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Thread: Stewart Water Pump

  1. #1
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    Stewart Water Pump

    I changed out the OEM for a Stewart at 66K. Now has 139. Auto trans. Noise sounds clutch-like to me. Sort of a rattling but only when on brake or sitting in Park. Doesn't sound like the loud marbles-in-a-can I've heard in other posts. Do any of you have a read on the life expectancy of a Stewart pump?
    Along the way, I've just changed the idler and tensioner pulleys with new belts (and new mech tensioner for the A/C). Also replaced the fan clutch. The alternator was replaced around 90K with a rebuilt from Silver Springs BMW. Hidden OBD sez voltage is correct; also shows water temp to be about 94C at idle.
    Mileage seems to trending downward: 15.6 MPG with an average speed of 19.2 (mostly local driving). Seems like I was in the middle 16's not long ago.
    TIA,
    Johnny
    Johnny Murray

  2. #2
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    I put over 100,000 miles on the Stewart pump in my e36 and never had a problem. This was after 2 BMW water pumps in less that 15,000 miles. I put one in my e46 s soon as I got it. Along with a new thermostat and other cooling system parts. I've never had a reason to regret using Stewart pumps.

  3. #3
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    Quote Originally Posted by johnjmurray View Post
    I changed out the OEM for a Stewart at 66K. Now has 139. Auto trans. Noise sounds clutch-like to me. Sort of a rattling but only when on brake or sitting in Park. Doesn't sound like the loud marbles-in-a-can I've heard in other posts. Do any of you have a read on the life expectancy of a Stewart pump?
    Along the way, I've just changed the idler and tensioner pulleys with new belts (and new mech tensioner for the A/C). Also replaced the fan clutch. The alternator was replaced around 90K with a rebuilt from Silver Springs BMW. Hidden OBD sez voltage is correct; also shows water temp to be about 94C at idle.
    Mileage seems to trending downward: 15.6 MPG with an average speed of 19.2 (mostly local driving). Seems like I was in the middle 16's not long ago.
    TIA,
    Johnny
    Are you sure the noise is coming from the water pump? Suggest you use a piece of hose as a stethoscope to poke around and isolate where it is coming from. I had a similar noise coming from our car (automatic transmission; rattling only at idle; in park or in gear) and it turned out the flex plate between the flywheel and torque converter had cracked.

  4. #4
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    Check for loose heatshields.

  5. #5
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    Thank you all. Stethoscope only seemed to pick up regular motor noises. Man, I hope it's not the flywheel. I'll see if I can capture the noise with a vid.
    Johnny Murray

  6. #6
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    Couldn't get the vid off my phone; however, based on Jackson's suggestion, I was able to park near a wall. The noise was more prominent from under the car. Goes away at 1500 RPM. As soon as this crappy weather breaks, I'll get the car on jacks and see.
    Johnny Murray

  7. #7
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    Not the flexplate. Found the water pump pulley to have a slight wobble. Swapped that out. Stewart will send me a replacement part, fabulous customer service in my opinion. That pump has been in service almost 10 years and they just said "send it in and we'll replace it".
    Because the noise is more prominent after I lift the throttle, I'm starting to lean toward the chain tensioner. I know the spring can be replaced independently. Looks like a bear getting to the nut. Other than that, pretty simple.
    Johnny Murray

  8. #8
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    Another update: Swapped-out the main timing chain spring (11411706809) and washer (07119963418). Noise is better but not gone. Only seems to appear at 1400 RPM, used to hear it from 750 thru 1500. Buzzing or sawing sort of sound, mainly on deceleration. Should I be thinking of the guides?
    Johnny Murray

  9. #9
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    Remove serpentine belt,
    Start and let run for a minute,
    Noise gone?
    Spin and replace noisey pulleys/tensioners.

  10. #10
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    Thanks, Miky. All the pulleys are new. Replaced the A/C tensioner. Belts are new. The symptom changed after I replaced the primary spring so I'm wondering about the guides. I understand that they don't usually have trouble on the M54...
    Johnny Murray

  11. #11
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    The stethoscope tells me that the sawing/buzzing noise is from the front of the motor. If I play the scope across the valve cover bolts, it's more prominent toward cylinder one. Putting the scope right on the tensioner makes the noise very clearly. As I think back to replacing the oil pan gasket, there were some chunks in the sump. At that time, I thought they were from an amateur VCG job. I now think they were parts of the tensioner assembly. (Back them there was no noise to hear.) I'm chickening out on this one and taking it to my favorite indy. Just the additional tools for the job are gonna cost me $500, plus parts, plus my time and shoulder meat.
    I'll check back later when we find out how it looks. BTW, the car just turned over 139K miles.
    Johnny Murray

  12. #12
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    Update us on what they find,
    hopefully something minor,
    Good Luck!

  13. #13
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    Well, here's what happens when you allow your significant other to talk you into taking your car to 'the guy': He agrees with my assessment that the chains/guides are at fault. Claims that the repair can't be guaranteed due to the wear that has occurred. Fix an upstream component, something downstream acts up. He wants to source and install a different motor that he claims has only 70K miles on it. I'm like 'how could replacing the motor be easier than doing the repair?'. He's telling me that the amount of labor is the same. Tells me that he will stand-by the new mill. Damn straight! Any little noise and I'll be right back.
    I'm trying to console myself with the idea that the next motor will have better mileage or something. Truth be told, the existing mill has been a lot of trouble. My guess is that it has one or more defects that aren't serious enough to blow up but just create unusual issues over time. Like why would I have to reprogram the DME or why would the O2's give it up at 80K?
    Johnny Murray

  14. #14
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    Oilpan_Chunks.jpg
    Here's a shot of the old oil pan. looks like pieces of the left guide. I can see the stud hole on the big chunk. Assuming my buzzing was when the chain came around and made contact with the bare stud.
    Johnny Murray

  15. #15
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    This is turning into the nightmare I was afraid of. We are now entering week 4 of this motor swap 'project'. The guy called me to PU the car. Put my scanner on it and got a misfire and a cat adaption. Cleared those thinking they just forgot. Drove to work about 10 miles and it starts misfiring really badly on cylinder one. They left a cracked hose on the SAP which I fixed. Then I decided to start checking fluids. The oil was about 3.5 liters too full! I pumped out over half a gallon before it registered normal full. Meanwhile, swapped coils to diag the misfire. The tip of the plug looked ok but there was a small amount of oil in the well. Swabbed and re-torqued the plug. Misfire stayed with cylinder one so I took it back to the guy. They put in another set of plugs and another injector. Can you guess what happens next? Same codes. So now he claims to have a mystery cleaner running in the fuel that ought to solve this. I asked if he ran a compression check on the used motor and got some song-and-dance. WTF? Shouldn't that be part of the process? He didn't do that in the first place?
    I know the rings in a fallow motor can seize-up, why doesn't he? So he has the car over the weekend. I told him not to give it back until it's actually ready. The next house I buy is gonna have a giant garage with a lift and a spare bay then I won't have to put up with this kind of trouble. More later...
    Johnny Murray

  16. #16
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    You are already too far into the motor swap however I don't understand why he took you down that path. Since you didn't want to personally replace the chain guides I would have found a mechanic who would do the job.


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  17. #17
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    I feel your pain Johnny,
    btw,what part of town are you in?
    PM me if you prefer.
    Last edited by MIKYZZ4; 06-02-2018 at 11:22 AM.

  18. #18
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    Thanks, charter. His claim was that the labor is similar but if he just changed out some parts of the valve train, other parts would soon crop up as bad. At that point in time, he had already disassembled the top-end. 20-20 hindsight tells me I should have just paid the grand in labor to put it all back and done the job myself. I found a thread from jritcher that illuminates the components nicely. Of course, nowhere is there a DIY for the motor in the car at the time you do the work. BTW, this is the same guy that told me I should just live with a leaky oil pan gasket. I ended up doing that job myself. Took a few days to complete overall.
    Miky, I'm on the far northwest side, in Edgebrook area. Near Skokie and Niles. Lemmeno if you want to stop by and swap stories or tools...
    Johnny Murray

  19. #19
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    Hopefully, this is the happy ending to this story. After another few days, he calls me to pick up the car again. He claims it's 100%. When I get there, he shows me the intake gasket with a break in it on cyl one. Sez he found it thru a smoke test. WTF? He has his kid learning on my motor or something. I think the kid is younger than my car. Anyhoo, I ran it easy and hard all week. Seems good to go; no further codes. Now I have to figure out why they put RTV around my DISA valve and straighten out the intake boot (clearly not installed correctly).

    Thanks to everyone who chimed-in. It's great to have a supportive community in times like this.
    Johnny
    Johnny Murray

  20. #20
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    Quote Originally Posted by johnjmurray View Post
    Hopefully, this is the happy ending to this story. After another few days, he calls me to pick up the car again. He claims it's 100%. When I get there, he shows me the intake gasket with a break in it on cyl one. Sez he found it thru a smoke test. WTF? He has his kid learning on my motor or something. I think the kid is younger than my car. Anyhoo, I ran it easy and hard all week. Seems good to go; no further codes. Now I have to figure out why they put RTV around my DISA valve and straighten out the intake boot (clearly not installed correctly).

    Thanks to everyone who chimed-in. It's great to have a supportive community in times like this.
    Johnny
    RTV on the DISA valve seems to be a common hack because the correct O-ring isn't a common size part available at a parts store and does not show up in the ETK. It's available from multiple sources on the web for just a few bucks. I buy mine from a guy on eBay. I hope that is the last clean-up you have to do!

  21. #21
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    Thanks, Jackson. Yeah, I have a spare from that guy. I had to pry the DISA off the manifold. Luckily, I didn't crack it. Took over an hour to clean up all that crap. Man, it was in the screw hole and everything. This mechanic claims to specialize in BMW, that's why I picked him. Kinda sad.
    Johnny Murray

  22. #22
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    Johnny,
    was this an actual mechanics shop,
    or some DIY/backyard/garage type of mechanic?

  23. #23
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    Btw,
    seems to me you're the better mechanic,
    and just should have done the job yourself,
    if you had the time-and the tools.

    Glad it all worked out,and it's running fine.

  24. #24
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    and it was your S/O that talked you into going to this guy? I assume since then you've had a direct and forceful conversation with that S/O about this.
    Charlie

    Your mission, should you decide to accept it, is to add value to these threads, either by pictures or by descriptions, so the next person with the same or similar problem stands on your shoulders.

  25. #25
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    Thanks, Miky. It was NCA Motorsport in Skokie. He is a former company mech. Problem is that it was his child working on my car, not him. You could tell that he was mighty embarrassed by the whole thing.
    Charlie: I'm not consulting with her about vehicular issues anymore. I had to do the oil filter housing gasket on her ZHP. She came outside after a while and was like 'waddya doing now?'. I just kept on working...
    Johnny Murray

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