is this a bad fan clutch or loose bolts

[enf1945]

328i

you can see the aluminum is loose from the turning shaft. Its causing fan to wobble a bit.
also makes noise.

video enclosed[VIDEO [/VIDEO]

[shogun]

try to tighten it, 32mm open wrench and a spanner tool , the thread is left handed , here are instructions how to remove and install the fan clutch, also check the bolts holding the fan. Turn it counterclockwise to tighten it as shown in the vid https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Hr3Geh5HjA

[zellamay]

Cant' tell from that. You'll have to test. As Shogun said, first check to see if the fan/clutch is tight. First, I'd look at the 32mm nut while wiggling, to see whether it moves. If it does, then use the wrench to tighten it. If it feels tight, even though it wiggled, something is wrong. Take it off and figure out what. Actually, if it's tight then you have to take it off to find the reason it wiggled. Seems doubtful it's the water pump. It should be leaking like a sieve if it wiggles that much. ... Also, don't drive the car like that.

[pbonsalb]

How would a reverse thread nut get loose? Was the fan recently removed and installed?

[enf1945]

thanks all,

i tried to tighten it .Same thing

But i juggled it again and noticed that what its attacked to ( thing with 4 bolts) was also moving
but not as much . I didnt check that before.

When i push down on the 32 wide bolt it doesnt jiggle

does that mean its probably the Water pump ????

[shogun]

probably the bolts which hold the blade on the clutch are lose, check these, see my video in post above, depending on model the fan clutch has 3 or 4 bolts for the blade.

[enf1945]

The blade is solid on the fan clutch. Plus when i turned the big bolt i saw some anti freeze come out

[zellamay]

The blade is solid on the fan clutch. Plus when i turned the big bolt i saw some anti freeze come out

Big clue there. So, the fan is solid on the clutch (4 bolts), the clutch is tight on the water pump (32mm nut), and the whole thing wiggles while leaking antifreeze. I'd say a bad water pump. It is unusual to happen that way. Usually the first sign is water dripping down the front of the engine. Oh well, you're in there: replace it.

[enf1945]

Im posting this for others to watch out for. Noise is coming from the water pump / fan area. Notice the wobble .
Water pump isnt original. Replaced about 50k miles ago. Supposed to be metal empellar.

No idea how long its been going on but was slowly leaking coolant.

https://vimeo.com/manage/videos/710512733

[zellamay]

It was "slowly leaking coolant" and you didn't tell us that?????? They leak coolant to tell you it's time to replace, before the fan starts wobbling. Oh well, you know what to do now.

[shogun]

yes, that should have been mentioned in your first post, that coolant is leaking from the water pump. Change the water pump immy, before you have more damages.

Supposed to be metal impellar.

that is a story from yesterday, when plastic impellers were not good.
The old BMW water pumps had orange or black plastic impellers that were prone to breaking. The newer BMW water pumps have a fiber-resin composite impeller that looks like black plastic, but is much less prone to breaking; however, the stigma of the "plastic impeller" has persisted. Many aftermarket water pumps (such as Graf) have metal impellers. Theoretically, the metal impeller will wear out the bearing faster just because it's heavier and it will take more power to spin it.

quote: The pumps with cast (as opposed to welded) metal impellers, such as those made by Graf and Geba, have been found to be somewhat prone to premature bearing failure. The OE BMW pump with the composite impeller is fine for everyday use as long as you change it and other cooling system components out on a regular basis - for me, that's going to be every 60,000 miles.

[enf1945]

i didnt know the coolant was leaking from the water pump until i turned the 32 nut on fan clutch and the water pump moved; and then saw it seep out.
Before that i just thought it was one of those leaks u cant find cause its so small.

>>>>> "slowly leaking coolant" and you didn't tell us that??????

[shogun]

o.k. change the water pump and I recommend also to change the thermostat, you can keep the old t-stat for emergency. Also check the pulley belt, if that has to be changed And the coolant too.
FCP Euro has all what you need, from water pump to kits, also a good chance to change the visco clutch, as you have to remove it anyway, they have a Behr Mahle visco clutch for $ 88

[gc325is]

Change the plastic thermostat housing to metal if you can.

A Stewart's water pumps is rated the highest but cost ~ $200. Sorry the Graf ( spelling) water pump have a larger bearing about 0.5 inch diameter larger see photo 3. VS BMW OEM metal #1 and OEM plastic #2. That's a cast fan impeller not the oem welded metal that bent and leaked. I do not see the same model being sold now so was it a Graf or some other brand? I cannot tell but took a photo before it was installed. The Dinan parts shop took all the versions they had and I picked this one. Could be a GEBA

[enf1945]

water pump replaced. all noise and wobble gone .

[Eric93se]

Good you caught that in time. I still have the composite T-housing 12yrs now and composite WP made by Beck arnley embosed with BMW logo. T-housing came with car.

[shogun]

I do not see the same model being sold now so was it a Graf or some other brand?

Here you see pics of Stewart, Graf, Hepu, Saleri pumps, I have in my M3 a Graf pump since almost 8 years now, runs well, no problem at all https://www.autohausaz.com/catalog/c...ump?s=d&page=1 basically all of these are o.k., Graf and Hepu are listed there as OEM