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Thread: Blown 528i update.....New motor advice

  1. #1
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    Blown 528i update.....New motor advice

    hooRAH, thanks for askin about status.....

    So we get over there and check the general condition of the car. Pretty nice ride...straight body, with a above average interior. Pop the hood, and it was obvious made his engine stop running. The radiator was cracked (I think thermally stressed due to excessive heat) right at the hose connection. Not the hose, but the actual radiator, where the hose attaches.

    We asked, "man....what would cause that?"...so we're looking around som more and see that bot belts are broken. We pull out the long serpentine belt, and the belt is brand new, shows no evidence of wear, but is sliced as if by a knife. We pull out the other hose for the AC (which didn't work prior to this), and this belt is severely worn and cracked and is also broke. He said all of his S1 and S2 inspections are up to date...but I can tell you....that belt probably had 100k on it...just sayin.

    So....what I think happened was this.

    THEORY
    1) AC stops working....still don't know why (could be clutch, compressor, etc....)
    2) AC Belt never changed out...gets old, and breaks.....
    3) Broken AC belt slices through new belt running accesory belt, that drives water pump.
    4) Water pump stops turning....car begins to heat up...he keeps driving for 5 minutes and the engine temp was too great for the coolant expansion tank joint ....
    5) At this point he either blew head gasket (but there is still oil level in the car), melted the top of the pistons, or cracked block.....don't know for sure...

    INDICATIONS ON SITE
    ~Oil level was present...though dirty...and a little lower than normal.
    ~Obviously no coolant remaining.
    ~Oil was present below car in driveway.
    ~Car did turn over once...but battery died.
    ~No stored codes...mmmmm

    After this happened we asked him what the first light was that he saw, when this was all going on, and said his battery light came on first (this musta been when the accesory belt got sliced)....soon thereafter....check engine.....coolant temp went high then low as he blew the coolant outta his car.

    If anyone has any goo advice where to get a rebuilt or used engine...please let me know.

    Apppreciate all the help thus far, and will post pics (I have a bunch) tomorrow, while Jason is doing his VANOS in my garage...hehe.

    Pics as promised......









    More...











    Last edited by danewilson77; 08-23-2009 at 03:44 PM.

    by Dane Wilson, on Flickr

  2. #2
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    Wow, bad day for the owner! The last pic shows the idler pulley in the center. It has very heavy fretting/wear on the pulley where the back of the belt contacts it. This looks unusual to me. Maybe, this pulley seized and caused the belt to break. Try to give it a spin and let us know. I'm Curious.

    Also, do you know the motor is kaput? I would expect there to be an overfill of oil due to coolant in there? Not always, but most of the time. Why not replace the belts, radiator and hoses and give it a try? Just get some used stuff for now. Cheaper than a new motor! Even if you have to replace the head gasket and plane the head, still cheaper.

  3. #3
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    if you look around there are m52s out there for less than 1500 bucks.

  4. #4
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    +1 on the above-----may be able to just fix it all up and drive off--if it's a 528, that would mean that it has a cast iron block--that type of block can be fixed up with a head gasket and last--alu blocks are problems when refurbishing--the head bolts sometimes strip out when doing the reinstall.

  5. #5
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    +1 on trying to see if the engine IS really seized/damaged before you start looking for a replacement.


    You might get away with a cooling system + belt overhaul.


    Also, that pulley mentioned by stoopid above definitely does not look right- I'd be curious to know what caused that wear.

  6. #6
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    The 528 for '99 and '00 (I think) had the M52TU, thus dual VANOS and aluminum blocks. I had my head gasket replaced this winter with 250,000kms on the clock and no issues with stripped threads. Don't tell anyone, but it only cost me about $600, including parts. Working like a top ever since... well, er, other than the two rear wheel speed sensors, fan clutch, vanos seals, cd changer... ;-0

  7. #7
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    Quote Originally Posted by Stoopid View Post
    The 528 for '99 and '00 (I think) had the M52TU, thus dual VANOS and aluminum blocks.
    You are correct. Dual VANOS M52TU motors have aluminum blocks.

  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by Stoopid View Post
    Wow, bad day for the owner! The last pic shows the idler pulley in the center. It has very heavy fretting/wear on the pulley where the back of the belt contacts it. This looks unusual to me. Maybe, this pulley seized and caused the belt to break. Try to give it a spin and let us know. I'm Curious.

    Also, do you know the motor is kaput? I would expect there to be an overfill of oil due to coolant in there? Not always, but most of the time. Why not replace the belts, radiator and hoses and give it a try? Just get some used stuff for now. Cheaper than a new motor! Even if you have to replace the head gasket and plane the head, still cheaper.

    Checkered Flag BMW said the engine held no compression....

    Will spin next time I see it....thanks
    Last edited by danewilson77; 08-26-2009 at 09:43 PM.

    by Dane Wilson, on Flickr

  9. #9
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    Did they mean hold no compression in the cylinders, or hold no pressure when they pressure tested the coolant system? If it is the first one, that ain't good! If it was the second one, I hope they noticed the big hole in the radiator hose!!! LOL!

  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by Poolman View Post
    +1 on the above-----may be able to just fix it all up and drive off--if it's a 528, that would mean that it has a cast iron block--that type of block can be fixed up with a head gasket and last--alu blocks are problems when refurbishing--the head bolts sometimes strip out when doing the reinstall.
    I just replaced the head on my 00 528i and the threads were stripped. I used the Time-Sert kit and put in threaded bushings. Worked great. The project was a whole lot of work, though. I can't believe that Stoopid got his head gasket replaced for $600. That's a steal.

  11. #11
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    Quote Originally Posted by Stoopid View Post
    Did they mean hold no compression in the cylinders, or hold no pressure when they pressure tested the coolant system? If it is the first one, that ain't good! If it was the second one, I hope they noticed the big hole in the radiator hose!!! LOL!
    yeah....I'm assuming they meant the first....you'd have to be a moron to tell someone #2......lol...although it was the stealership...

    by Dane Wilson, on Flickr

  12. #12
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    There's Your Problem!


    Does anybody see anything wrong with this photo? The arrow is pointing to where there is supposed to be a pulley. All that's left is the hub and inner race of the ball bearing. My guess is that the pulley failed (well, actually, it was the bearing that failed and caused the pulley to depart the engine).

    The exact same thing happened to my wife's 2000 E46 323i with basically the same engine. Bearing failed, pulley went flying, belt got shredded, battery light came on, car began to overheat within 30 seconds. Fortunately I was behind the wheel and had the presence of mind to shut it down. In the end, no damage was done beyond the pulley and belt.

    Those pulleys are crap and in addition to the one in the E46, I've replaced one in a '99 528i, my E36 M3, and an '05 325i.
    Last edited by BimmerM3inGA; 08-25-2009 at 10:54 PM.

    1998 ///M3/4/5 | 1999 528iT | 2003 Z4 3.0i

  13. #13
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    My view is that the pulleys and tensioners should be replaced with the entire cooling system by about 100k miles. It is about $600 in parts to do it all and takes much of the day for a first timer, but that is much less than the ultimate cost of deferring the maintenance.

    The E39 are great cars, but they were $40,000 to $60,000 new and you should expect to have to put a few thousand in at their "half life." In addition to the cooling system, the suspension usually also needs attention at about the same point and one can easily spend $1000 on parts (shocks, mounts, bushings).

  14. #14
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    My view is that the pulleys and tensioners should be replaced with the entire cooling system by about 100k miles. It is about $600 in parts to do it all and takes much of the day for a first timer, but that is much less than the ultimate cost of deferring the maintenance.
    Well said! It's just a fact of life that pretty much all BMWs built since the E36 3-Series in the early '90's have a 100K mile cooling system. Replace it at that interval or deal with the [very expensive] consequences.

    1998 ///M3/4/5 | 1999 528iT | 2003 Z4 3.0i

  15. #15
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    Quote Originally Posted by BimmerM3inGA View Post

    Does anybody see anything wrong with this photo? The arrow is pointing to where there is supposed to be a pulley. All that's left is the hub and inner race of the ball bearing. My guess is that the pulley failed (well, actually, it was the bearing that failed and caused the pulley to depart the engine).

    The exact same thing happened to my wife's 2000 E46 323i with basically the same engine. Bearing failed, pulley went flying, belt got shredded, battery light came on, car began to overheat within 30 seconds. Fortunately I was behind the wheel and had the presence of mind to shut it down. In the end, no damage was done beyond the pulley and belt.

    Those pulleys are crap and in addition to the one in the E46, I've replaced one in a '99 528i, my E36 M3, and an '05 325i.
    Daaaaaaaaaaaamn....guess I was too amazed by the expansion tank crack...

    by Dane Wilson, on Flickr

  16. #16
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    The drama at the expansion tank is likely a result of the pulley failure. When that thing lets go, it starts a cascade of failures.

    Honestly, though, I am a little confused about something. Has the car been sitting for a while after the "incident"? The remains of that pulley look pretty rusty - as if it's been that way for awhile. The one in my wife's E46 was highly polished after it failed. Or is it just the way it looks in the photo?

    1998 ///M3/4/5 | 1999 528iT | 2003 Z4 3.0i

  17. #17
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    No...he drove it right till he end.....I took the pics maybe 4 days after the event occurred (I guess it coulda rusted then). He did mention his AC didn't work though(for probably a year).

    Having it towed this week to my house for the engine pull. Still looking for advice on a tustworthy place to get a good rebuilt motor

    by Dane Wilson, on Flickr

  18. #18
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    Quote Originally Posted by danewilson77 View Post
    No...he drove it right till he end.....I took the pics maybe 4 days after the event occurred (I guess it coulda rusted then). He did mention his AC didn't work though(for probably a year).

    Having it towed this week to my house for the engine pull. Still looking for advice on a tustworthy place to get a good rebuilt motor
    Can't help you with a trustworthy place to get a rebuilt engine, but I would recommend just finding a good used engine and sticking it in there. Chances are it will be alot less expensive than a quality rebuild.

  19. #19
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    Quote Originally Posted by Rigmaster View Post
    Can't help you with a trustworthy place to get a rebuilt engine, but I would recommend just finding a good used engine and sticking it in there. Chances are it will be alot less expensive than a quality rebuild.
    OK...thanks for the heads up...I think I've got a bead on one for about $2500.00

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