Hotsauce55

lseguy

happened to me a few months ago at 94k on my 2006. My root cause? Water Pump pulley seized. Internal water pump seal gradually failed over time (I missed the symptoms during routine inspections) allowing grease to leak out of the internal bearing/coolant to seep in. Once the grease was contaminated, the bearings failed, the pump pulley seized, belt got hot due to friction as it slid across the water pump pulley, belt snapped, took out the pulley tensioner. Purchased pump/belt,tensioner from FCP euro, (all with lifetime warranty) and fixed myself over the course of a few days in my garage. The job doesnt take days...but for me, I had a backup car and took my time..hour here, hour there, etc.

lseguy

also, cant blame the car. Any car at this age/this many miles, is going to have parts that will fail. Inspections are so key. Inspecting rivets around supercharger for cracks, inspecting pulleys for wobble, inspecting batteries to ensure they are in proper condition, inspecting water pumps for any sign at all of seepage, etc. Part of older car ownership.

tw2

Sorry to hear, I see you have had a lot of issues lately. I think I would be fed up after going through your coilovers install only. These cars are not too bad in general but occasionally one just has issue after issue like my old CLK55. The transmission rebuild was the finally. My 1991 Toyota runs perfect on the original engine so these cars shouldn't have any issues in regards to age.

Davednconfused

10k in 3 years... like $3500/yr isn't so bad. Especially if you're paying labor.

Hotsauce55

I'm doing the labour myself
$10K over 40K miles is the killer

Just got the diagnosis, my idler pulley seized & shredded the serp belt, took out SC belt, busted another pulley, busted some rad hoses & took out radiator - shop wants $2.5K
Anyone interested in the car? $6K USD originally a Cali car

gjunon

I just changed out my water pump and radiator it is like a total of 4 hours worth of work to do them both at the same time. You actually have to take off the pulleys anyway. Honestly it isn't that much work if you are willing to stick with it. I have 140k miles on my 04 E55 and have had to change out parts every year but it is what we signed up for with a 12+ year old car. Honestly it is around 1k a year to maintain these cars. You've already put a lot of money into the car you should just ride it out as there probably isn't much else that needs to be replaced.

tw2

Bbirdwell's pulley trick will get you idlers depending on how wrecked the metal one is for $30. New belts $40 each, new rad $350? Hoses can't be much and you guys get very cheap fluids over there. Or buy a 5 piece or 3 piece pulley replacement kit. Still under $1k with some unscheduled fluid maintenance.

I can't say the job would enthuse me but it's not hard.

Hotsauce55

Pulley that seized was part of the 5 piece UPD kit
Figure if doing a rad, coolant & messing with pulleys that I might want to do water pump too?
Not sure what hoses yet have failed but if form fitted they are not cheap new

Problems are just grinding me down, anyways, getting it towed home tomorrow

gjunon

You can get the radiator for 265 from amazon. It fit just fine in my E55.

tw2

Do you have the orange or silver bearings? I know a few people have had issues with the silver ones prematurely failing.

I know how you feel, that's why I sold my last amg. I did a difficult coilover install as well, luckily didn't have airmatic as a complication.

Hotsauce55

tw2

I would replace anything that looks suspicious, then fill and briefly test drive, then have the system pressurised and tested.

gjunon

Replace your pulley/belts and then either pressure test for leaks or just put it up on some stands and start her up and see where the leaks are.

Hotsauce55

gjunon

Well, you will get to know for sure once you get a new belt on there. Start the car and see which pulley is making noise or not spinning properly.

SICAMG

Do not put new belt on to test. Check each pulley one by one. Does it rock a little back and forth? Any "rough" feeling when turning by hand ? Noise ...at all? If not the belt could have shredded just from age and started to come apart.
High pressure from no belt could have split the radiator somewhere you can't see so be careful. All in all this could be a quick fix so keep your head up buddy. Wish you where near me to take care of it.

Hotsauce55

Hotsauce55

gjunon

The drain plug is on the lower right hand side of the radiator. Did you check and make sure it is tight?

Hotsauce55

gjunon

The black circular piece in the center of the picture is the drain plug. if you want to drain the fluid remove the radiator reservoir cap to make it easier while draining.

gjunon

The plug is on the drivers side. underneath the radiator. remove the lower panels and take a look

Hotsauce55

Rad looks like it's leaking for sure, ordered up a Nissens & new mounts

jumph4x

Ouch, sorry man. I just proactively replaced all those things. Maybe I should've done the pump too. Hmmmm.