serpentine belt broke, now crank seal is leaking...how screwed am I?

Milan · 05-25-2015, 07:42 PM

So the other day my serpentine belt shredded out of nowhere. I went to the dealer and bought a new belt and PS pulley. Swapped it on and cleaned everything up. The tensioner seemed okay so I didn't replace it my car has 87k on it and the original belt so I'm assuming that was the cause of that.

Now my front crank seal is leaking. I've read that this is very common because of the belt getting wrapped around the crank pulley.

How much am I looking at? I plan on calling BMW and an Indy tomorrow.

Acetech · 05-25-2015, 08:01 PM

It's a big deal, the belt dropped behind the pulley between the pulley and crank seal and believe it or not a good amount of shredded serp belt got into your oil pan, worse it gets into your oil pump pic up and restricts it causing oiling issues.
Seen it many times and if not cleaned out properly you will have serious issues.
The oil pan should come off and oil pump pic up removed and properly cleaned.
Sorry for you troubles, fix the oil leak that caused the belt to fail.

Milan · 05-25-2015, 09:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Acetech

It's a big deal, the belt dropped behind the pulley between the pulley and crank seal and believe it or not a good amount of shredded serp belt got into your oil pan, worse it gets into your oil pump pic up and restricts it causing oiling issues.
Seen it many times and if not cleaned out properly you will have serious issues.
The oil pan should come off and oil pump pic up removed and properly cleaned.
Sorry for you troubles, fix the oil leak that caused the belt to fail.

Damn.

Any chance I'm okay with just changing the oil seal or are you pretty confident there is belt in my oil pan? Is there not a screen on the oil pickup?

KeepRidingDirty · 05-25-2015, 09:04 PM

It doesn't always get sucked into the oil pan, sometimes it just wraps around the pulley and takes out just the seal......... if you're lucky.

If it did get sucked into the engine one of two things or both could happen.
One was mentioned above, the other is if you belt was sucked into your timing chain which is on the front of the engine just behind the seal. If it's sucked into the chain it could cause your chain to jump timing and essentially destroy your engine.

Main causes of belts breaking in the E90 are, old belt, worn tensioner or leaking oil filter housing gasket which leaks onto the belt causing it to wear out quicker.

KeepRidingDirty · 05-25-2015, 09:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Milan

Damn.

Any chance I'm okay with just changing the oil seal or are you pretty confident there is belt in my oil pan? Is there not a screen on the oil pickup?

Almost positive there's a screen on the oil pick up BUT that doesn't mean a belt in front of that screen can't cause a lack of oil suction.

Milan · 05-25-2015, 09:15 PM

I fixed the oil filter housing and cleaned/degreased everything so the belt should stay in pretty good shape now. Don't see any oil anywhere except the bottom of the crank pulley.

I guess I will call the dealer and find out the damage tomorrow. Hoping for less than $1k

Gamma6 · 05-25-2015, 09:25 PM

I had that problem. Its not worth the risk. I ended up finding some pieces inside. I wasnt leaking any oil from the seal but i did have to pull a piece from the seal which led me to do everything right...the first time. I even tried weighing all the belt pieces and compared that to a full belt and was under a few grams and hoped that some fell on the road but then i just decided to drop the oil pan and swap out the oil pick up while i was there. Also check the timing chain.

minifridge1138 · 05-25-2015, 09:28 PM

I had the oil pan gasket replaced on my car under warranty. Since it was warranty work, they didn't give me an exact cost, but they said it was about $75 of parts, $75 worth of oil, $900 worth of labor. That sounds crazy, but to remove the oil pan you have to remove most of the front steering (and maybe suspension) components. Sorry to hear about your trouble. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go outside and replace my serpentine belt...

05-25-2015, 07:42 PM	#1
Milan Captain 203 Rep 665 Posts Drives: F80 M3 Join Date: May 2014 Location: Boise, ID iTrader: (7)	serpentine belt broke, now crank seal is leaking...how screwed am I? So the other day my serpentine belt shredded out of nowhere. I went to the dealer and bought a new belt and PS pulley. Swapped it on and cleaned everything up. The tensioner seemed okay so I didn't replace it my car has 87k on it and the original belt so I'm assuming that was the cause of that. Now my front crank seal is leaking. I've read that this is very common because of the belt getting wrapped around the crank pulley. How much am I looking at? I plan on calling BMW and an Indy tomorrow. __________________ 17 M3 Comp
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05-25-2015, 08:01 PM	#2
Acetech Second Lieutenant 225 Rep 276 Posts Drives: 03 M3. 98 M3. 11 1M Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: NY iTrader: (0)	It's a big deal, the belt dropped behind the pulley between the pulley and crank seal and believe it or not a good amount of shredded serp belt got into your oil pan, worse it gets into your oil pump pic up and restricts it causing oiling issues. Seen it many times and if not cleaned out properly you will have serious issues. The oil pan should come off and oil pump pic up removed and properly cleaned. Sorry for you troubles, fix the oil leak that caused the belt to fail.
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05-25-2015, 09:04 PM	#4
KeepRidingDirty Professional Monkey Trainer 65 Rep 423 Posts Drives: 2007 BMW 335xi Join Date: Aug 2014 Location: Ottawa, On iTrader: (1)	It doesn't always get sucked into the oil pan, sometimes it just wraps around the pulley and takes out just the seal......... if you're lucky. If it did get sucked into the engine one of two things or both could happen. One was mentioned above, the other is if you belt was sucked into your timing chain which is on the front of the engine just behind the seal. If it's sucked into the chain it could cause your chain to jump timing and essentially destroy your engine. Main causes of belts breaking in the E90 are, old belt, worn tensioner or leaking oil filter housing gasket which leaks onto the belt causing it to wear out quicker. __________________ JB4 G5 ISO / ER Charge Pipe and Tial BOV / Wagner FMIC / CYBA Tips & Air Scoops / AFE DCI / BMW PE Exhaust Mod / M3 Rep Bumper / Dynavin E9x
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05-25-2015, 09:15 PM	#6
Milan Captain 203 Rep 665 Posts Drives: F80 M3 Join Date: May 2014 Location: Boise, ID iTrader: (7)	I fixed the oil filter housing and cleaned/degreased everything so the belt should stay in pretty good shape now. Don't see any oil anywhere except the bottom of the crank pulley. I guess I will call the dealer and find out the damage tomorrow. Hoping for less than $1k __________________ 17 M3 Comp
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05-25-2015, 09:25 PM	#7
Gamma6 Enlisted Member 0 Rep 30 Posts Drives: E90 Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: Sacramento iTrader: (0)	I had that problem. Its not worth the risk. I ended up finding some pieces inside. I wasnt leaking any oil from the seal but i did have to pull a piece from the seal which led me to do everything right...the first time. I even tried weighing all the belt pieces and compared that to a full belt and was under a few grams and hoped that some fell on the road but then i just decided to drop the oil pan and swap out the oil pick up while i was there. Also check the timing chain.
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05-25-2015, 09:28 PM	#8
minifridge1138 Private 11 Rep 63 Posts Drives: It has 4 wheels and an engine Join Date: Sep 2013 Location: Earth iTrader: (0)	I had the oil pan gasket replaced on my car under warranty. Since it was warranty work, they didn't give me an exact cost, but they said it was about $75 of parts, $75 worth of oil, $900 worth of labor. That sounds crazy, but to remove the oil pan you have to remove most of the front steering (and maybe suspension) components. Sorry to hear about your trouble. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go outside and replace my serpentine belt...
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