Water pump pulley wobble!

[BIGW0RM]

Is this normal guys?

[wrecklessfool]

From what I can tell from the video it looks like the pulley is just fine and the belt is giving the perception that it's wobbling. Try watching the video and holding your hand over the belt. Just focus on the outer lip of the pulley and it doesn't appear to wobble. In cases like this the belt is usually fine and the letters stamped on it might be a little off center giving the appearance of wobble as they pass by.

[wrecklessfool]

Also take a look at the other pulley on the engine. Pay particular attention to the newly added ones and make sure the belt is sitting fully into the grooves (or fully seated in the center if a smooth pulley) like it appears to be on the water pump. A slightly misaligned pulley nearby the water pump could also be the reason why the belt looks to be slithering like a snake.

[BIGW0RM]

Originally Posted by wrecklessfool

From what I can tell from the video it looks like the pulley is just fine and the belt is giving the perception that it's wobbling. Try watching the video and holding your hand over the belt. Just focus on the outer lip of the pulley and it doesn't appear to wobble. In cases like this the belt is usually fine and the letters stamped on it might be a little off center giving the appearance of wobble as they pass by.

Originally Posted by wrecklessfool

Also take a look at the other pulley on the engine. Pay particular attention to the newly added ones and make sure the belt is sitting fully into the grooves (or fully seated in the center if a smooth pulley) like it appears to be on the water pump. A slightly misaligned pulley nearby the water pump could also be the reason why the belt looks to be slithering like a snake.

Well thats comforting to hear. Thanks. I will go check it again. Ive never looked at it before while idling so I cant honestly say if it was like this or not. But it caught my eye.

[Helmsman]

Agree with Wreckless, can't see any wooble what so ever mate.

[0_to_60]

at first it seems like there is a slight wobble but then it stops. When the car is off try to move the pulley and feel for any play

[BIGW0RM]

Originally Posted by 0_to_60

at first it seems like there is a slight wobble but then it stops. When the car is off try to move the pulley and feel for any play

The belt is so tight I can't move anything. Maybe it's just an optical illusion after all. I thought it was moving.

[Malek@MRF]

That pulley is moving a little bit. I suggest you check to see the 4 10mm bolts are tight on that pulley.

Look at the idler pulley below the water-pump in your video, it's spinning without any wobble.

[Cassius]

Could also be the shaft inside the pulley attached to the bearing has play in it. I see it wobbling not sure how you guys are saying it's not.

[BIGW0RM]

Crap. I felt better thinking it was an optical illusion or something and now Im freaking out again. I guess I will have to take it in to see whats up. Im not going to touch a thing.

Thanks for your input gentlemen.

[BIGW0RM]

Do you guys think my super charger could have done this?

Or is this a common repair regardless of that?

Anyone know how much a new water pump is?

[wrecklessfool]

Please keep us posted as to what you find and potential causes if the shop gives you any. Hope it's nothing though.

[Malek@MRF]

Originally Posted by ILSMKU

Do you guys think my super charger could have done this?

Or is this a common repair regardless of that?

Anyone know how much a new water pump is?

This was probably caused when the S/C kit was installed. I have seen some shops pull this pulley off to yield more access to removing the re-installing the belts.

The best way to do it is to remove the idler pulley above the P/S pump and leave the water-pump pulley alone.

[BIGW0RM]

I took another look this morning. The water pump pulley looks untouched. It has a layer of dust, grime that appears to be untouched.

I started the car up to see if the wobble was in fact wobble or an eye illusion. It wobbling for sure. And my P3 gauge told me

CODE 2765 Which I assume is P2765 or "Input/Turbine Speed Sensor "B" Circuit"


Looks like I need to get this car back to the shop for whatever this issue is and a new water pump. Bummer.

[WickedE93]

Originally Posted by ILSMKU

I took another look this morning. The water pump pulley looks untouched. It has a layer of dust, grime that appears to be untouched.

I started the car up to see if the wobble was in fact wobble or an eye illusion. It wobbling for sure. And my P3 gauge told me

CODE 2765 Which I assume is P2765 or "Input/Turbine Speed Sensor "B" Circuit"


Looks like I need to get this car back to the shop for whatever this issue is and a new water pump. Bummer.

Ouch sorry to hear that bro.

[BIGW0RM]

I have great but very interesting news! Check this out...

I called EAS and told them about my water pump pulley wobble. They moved some appointments around and got me in within 30 minutes! I was back on the road and to work by noon!

Once I arrived they scanned my codes (came up clear) and took a closer look at the pulley. Everyone agrees my pulley looked like it had some wobble.

Now heres where things get interesting. They had 3 other stock E92 M3's there. All three of those stock M3's water pump pulleys wobbled to some degree or more!

I kid you not. We had a total of 4 M3's that all had water pump wobble. I encourage you guys to go check yours.

They took everything apart right in front of me. They looked everything over and put it all back on, but turned my pulley 180 degrees from how it sat on the water pump before and my wobble is dam near gone! Its like 99.9% perfect.

EAS worked on my car for at least an hour checking everything. They pushed out there work day to accommodate my car. When it came time for me to leave they wouldn't even accept payment for 1hrs worth of labor.

After seeing 4 M3's with stock water pumps (I was the only SC one) all wobbling, I'm a believer that its a common thing on our cars.

Thank you very much EAS.

and thank you to the members who posted in this thread.



PS: whatever the P3 gauge reported appears to have been a fluke. No codes stored at all.

[imstimpy]

My car also has the pulley wobble. You got me paranoid as I also just installed a supercharger. It is quite disconcerting that our community thinks simply pulling on the belts (install or uninstall) could bend the hardware.

Even scarier still, is it looks like my crank pulley has a similar subtle wobble. I know I didn't smash anything into either of the two pulleys.

[BIGW0RM]

Originally Posted by imstimpy

My car also has the pulley wobble. You got me paranoid as I also just installed a supercharger. It is quite disconcerting that our community thinks simply pulling on the belts (install or uninstall) could bend the hardware.

Even scarier still, is it looks like my crank pulley has a similar subtle wobble. I know I didn't smash anything into either of the two pulleys.

Crank wobble huh? Eek. Sorry to hear that. You might want to reset them to see if that helps?


That solved it for me.

[V1.47fan]

Looks fine to me...

[Helmsman]

Originally Posted by ILSMKU

I have great but very interesting news! Check this out...

I called EAS and told them about my water pump pulley wobble. They moved some appointments around and got me in within 30 minutes! I was back on the road and to work by noon!

Once I arrived they scanned my codes (came up clear) and took a closer look at the pulley. Everyone agrees my pulley looked like it had some wobble.

Now heres where things get interesting. They had 3 other stock E92 M3's there. All three of those stock M3's water pump pulleys wobbled to some degree or more!

I kid you not. We had a total of 4 M3's that all had water pump wobble. I encourage you guys to go check yours.

They took everything apart right in front of me. They looked everything over and put it all back on, but turned my pulley 180 degrees from how it sat on the water pump before and my wobble is dam near gone! Its like 99.9% perfect.

EAS worked on my car for at least an hour checking everything. They pushed out there work day to accommodate my car. When it came time for me to leave they wouldn't even accept payment for 1hrs worth of labor.

After seeing 4 M3's with stock water pumps (I was the only SC one) all wobbling, I'm a believer that its a common thing on our cars.

Thank you very much EAS.

and thank you to the members who posted in this thread.



PS: whatever the P3 gauge reported appears to have been a fluke. No codes stored at all.

So it was the wheel rathen than the axle that was a little bent then? How serious might that be one wonder?

[BIGW0RM]

Originally Posted by Helmsman

So it was the wheel rathen than the axle that was a little bent then? How serious might that be one wonder?

It seems all of them have some wobble: but turning mine 180 degrees made mine close to perfect.

Not sure where the issue really stems from.

[///FAB]

This is so crazy. Just yesterday I noticed my pulley wobbling too and started freaking out and now I run into this thread. I almost ran straight to the dealer.
Glad to hear that that fixed your problem. I'm going to have to try that on mine.

Thanks for updating us!