Water Pump Quality

[zoner]

Try spaying some belt grip on the belt and see if that quiets the squeak- it might just be the belt, but tensioners don't last forever either. If the tensioner has never been replaced, it might be time for a new one.

[cjm1219]

I replaced the tentioner and all the pulleys last time I had this issue last year.

I just took all the belts off and the only one with play in it is the water pump. Just a little click from side to side or up and down. I think that causes my belts to wear uneven which you can see. Which then gives me a squeak on every rotation. Belt grip spray does quite it down for a little bit.

I guess I will replace the water pump again and hope for the best. Glad they are relatively cheap and easy to replace.

[zoner]

Sounds like you did everything right the first time. Did you also replace the Water pump pulley with the WP changeout? They're plastic and I once had a squeak issue on my M42 and the pulley was the culprit. I think ECS makes aluminum ones.

[cjm1219]

I didn't replace the water pump pulley as it looked fine, but will now just in case. The wiggle is definitively the water pump and not the pulley as you can grab it from the center and feel the play in it there.

Having trouble finding the pulley on ESC site. You happen to have a link?

[zoner]

ECS Aluminum WP pulley


Although, my bad- it is designed for 6 cyl. engines. I'm not sure what (if any) difference there is between pulley diameter and/or bolt pattern between M42/44 and M/S 50/52. Maybe someone can chime in on that... if it's just a diameter issue, you could possibly adjust via belt length.

[spidertri]

If you change the diameter of the pulley it will over/under drive the water pump.

[zoner]

Originally Posted by spidertri

If you change the diameter of the pulley it will over/under drive the water pump.

True, but this should only be potentially problematic in the case of the WP being underdriven. ECS claims that this pulley has an 8% overdrive, so it should be slightly smaller than the stock 6 cyl. pulley, but to know whether it would work on a 4 cyl., we'd need to know the stock diameters of both 4 cyl. and 6 cyl. pullies and whether the bolt pattern is the same between the two.

Realoem lists the M42/44 pulley diameter as 123mm, but does not give a size for the M/S 50/52 and lists different p/n's between 4 cyl. and 6 cyl. Anyone have a 6 cyl. pulley to measure? Offset may need to be taken into consideration as well. I'd definitely be interested in an aluminum pulley if the specs. line up.

Might need to make this a separate thread for future search purposes...

[paul somlo]

I learned my lesson trying to save money on a replacement water pump. My advice would be to buy the original BMW version. When I replaced all my hoses last fall, I rebuilt the cheap aftermarket water pump, replacing both the seal and bearing. Easy to do with a shop press. The parts cost was $35 delivered. If you want the source and part numbers, I'll post them here.

Paul

[6speed ti]

I replace my water pump with a metal impeller type. At the same time I replace the thermostat, hoses, tensioner and idler pulleys. I flush the cooling system and renew the Anti-freeze with a long life 50/50 mix. All this every 100,000 miles. I am at 332,000 plus miles.
So far no failures due to cooling system components.
DO NOT use a water pump with a plastic impeller.

[spidertri]

Originally Posted by zoner

True, but this should only be potentially problematic in the case of the WP being underdriven. ECS claims that this pulley has an 8% overdrive, so it should be slightly smaller than the stock 6 cyl. pulley, but to know whether it would work on a 4 cyl., we'd need to know the stock diameters of both 4 cyl. and 6 cyl. pullies and whether the bolt pattern is the same between the two.

Realoem lists the M42/44 pulley diameter as 123mm, but does not give a size for the M/S 50/52 and lists different p/n's between 4 cyl. and 6 cyl. Anyone have a 6 cyl. pulley to measure? Offset may need to be taken into consideration as well. I'd definitely be interested in an aluminum pulley if the specs. line up.

Might need to make this a separate thread for future search purposes...

I happened to look on pelican because you got me thinking, they list the M52 pulley at 132mm. So 8% is about 10mm, around 121mm, close enough to the stock M44 pulley.

Like you said though, bolt pattern and offset could be off.

[Little Green Car]

wow! 332000? I'm at 240000 and I just now had to change my water pump. I heard they should be changed every 60000. Mine was still working but it was rattling something fierce! Had the metal impeller, changed it with the cast one.

[gfab093]

Hi, I'm a new member here and a new to owning BMWs do I was just looking around for help. I'm trying to buy the saleri pump, and some new pulleys on rock auto but I can't seem to tell them apart. Just wondering if anyone had a part number for the saleri pump.

[spidertri]

I've only seen it for sale at pelican parts.