Overheating, no power steering, but alternator still fine

[MrUgly323]

So here’s an interesting one. I’ve got an ‘00 323ci with a m52tub28 that, this morning, started overheating this morning and the power steering isn’t working. But I don’t have a charging systems light on.

The serpentine belt is still there, only about 2 months old. When running, the belt is being driven, and all the accessories are spinning including the idler and tensioner.

My best guess as of now is that the tensioner is bad.

My hesitation is that the tensioner doesn’t seem like something to go bad overnight, and it seems like the water pump would be easier to drive than the alternator, and there’s no belt squeal going on.

Any help would be appreciated.

[Critter7r]

power steering pump failure isn't uncommon (the shaft breaks and separates the pulley from the vanes doing the pumping, even while everything appears to be operating normally by looking at the belt). And the overheating may be unrelated. Did you check the coolant level? Pressure test for leaks? When was the last time the water pump was replaced? T-stat?

[MrUgly323]

T-stat 3 weeks ago, has not overheated since then except today. Verified by cluster test 7.
Water pump 1 yeah ago and 10,000 miles with metal propeller and metal pulley.
coolant level is good. Didn’t pressure test for leaks because it hasn’t leaked.

im 100% sure that the overheating and power steering failure happened at the same time (due to a lot of small details that all changed at once).