Water pump seized in housing

Sat Jan 22, 2011 3:08 pm

Hi all I'm after a bit of help.

The water pump has gone on my 318is. Whilst trying to remove by using the two unused bolt holes to ease it out the water pump casing has snapped. My boyfriend then tried refitting the water pump pulley and using a couple of wedges behind the pulley (against the engine block) to lever it out but to no avail - it's stuck fast.

It's now soaking in a liberal spraying of WD40, but any suggestions of how to get it out would be hugely appreciated.

Thanks in advance
Shelley

Sat Jan 22, 2011 4:18 pm

Waterpump casing is alloy,block is iron,one corrodes to the other!

I would get brutal with the remains of the pump,cold chisel and a large hitting stick is required.Try not to drop bits of the pump into the water jacket.

Sat Jan 22, 2011 4:48 pm

I use a slide hammer. Need to take the lights and grille out and I have an adapter made out of a smashed viscous the screws on to the pump and a slide.

Bit of a faff, but it's never failed yet. And no chance of any damage. Where are you?

Sat Jan 22, 2011 5:40 pm

I may be wrong but i,m sure that there are bolt holes to assist the removal of the water pump on a 318 two 10 mil bolts are used, i am sure some will say so if i have it wrong.

cancel that, did not read post properly.

slide hammer it is.

Sat Jan 22, 2011 6:20 pm

Thanks for the suggestions, we'll give them a go in the morning.

We're on Hayling Island, near Portsmouth.

Sun Jan 23, 2011 2:55 am

Daimlerman, are you sure the block is iron? My bf thinks the front casing is aluminium.

After a night of WD40 soaking he's going to try putting the pulley back on the water pump and using wedges behind the pulley to wedge it off.

Sun Jan 23, 2011 4:12 pm

it took me over an hour to get mine off,it was hard work.

Mon Jan 24, 2011 9:37 am

OP, the cylinder head is aluminium whereas and the water pump sits in the block, which is cast iron. But! the bit of the block the pump goes into has a cover, which I believe is aluminium.

So yes, +1 on trying to rotate it very slightly, just enough to break the "weld". The fit on these pumps is very tight anyway , as you'll see when you get the new one in.

I was lucky when I did mine - broke the top tang off but the other held on and I was able to free it in about 5 minutes by tapping the old pump vigorously with a drift.

e: If it hasn't been done recently, and as you didn't mention it, I'd replace the thermostat while you have the fan off and the cooling system drained. The thermostat and a new gasket are cheap.

Mon Jan 24, 2011 2:19 pm

Thanks all, it's out!

lot of brute force but eventually he did get it to rotate and come out. Took about 2 hours though.

Now trying to find a replacement pulley which is proving just as hard!!

Wed Jan 26, 2011 4:30 pm

Hello again

Well, it all went back together, but with a leak. So today my bf has spent nearly the whole day taking it all apart again and checking everything, putting it all back together and there's still a leak!

It's a big leak apparently - water is coming out as fast as he can pour it in.

The leak is all around the housing. He hates being defeated or giving up on a job but he's starting to swear now so it's not good!

Any ideas why it's leaking and how to sort it out?

Thanks in advance, again.

Shel

Wed Jan 26, 2011 4:48 pm

part catalogue shows an o-ring seal item 2

http://bmwfans.info/parts/catalog/E30/2 ... hermostat/

other than that the housing is to badly corroded / pitted and may need additional sealant

Wed Jan 26, 2011 4:59 pm

Thanks Lemmy

The new water pump came with an o-ring seal and additional sealant was used (silicone/nstant gasket stuff) plus a bit of leak stop.

I've just been outside to have a look - we have a lake where we used to have parking!

Wed Jan 26, 2011 5:37 pm

Well it's gonna have to come out again and check that that the housing isn't cracked and that the o-ring is seated correctly.

Stupid question, are you sure you have the right pump?

Thu Jan 27, 2011 10:15 am

The M40 and M42 use the same pump. The M20 unit is completely different. If they have something that looks like the old pump, it must (surely?) be correct.

Are the belts properly aligned? I.e. is the pump actually fully seated? It is a tight fit going in as well as coming out.

If it is, I would assume unfortunately you've cracked the (aluminium, timing case) cover. Hopefully only that...

http://bmwfans.info/parts/catalog/E30/2 ... ng_case-2/

Mine didn't need any additional sealant, so I fear for it to leak that badly, the cover may have been cracked during the initial battering trying to get the pump off. I don't know if you can practically take off the bottom cover in situ or how much work is involved, not having had to do it myself.

Thu Jan 27, 2011 11:33 pm

Update.

The car was taken apart for the third time, everything was very carefully inspected - no sign of any cracks in the cover, the water pump fits snug and bolt holes align perfectly. The pump itself is a perfect match to the old part so we definitely have the right part.

This morning it was all put back together again, using a bit of sealer on the o-ring to give it a bit of help and then left for several hours to set. This evening filled the bugger up with water. He lasted about five minutes with the engine running and then blew again - peeing out (to quote my bf).

Despite saying he's given up on it, he hates being beaten and so tomorrow he's going to take the fan off and then run it then to see what he can see.

Pics of the greasy bits:

Thu Jan 27, 2011 11:41 pm

I get the feeling the phrase "profile gasket" is going to appear in this thread soon!
How sure are you that the original water pump was leaking?

Fri Jan 28, 2011 11:04 am

Brianmoooore wrote:I get the feeling the phrase "profile gasket" is going to appear in this thread soon!
How sure are you that the original water pump was leaking?

Oh don't!

Further investigation today on everything but the water pump. Watch this space...

In the meanwhile I'm avidly reading the for sale section!

Sat Aug 03, 2013 7:41 pm

willnz wrote:Get a large plumbers wrench onto the front of the pump housing and try to rotate the pump. You may need to add a pipe onto the wrench for extra leverage. You may have to try to rock it back and forth but it will free eventually and turn. Once it turns, it should be easy to extract. Keep spraying WD40.

The casing around the pump is aluminium so be careful if using a chisel/wedges. Rather get it to rotate first.

Thanks for this tip you saved me a world of pain.