HELP: M42 Drive Belt

[nugentnsb]

The engine overheated so I pulled over. checked the belt and it was loose. damaged. Looked under and saw coolant leak.

Should I just replace the belt? Add coolant? I have to drive 40 miles to get home.

What do you think caused the coolant leak?

[Dj Buttchug]

uhhhh.... how bad did you overheat it? If its not holding fluid then its unlikely you will make that 40 miles home without damaging the engine.

[nugentnsb]

I didnt see any smoke come out. And stopped ASAP as I saw the needle head over to the farthest right.

[Dj Buttchug]

where is the coolant coming from? drivers side or pass side?

[nugentnsb]

it was closer to the middle left. If you look from the front of the car.

[Dj Buttchug]

okay. if its middle left standing in front of the car its most likely somewhere here. Either tstat housing gasket or water pump gave up the ghost. Water pump failure could have caused the belt to shred or become damaged. for reference All tstat/ waterpump leaks will run down off the passengers side of the oil pan. All other areas of major leaking problems will be under the intake and send fluid down the drivers side of the engine and towards the transmission bell housing.



top where tstat goes and below where waterpump is.

[nugentnsb]

yeah the I examined the belt and some teeth were missing , and i saw some sthreds. so tow the car home?

[Dj Buttchug]

it depends how much coolant you are losing and if the belt will still spin the water pump.
its hard to say without some pics

[nugentnsb]

does autozone sell alternator belts? I cant seem to find on their website

[Dj Buttchug]

im sure they have one there. its a common v belt

[nugentnsb]

Thanks Im gonna check on the car tomorrow, hopefully the new belt works if not i guess im towing it

[romeomike]

If the belt fixes it, great. If not, towing is the safe way to go.

That being said, about 11 years ago I limped my 91 318i for almost 25 miles after the water pump seized and threw the belt. It was mostly a gentle downhill descent and not too many traffic lights, so that was a great help. I ran the car up to speed, then turned off the ignition and drifted in neutral for as long as I could before repeating the sequence until I had it in front of a repair facility. Still have the car today, and it has over 222,000 miles on the original motor/head.

[monty23psk]

if you are leaking then you will keep heating the motor up unless you can drive it to keep it from getting hot. I would suggest not driving it over 3/4 to play it safe. Just pull over and wait until temp is back to 1/4 before starting again. Do not run AC, only causes more heat and have the heater on. I know, it sucks but that will help. you can also jump the aux fan with alligator wire clips to keep it cool also. GL.

[nugentnsb]

UPDATES!

Added more coolant to the radiator, cause I guess it leaked most of it out. Put new belt on it, and runs fines now, the needles stays @ half.

But I'm wondering where the coolant leaked from?

Was it cause the pressure built up and escaped somehow? The car doesnt leak anymore btw. I drove the 40 miles home with no problems.

[nugentnsb]

If the belt fixes it, great. If not, towing is the safe way to go.

That being said, about 11 years ago I limped my 91 318i for almost 25 miles after the water pump seized and threw the belt. It was mostly a gentle downhill descent and not too many traffic lights, so that was a great help. I ran the car up to speed, then turned off the ignition and drifted in neutral for as long as I could before repeating the sequence until I had it in front of a repair facility. Still have the car today, and it has over 222,000 miles on the original motor/head.

25 miles??!?!?!? lol I limped it like 3 miles and got paranoid that the engine was damaged.