| Options for electric air/smog pump...?
Our 97 328iS started making a screeching sound at cold startup for a couple of minutes and now the check engine light has come on (may be related, maybe not or pump has affected O2 sensor...) and pump seems to have died. I traced the sound to what appears to be an electric air or 'smog' pump mounted in front of the passenger firewall. Car is coming up on 8 years and 90K mi ...
I pulled the pump/motor tonight and pried off teh back of it - whew! does it stink! Smells VERY 'burned'. I drilled out the rivets to expose teh impeller hoping I'd be able to access the motor and see if new brushes/bushings could fix it. Clearly it is NOT designed to be serviced. The impeller wouldnt' even turn until I put a vice grip on it and loosened it up. I applied 12V to the 2 leads on the motor - NOTHING. Anyway the impeller is pressed on w/ some sort of metal retainer that probably has to be (descructively) ground off and that's as far as I took it. Odds are even if I could fully access the motor it would need parts that are not available in service.
So before I call the stealer and have a heart attack at the price quoted...
Q: Does anybody 'rebuild' these or offer a rebuld service for them?
Q: Are there any good online or mailorder sources for a replacement that might be considerably cheaper than the dealer?
Q: What about the bypass valve thingee off the side of the manifold? Can it be bad and how do I test it?
thanks
PS: [soapbox] - I'm all for progress and all that but the shift by carmakers towards electrics to replace what were commonly accessory belt driven does seem to have it's downside - old school belt pumps were literally lifetime parts. This one could very well be a routine 10yr/100k part at a very onerous price. [/soapbox] | 
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