I started with a leaky water pump in my '86 528e. In less of a week it leaked a little, then it leaked a lot, then it made some meanish noises on the way to the in-laws for the weekend. So we decided to Do It All that Saturday. Belts, hoses, cap and rotor, water pump and timing belt. *sigh* First trip to the auto store, and my butt kinda hurt after the severe attack on me wallet. Broinlaw thinks I'm "funny" for buying new- he wanted to go on a junkyard field trip to get me the parts.
The previous mechanic (ten years or so previous) had used a thread locker- on everything. This added hours of enjoyment whilst trying not to round off small bolt heads that are hard to get to. Second trip to the auto store, for drill bits and EZ outs, and bolt replacements.
BTW, pull the radiator, first thing. The books say you don't have to but it saves mucho time, space and probable damage if you pull it first. After you do that, spray all the bolts with PBlaster, and take off the fan clutch. Whilst I was at the store my beer luvin broinlaw decided that if that big nut was too tight he'd try to take the pulley off. No? Try taking the fan off the clutch. No? Ruh ro! I come back. There's no room for anything to do anything anymore.
Four hours of two guys playing three stooges later I finally managed to put the pulley bolts in backwards to engage the pulley enough so I can crimp the belt with some vicegrips and then *finally* break that nut loose.
Second day of a three hour job. The timing belt- was tight. The old one was tight to get off- a little off the top, a little around the sides, do it a few times more and it finally came off. The new one was a little tighter. Yes it took taking out the bottom adjuster bolt and one person pushing the spring tight before the belt finally slipped on. The big ol soft rubber hammer helped a bit. I had taken the covers, cleaned and painted them, and placed them on. Remember broinlaw? I had said don't tighten the bolts at first until we're sure, so that means that alternator bracket bolt got redid a few times, especially after he broke the rotor. Third trip to the auto store.
We get it all together. We fill it with water. We start it up. We drive it around. We make steam. We come back. Broinlaw had moved the radiator hose into the alternater pulley trying to go around the airbox after pulling and replacing the battery. (Another longish story) Fourth trip to the auto store.
AFTER I replace the hose AFTER rerouting the transmission lines back he pulls out the plastic timing cover piece and says he thought this was supposed to protect the hose. ?!?!?
Aftermath: he had thought about fixing the fan clutch (it wasn't broke) during one of my store trips, and after breaking a few small fins he decided it wasn't coming apart (I had put STP into *his* old Chevy fan clutch a few years back when he took THAT apart, and it kinda still works), so he "retensioned" the front spring bar. He told me this a few days later, when I said my heater doesn't work as good as it used to. I check. Seems that the fan works a lot more often now.
After my battery was disconnected for a day and a half the mpg meter actually worked for a couple days. It used to work once a week or so, it worked steady for a couple days afterwards, but now it's back to normal. I was going to redo the batteries on the SI board, but I noticed some fine cracks in the plastic where the two screws used to go, and telltale signs of glue. It ain't moving. It'll wait.
My power steering pump is groaning. It started up on the way back. I don't think it's related to the job we just did, unless a few days of boiling water being streamed upon it did anything. It only groans at cold starts, and when I turn the wheel.
And now there's signs of oil mist on top of the reservoir that I thought were from me maybe overfilling it. I checked and double checked the mounting bolts and adjustment, and they seem fine. So I'm juggling- Do I try a fluid flush first? Do I do a reseal? Do I just replace it? Broinlaw says he can get it from the junkyard at half the price of new ...
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