't have to drain oil to change OFH. You'll lose maybe 1/2 quart at most, IIRC.

[Ryans323i]

That's rough right there. If you need anything or extra hands let me know. Seriously.

[danewilson77]

This could have been, much, much worse.

[Hornung418]

Sucks to hear :/

5 hour fix at most. Definitely upgrade to Hydraulic Tensioner.

Courtesy of Gingerbread...

[Nomar06]

Madness!

[Mtnman]

Thanks everyone. Ryan, thx for the offer. U may be getting a call from me. I have no idea how to fix this yet. Gotta find a good diy and hope I can do it. Scratch that. I will do it.



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[danewilson77]

Thanks everyone. Ryan, thx for the offer. U may be getting a call from me. I have no idea how to fix this yet. Gotta find a good diy and hope I can do it. Scratch that. I will do it.



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:chuck

HTC Thunderbolt+TT

[Hornung418]

David, there's a relatively step-by-step DIY on Youtube for replacing your Oil Filter Housing Gasket. It will show you everything you need to know to get yours replaced.

[kayger12]

These may help.

http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthread.php?t=657887

http://www.e46fanatics.com/forum/showthread.php?t=410372


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jy0EKjuxlpY

[Hornung418]

EDIT:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jy0EKjuxlpY

This is from fellow member Scorpius.

[Hornung418]

Damn you, Keith! :keith

[kayger12]

Damn you, Keith! :keith

:rofl

[RVAzhp]

i've got lots of links bookmarked for the Oil filter housing gasket and belt replacement....i'm honestly more worried about replacing the belts/removing the fan than i am with any of the other repairs i'm doing..

[az3579]

i've got lots of links bookmarked for the Oil filter housing gasket and belt replacement....i'm honestly more worried about replacing the belts/removing the fan than i am with any of the other repairs i'm doing..

If your car is manual, those are the easy parts. :)

With an auto, the fan is a mechanical fan an may prove a bit more difficult.


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[ryankokesh]

Fan's really not as bad as everyone makes it out to be. The first time is a little tricky, but once you figure out the technique it's fine. Not really sure how to explain the "technique", but it involves using enough force to turn the nut (it's reverse threaded) but not too much force to turn the whole fan...and just the right speed. Lol. It's weird - you'll see I'm sure :)

Fwiw, I've never had any success using the fan tool. I just have one hand stabilizing the fan and the other turning the nut.


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[kayger12]

^^ This.

I was expecting a nightmare with the auto fan and was surprised to find how easy it is once you figure it out.

I used the tool, but it definitely took some finesse to get the tool and wrench in there (space is tight). I think the hammer method is probably easier, but since I bought the tools, I figured I'd use them.

That being said, now that I have a manual I definitely don't miss the auto fan...

[Mtnman]

Yup. Auto fan is easy. 32mm wrench, a hammer, a quick whack, you're loose. Unless, of course, your serpentine belt is not longer connected and the fan now has 0 resistance.... (kinda like mine just was) and you dont have a fan tool....and you are at your brothers house who has almost no tools.....Then you are in a pinch.

At that point, boys and girls, a man has to improvise. I had my 32 mm wrench and used a masonry chisel. :shifty.

[ryankokesh]

http://stopthinkingaboutme.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/macgyver.jpg

[danewilson77]

Yup. Auto fan is easy. 32mm wrench, a hammer, a quick whack, you're loose. Unless, of course, your serpentine belt is not longer connected and the fan now has 0 resistance.... (kinda like mine just was) and you dont have a fan tool....and you are at your brothers house who has almost no tools.....Then you are in a pinch.

At that point, boys and girls, a man has to improvise. I had my 32 mm wrench and used a masonry chisel. :shifty.

That's how I always did eeet.

[WOLFN8TR]

Sorry to hear about the break down. $300 for a new OFH isn't bad at all. When I did the gasket on mine it really wasn't bad just time consuming. When you take out the OFH bolts make a pattern on a piece of cardboard. As you remove the bolts stick them in the cardboard so you remember what goes where.

Good Luck!


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[Ryans323i]

Haven't heard from you today, so I guess all is going well. It's a damn yucky day, hope you're under/in some shelter.

Update?

[Mtnman]

No work happened yesterday. Just couldnt get it sorted out logistically. I got a call from BMW saying my housing is in this am though, so I hope I can get to work on it next weekend.....