Belt and Overheating Help...
 

So far I've found this site today and it has been really helpful. Here is the prob. I just bought this 4 months ago and I already had to put in a new fuel filter and fuel pump. Yesterday I turned the car on and it sounded like I had a loose belt, but everything was okay and I drove to a job interview. Later that day when I was driving home on the lovely LA freeway, my temp gauge was going into the red zone. I pulled over and waited for it to cool down. My water looked low, so I topped it off and I saw some steam. I waited until the temp gauge was okay and began driving again and guess what, it happened again. Upon closer inspection, I saw that it looked like my belt fell off, I mean, there was NO belt. The car still started and I was able to drive it home, but had to pull over every 10 mins to fill it with more water and wait for it to cool down. As I filled it with water, it started to leak and then almost pour out of the bottom of where the 2 water hoses meet on the engine. I thought that I was dead, but after reading some posts, I'm thinking that it's maybe the water pump? Anyways, it starts and runs, but it looses water, overheats and now I need a belt. Please tell me what the name of this belt is.
Here is the deal, I took 2 years of autoshop back in 1998 & 99 in high school, but my teacher drank tons during class, so needless to say I didn't learn much. What do you guys think I need to get and do you think I can fix this on my own? I'd love to take it in, but I just bought it for 5k and 3 weeks ago put $800 into it. All I want to do is go to job interviews and make money, but now my car won't even run. Damn, life sucks sometimes. Thanks in advanced for the help.

I think the water pump is a good first start

Just to be down and dirty right now, there is probably a fair amount of attention this car will need, but you can handle that after you start bringing in some (more) bucks. Weak spots with these cars, at least of your (and my) vintage included the cooling system, by that I mean not only the water pump, but also the radiator. The problem with the pump was the plastic/ceramic impeller, which you may well have, and which needs to be changed out (it's a DIY job) even if this isn't the cause of your immediate problem. The radiator is prone to break at the connections with the hoses (trust me on this), and I suspect that's where your problem is now, with the neck fractured off in the collar of one of the hoses. The radiator is also a DIY job, especially for someone with your background. Check the Knowledge Base link on this site, as well as the tech advisories at Pelicanparts.com, for some step-by-step instructions on these projects.

Hi,

Firstly the belt has several names...most commonly serpentine belt, auxillary belt and it's sometimes called a fan belt.

You should be able to tell if the belt is gone as you will lose power steering because it also is powered by that belt along with air con (if you have it).

You need to find out exactly where the water is coming from, it sounds like you are saying it's coming from where the rad pipes meet the thermostat housing (which is a kind of a straight but almost L shape bolted onto the engine). Find out whether the water is coming from the pipes (which may not be connected properly or split) or whether its coming from the metal housing itself.

If water is coming from the pipes, you will need to replace whichever one is leaking and also replacing the hose clips would be a good idea.
If it is coming from the metal housing your fault is probably a jammed thermostat which may have blown the gasket from the water pressure causing it to leak. In this case you will need to replace the thermostat and gasket which is an easy task. I can help you more if you can identify where it's coming from.

You should be able to fix this yourself as long as you have some experience with a spanner :) and obviously don't forget to get that new belt. (make sure its the right one as they are all different).

Hope that helps and good luck fixing your ultimate driving machine :)

P.S. One small tip...buy a service/repair manual, they are lifesavers and can save you a LOT of money.

If anyone has anything to add or if i have made a mistake, please correct me, I'm only going by previous experience plus it's late and I'm tired lol.

Stiff

Thanks guys...
 

for the help

Just remembered something, check this out http://www.unofficialbmw.com/all/eng...asket_faq.html but not sure if it affects your model year.

You guys rock. Thank you soooo much!!!

What I read tells me that your belt tore. With no drive belt, your water pump was not running anymore, which explains the overheating. Since you lost the contents of your cooling system (replacing the coolant mix with water isn't the best thing for the long term), I would recommend that you do a coolant change, and take the chance to change your water pump, thermostat, hoses and perhaps even the radiator. This will save you a lot of trouble and will give you peace of mind in the future.

How did your interview go?

Thanks for the help. I was going to a contract placement agency for a tech job making $60k. I have a strong background in sales, so when I went in the 2 people interviewing me told me that I could get a recruiting position with their company and make $80-150k. I told them that I really just needed a job, but they told me I was a shoe-in so of course I went for the recruiting job. GUESS WHAT??? When I called today, they told me that I didn't get the recruiting job, even though I was the CFO at a mortgage bank for my last job, oh yeah, and the tech job was filled too. I hate people sometimes. So now, I'm sitting here jobless, the company I was with closed down, and my car isn't running either. Since the company I was with didn't make money and we tried to salvage it for the last 7 months, needless to say I don't have the money to take my car in. Hell, I even have to borrow cash to get the parts. Anyway, thanks for the help and I'm looking into pricing the parts now. Thanks for all of the help everyone.

Sorry to hear of all that travail and duplicity, it sure doesn't leave one with unbounded faith in humanity. Well, as the song lyric goes, "take a deep breath, brush yourself off..." At least this forum will be here to help out on the automotive end of things.

I know your short on cash but you should not drive the car when its overheating like that, you will blow the head gasket. Get it towed next time.

Sounds like you need a belt. Get a Bentley manual for the car and put a new belt on it. The manual will give you step by step instructions. Hopefully you have some tools lying around.

Leaking...
 

Ok, I think I can handle putting on the belt, I'm picking one up tomorrow. When I was driving home after the belt fell off, I had to keep on stopping to put in water. I then noticed a BIG leak right below where the 2 hoses meet on the 2 way silver metal connection. I put a yellow arrow next to where I'm talking about on the attached picture. Do you guys know what that is leaking and what I'll need to get it fixed? THANK YOU AGAIN!!!

Thats the thermostat housing.

If its leaking from there then you will need the gasket set for the thermostat housing, are you sure that thermostat is working correctly?

One way to test whether its opening all the way to let collant into the engine is to feel the hose on the right in the picture, if its hot then coolant is circulating. Also another way to tell is to get in the car and turn the heat on, if it blows hot air then it opens if the air stays cold even after the car should have warmed up by now then its not circulating.