LQ4/T56 into 2001 BMW 540i
07-08-2013, 11:55 PM
#241
07-12-2013, 07:44 AM
#244
Well, it officially sounds like a 1988 Buick going down the road...
Over the past few weeks I had been getting a slight belt squeal during cold starts and during the first 10 minutes of driving. Once the engine warmed up it went away, but when cold it was present. The sound is clearly coming from the driver's side of the accessory system. While increasing revs in the garage I could tell it sounded like:
-idler pulley (which came on a bracket I bought used)
-alternator (which came with the drivetrain a year ago, and the bearings were grinding back then).
Made sense to replace the cheaper one so I threw in an OEM idler, and the noise did not change. Replaced the alternator with an Autozone unit, and suddenly the noise is severely worse. At hot idle it's not there, but as soon as I go above 1200 RPM we have a loud squeal.
Water pump is a low mileage used unit
Belt tensioner is a new rockauto unit
Power steering pump is a low mileage used unit
I'm assuming it's one of the following:
-Alternator is bad. It charges fine and the bearings made zero noise before putting it in, so I doubt this.
-Alternator pulley is now SLIGHTLY misaligned with the rest of the system due to manufacturing tolerances, causing causing enough belt misalignment to make noise.
-Belt is bad
-One of the other accessories suddenly went bad and is making noise internally (doubt it)
I plan on running it tonight and spraying the belt with water to see if it quiets it down. Will run it without the belt as well to rule out an accessory being bad internally.
I also diagnosed a severe clunk I was getting from the driveshaft under hard launches. Thought it was one of the diff bushings causing that pig to move around, but it turned out it was the CSB (which is original to the car). It's a shame because I bought a new CSB months ago and asked Fleet Pride to install it for me when they welded on the slip yoke. They "couldn't get the nut off" on the center section, but I think it was more of a case of it being late on a Friday and them being too lazy to get it done. So now I have to try to find that new CSB somewhere in my pile of parts and do it myself, hopefully it's not too much of a pain.
On the brighter side of things while I was underneath the car I measured up the diff bushing dimensions to make a removal and reinstallation tool for the front and rear bushings. I bought a handful of E39 M5 diff parts last year while rebuilding mine and I got 2 new rear bushings as part of the deal. I'll snag a new front one with ECS as I have store credit with them and need a few other things anyhow, and will be making those tools at work this week.
For the pic ******: pulled off my M-Parallels to put on a spare set of wheels. The rears are getting there but still have lots of fun left in them.
Over the past few weeks I had been getting a slight belt squeal during cold starts and during the first 10 minutes of driving. Once the engine warmed up it went away, but when cold it was present. The sound is clearly coming from the driver's side of the accessory system. While increasing revs in the garage I could tell it sounded like:
-idler pulley (which came on a bracket I bought used)
-alternator (which came with the drivetrain a year ago, and the bearings were grinding back then).
Made sense to replace the cheaper one so I threw in an OEM idler, and the noise did not change. Replaced the alternator with an Autozone unit, and suddenly the noise is severely worse. At hot idle it's not there, but as soon as I go above 1200 RPM we have a loud squeal.
Water pump is a low mileage used unit
Belt tensioner is a new rockauto unit
Power steering pump is a low mileage used unit
I'm assuming it's one of the following:
-Alternator is bad. It charges fine and the bearings made zero noise before putting it in, so I doubt this.
-Alternator pulley is now SLIGHTLY misaligned with the rest of the system due to manufacturing tolerances, causing causing enough belt misalignment to make noise.
-Belt is bad
-One of the other accessories suddenly went bad and is making noise internally (doubt it)
I plan on running it tonight and spraying the belt with water to see if it quiets it down. Will run it without the belt as well to rule out an accessory being bad internally.
I also diagnosed a severe clunk I was getting from the driveshaft under hard launches. Thought it was one of the diff bushings causing that pig to move around, but it turned out it was the CSB (which is original to the car). It's a shame because I bought a new CSB months ago and asked Fleet Pride to install it for me when they welded on the slip yoke. They "couldn't get the nut off" on the center section, but I think it was more of a case of it being late on a Friday and them being too lazy to get it done. So now I have to try to find that new CSB somewhere in my pile of parts and do it myself, hopefully it's not too much of a pain.
On the brighter side of things while I was underneath the car I measured up the diff bushing dimensions to make a removal and reinstallation tool for the front and rear bushings. I bought a handful of E39 M5 diff parts last year while rebuilding mine and I got 2 new rear bushings as part of the deal. I'll snag a new front one with ECS as I have store credit with them and need a few other things anyhow, and will be making those tools at work this week.
For the pic ******: pulled off my M-Parallels to put on a spare set of wheels. The rears are getting there but still have lots of fun left in them.
07-12-2013, 01:40 PM
#245
norb,
Sorry to hear about these things. I guess I can look forward to a center bearing solution in my future.
One thing to think about on the squealing. On my GMC Truck I had a similar problem. What is was the tensioner. It was the pulley bearing, but was the spring joing that the tensioner flexed on. Mine was not a loud squeal, but more of a sqeak sqeak squesk -- was not like a belt slipping. Just some thoughts. I actual put a new on it and it was better for few months then got bad again.
EDIT:
I went out and check my center support bearing extensively (wish I would have done this better before I had it customized) because I have a tear in mine. Well, at least I found out before it went back into the car. Next...how to change a center support bearing
Sorry to hear about these things. I guess I can look forward to a center bearing solution in my future.
One thing to think about on the squealing. On my GMC Truck I had a similar problem. What is was the tensioner. It was the pulley bearing, but was the spring joing that the tensioner flexed on. Mine was not a loud squeal, but more of a sqeak sqeak squesk -- was not like a belt slipping. Just some thoughts. I actual put a new on it and it was better for few months then got bad again.
EDIT:
I went out and check my center support bearing extensively (wish I would have done this better before I had it customized) because I have a tear in mine. Well, at least I found out before it went back into the car. Next...how to change a center support bearing
Last edited by vazfx16; 07-13-2013 at 06:15 PM.
07-18-2013, 07:43 AM
#246
a new name brand belt (Goodyear Gatorback) has solved the belt noise for now. I suspect it's still a power steering pulley misalignment issue, but not a big deal.
Finally got around to taking care of my driveline noise; pulled the exhaust and driveshaft to replace the center bearing. Symptom was severe banging noise under the car on hard launches, obviously the driveshaft hitting the body somewhere. I initially thought it was my diff bushings (which I will be replacing in the future anyways as I got them as part of a package deal when rebuilding the LSD), but they turned out to be ok.
Center bolt inside the u-joint was a pain to get out since Fleet Pride spray bombed the whole driveshaft with 8 coats of paint after welding it up, so I ended up using an 11/16th to remove it. I still have to buy a replacement bolt, and the center bearing arrives this afternoon, so I'll assemble it all later and report back. A new bearing MIGHT be an improvement over this:
For all the BMW reliability nutjobs out there, it was another case of degraded rubber/plastic. The bearing itself spun just fine, but the rubber had hardened and separated, allowing the edges of the center u-joint to kiss the underbody on hard launches. I'll see if I can snap a few pics of the contact later tonight.
Finally got around to taking care of my driveline noise; pulled the exhaust and driveshaft to replace the center bearing. Symptom was severe banging noise under the car on hard launches, obviously the driveshaft hitting the body somewhere. I initially thought it was my diff bushings (which I will be replacing in the future anyways as I got them as part of a package deal when rebuilding the LSD), but they turned out to be ok.
Center bolt inside the u-joint was a pain to get out since Fleet Pride spray bombed the whole driveshaft with 8 coats of paint after welding it up, so I ended up using an 11/16th to remove it. I still have to buy a replacement bolt, and the center bearing arrives this afternoon, so I'll assemble it all later and report back. A new bearing MIGHT be an improvement over this:
For all the BMW reliability nutjobs out there, it was another case of degraded rubber/plastic. The bearing itself spun just fine, but the rubber had hardened and separated, allowing the edges of the center u-joint to kiss the underbody on hard launches. I'll see if I can snap a few pics of the contact later tonight.
07-18-2013, 09:57 AM
#247
Yup. Mine was not that bad yet...but I am sure once the LS1 got a hold to it with would have been worst. I am thinking the driveshaft shop may have split mine, but I am ok with that since it was probably hard and brittle anyway. So this forced me to repair. I am going to stick my on tonight. I figure a new bearing can't be bad either -- even though the original spins fine. This was one of the few things that were easier to do than anticipated. To remove everything took a total of 10 minutes.
07-22-2013, 09:19 PM
#248
it was definitely a busy weekend. i drove up to Waterfest in NJ with a friend and had a great time. Entered the burnout contest completely on a whim, ended up blowing a radiator (laying it on the limiter a LOT wasn't helping), but it was something i'll remember for a long time to come. Despite the grueling heat and crappy traffic it was still an awesome experience.
07-25-2013, 08:39 AM
#255
Due to problems in the past with the BMW radiator, I swore that I would never use them again as they had trouble staying together in a stock application. The one in the video was an aftermarket replacement rad for a 2000 Corvette application (RockAuto). My theory is that it simply overheated from being on the limiter for so long with stagnant air under the hood and no airflow across the fins. I'm only running one puller fan out of an '05 Monte Carlo, and while it moves a lot of air, it's only one fan and doesn't cover the whole area of the radiator. I have absolutely no problems with overheating in even the hottest days in traffic here (verified by ECT on scan gauge). I may throw in a smaller dual fan setup out of some OEM junkyard application if I get bored over the winter.
07-25-2013, 07:23 PM
#256
Thanks for the info.
Man that burnout was epic.
I can't remember, but did you change your bushings?
Man that burnout was epic.
I can't remember, but did you change your bushings?
Due to problems in the past with the BMW radiator, I swore that I would never use them again as they had trouble staying together in a stock application. The one in the video was an aftermarket replacement rad for a 2000 Corvette application (RockAuto). My theory is that it simply overheated from being on the limiter for so long with stagnant air under the hood and no airflow across the fins. I'm only running one puller fan out of an '05 Monte Carlo, and while it moves a lot of air, it's only one fan and doesn't cover the whole area of the radiator. I have absolutely no problems with overheating in even the hottest days in traffic here (verified by ECT on scan gauge). I may throw in a smaller dual fan setup out of some OEM junkyard application if I get bored over the winter.
07-25-2013, 08:54 PM
#257
the original symptom was a driveshaft hitting the body. i wriggled my *** under there and found a totally screwed CSB. All 3 diff bushings themselves were slightly worn, but ok. There were very small cracks in the rubber of the bushings, but there was only very slightly movement when pushing heavily on the diff. I have 3 new bushings sitting on my bench waiting to go in the next time I drop the exhaust.
So the diff bushings did quite well under a beating despite being original
So the diff bushings did quite well under a beating despite being original
07-31-2013, 07:44 AM
#259
Ordered a new set of reps (Style 37) to replace the current ones I'm running, they'll be 18x8 for the front and 18x9.5 in the rear. The M-Parallel style will always be my favorite, but the ones on the car had an offset designed for a 3 series and looked too sunken in even with spacers. Lots of E39ers run 18x9.5s all the way around but the lip on the wider wheels just didn't look right in the front after test fitting Drew's, so staggered it is. I have a set of tires I'll be using on the fronts but need something for the rear, may just end up buying a new set (GASP). Unfortunately it looks like the wheels are backordered so I won't see them for at least a few weeks.
Test fit of the wheels courtesy of some d-bag running them on his mullet-mobile
JD fabbed up a SS extension of my exhaust to dump out the back, which solved the drone I was sick of. Since my regular rear bumper doesn't have a cutout for an exhaust tip, I trimmed a bit away for a temporary solution. I have an M-Tech rear bumper that has a diffuser and a single exhaust cutout, just need to have it painted.
Took a ride out to a car show in Pendleton at a church event with a friend and my fiancee on Sunday, great day for it.
Where I found that one of my manifold bolts had backed out and was missing.
Test fit of the wheels courtesy of some d-bag running them on his mullet-mobile
JD fabbed up a SS extension of my exhaust to dump out the back, which solved the drone I was sick of. Since my regular rear bumper doesn't have a cutout for an exhaust tip, I trimmed a bit away for a temporary solution. I have an M-Tech rear bumper that has a diffuser and a single exhaust cutout, just need to have it painted.
Took a ride out to a car show in Pendleton at a church event with a friend and my fiancee on Sunday, great day for it.
Where I found that one of my manifold bolts had backed out and was missing.