Damn cooling system

[ebelizard]

So im entirely too aggrivated.....

I was going to change the water pump in my car when

the fan clutch wrench i rented is slightly too big, apparently BMW is entirely too specific about the size....32mm.

So i figured i take out the pulley bolts, slide the pulley foward, remove the pump, and then replace it with a new water pump, pulley and fan clutch....

Trying to take the 4 pulley bolts off the water pump pulley, 1 got stripped. what the hell do i do now, and Where the hell can i get another???

[Hamfisted]

The pulley retaining bolts are 6mm x 12mm. So if you can get one out you can run over to a local Ace Hardware and pick up another one for about 25 cents. What is actually stripped? The bolt head (as in rounded off)? Or is the hole in the waterpump shaft head stripped? If it's the waterpump it doesn't matter because you were going to install a new one right? If it's the bolt head you can go to your local Sears and look in the tool department for damaged bolt remover low profile sockets Craftsman Low Profile Damaged Bolt Remover Kit $30. They are black, and available in stubby height so they will fit into tight areas. While you're at Sears you might want to just buy a 32mm open end wrench to use on the fan clutch nut, in case all this other stuff doesn't work out. Then there's the ViseGrip technique, but I know that area is pretty tight and I don't think you'll have much luck with ViseGrips.
Were you using 6pt wrenches? Because 12pt wrenches will round the crap out of anything you work on. Maybe buy a new set of 6pt wrenches and sockets while you're there too. Last but not least is resorting to the old Chevy technique of hammer and chisel to cut the head off the damaged bolt. Good luck, its just a long tedious process.


-Mike





Craftsman Low Profile Damaged Bolt Remover Kit...... Sears

[ebelizard]

yea the head of the bolt is rounded off, and unfortunately i did use a 12pt box wrench. I do however need the last two bolt heads (because i snapped ANOTHER one off) for a tool to hold the pulley while i unscrew the fan clutch nut.

I called BMW and asked them about the nuts and they said they were 6mm by 10mm....? Anyway, im going to bring the last good bolt into a hardware store, give them the specs and ask for a whole new box

Do you think theres clearance for me to remove the pulley bolts and just slide the pulley forward just a bit to reach the water pump bolts?

[Hamfisted]

Really it's too tight in there to get to those bolts without pulling the fan and pulley off. Its a pain in the butt. You can try one of those wrap around band wrenches on to hold the pulley while you remove the 32mm fan nut, it may take two people to do the job. I've done it myself before just wrapping an old fan belt around the pulley and clamping it with some ViseGrips. The nut isn't welded on so it should loosen fairly easy. Its a reverse threaded nut though, so it loosens in the opposite way you would normally loosen a nut. Like it turns clockwise to loosen it. That fuks up a lot of people when they do this job. Good luck.




-Mike

[BImmerN2B]

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