Water Pump??? What Happened???

[Dazed]

I have a 1995 525i with 42,000 miles. As you can see I do not drive it much.

I went to start it today and heard what sounded like very loud knocking. I thought maybe something got in the way of the fan. So I shut it off and go look. Everything looks fine and nothing is in the way. I go to start it up again and the pounding continues. I shut the engine off and now I smell some antifreeze. The radiator is about half full and I see it dripping underneath. It looks like a can of coke was opened in the engine now. I see some brown colored water drops in several areas.

So what just happened here? Does this sound like a water pump or am I in for something more drastic?

Thanks for the help

[Torque]

probably a water pump... possibly a radiator if the car hasn't been driven for a long time. If I am not mistaken antifreeze becomes corrosive after about 2 years.

Good luck, and drive that car man !

[CiscoKid]

waterpump shot... common on bimmas

[Dazed]

Appreciate the comments everyone. I will let you know what happens.

[Dazed]

Well I had some time to do a little more research today. Here is the latest. I am not mechanically inclined here so forgive me on my descriptions!

I squeezed the hose from the radiator and could hear the antifreeze start to come out. Then I looked at the fan again and spun it and noticed it was a bit close to the hose on the bottom. I am not sure what the part is called but where the radiator fan is connected to is loose. I could feel the antifreeze underneath it also. I could push it in which cleared the fan from being close to the hose at the bottom.

I am not sure how but that part worked its way loose. When I started the engine the radiator fan must have been hitting a hose causing the loud noise.

Hopefully this is the only issue. I drive this car maybe 4 times a month to get the engine warm and keep the battery charged.

Thanks again for the responses.

[Torque]

the fan is held to the rest of the engine/cooling system via a Fan Clutch.. a part that looks like shredded paper rolled up to form a circle. Maybe the fan clutch failed and it came loose somehow, or it just came loose.

Put it back on there. Then with the engine off and key removed spin the fan by hand. There should be some resistance if the fan clutch is good. Start the car and see if the fan starts to spin. If so then fan clutch is most likely ok and all you need to do is fix the leak place.