Crankshaft pulley and oil leak(s), 75 cdt

[QuestionMark]

Hi everyone,

I'm hoping to get some help, because my 75 seems to be falling apart :( The other day when I started the car, there was a loud knocking sound / rattle from the engine bay. I suspect it's the crankshaft pulley, but I'm not experienced enough to be able to tell from the sound, and when I inspected the pulley the rattle had disappeared. It seems to wiggle a little bit though, but I don't know how it's supposed to be normally. I'll be linking to a couple of videos. Can anyone tell if the pulley is bad?

The other thing is one or several oil leaks, which I have a few pictures of. I noticed them when looking for the rattle. I don't expect anyone to be able to diagnose anything from the pictures, but maybe you could tell me about some common causes? It looks like there's coming oil from the vacuum pump (which I'd never heard of until I looked it up), is that possible? I think there's also a leak from the sump plug, but that's an easy fix though. And then there has to be some leak in or around the engine to drip down... Just an endless list of problems really :mad:


Here are a couple of videos and some pictures:
https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B6jMVWN6Q_5Fb21yNWMxeV8xOWM&usp=sharing

One video shows the rattle sound, while the other one shows the pulley in action (after the sound had disappeared). The last 20 seconds of the latter video are probably the most relevant ones, the first minute only demonstrates my utterly poor craftmanship in filming :o I just realised that the photos aren't great either, I can take some more if it'll do anything.

Cheers,
QuestionMark

[Heddy]

Having had a new crankshaft pulley last week, it certainly sounds (and looks) like yours is on the way out. Mine was split all the way around the rubber causing drive 'dogs' to clatter when not under load. The test is to spray with water apparently and see if noise disappears. Water test made no difference to mine, but it was quieter as revs increased. I'm not experienced enough to guess where the oil leak is I'm afraid.

[QuestionMark]

Thanks! :} If the sound reappears, I'll test with water. My car was also quieter as revs increased, so I'm glad you added that, it's a good indication

So is it the wiggling that makes it look like it's on the way out? Because I couldn't see any obvious cracks or splits when I inspected it.

[Heddy]

The wiggling doesn't inspire confidence. How many miles has the car done? Mine had 149k miles and the pulley removed was stamped 'BMW' so maybe an original. The replacement was a Corteco, recommended on the forum. It's noted that cheaper versions can have a life span as little as 6000 miles. If it's failed, noise will only worsen, there's a few video's available for you to compare noise.

[Bigcul1]

I would bet your oil leak is actually a diesel leak.

[Bigcul1]

Check the pipework around the battery box and check the hp pump (drivers side behind the oil filter housing lower down) both known to leak. (Had both issues before)

[QuestionMark]

The wiggling doesn't inspire confidence. How many miles has the car done? Mine had 149k miles and the pulley removed was stamped 'BMW' so maybe an original. The replacement was a Corteco, recommended on the forum. It's noted that cheaper versions can have a life span as little as 6000 miles. If it's failed, noise will only worsen, there's a few video's available for you to compare noise.
Mine has done 210k km (=130k mi). Yeah, I didn't check to see if it was original, but it looked old. I think I should also get a new belt while I'm at it, it didn't look healthy. Thanks for the pulley tip, but I'll probably buy a cheap one from Norway (5y warranty/claim anyway). I'll need a bolt and a washer as well, no?
I did watch a couple of videos, the sound seemed familiar (also the fact that it took a few seconds for it to begin after the engine had started, and that it went away with increasing revs). Thought I'd get a second input though :)

I would bet your oil leak is actually a diesel leak.
That would be good news... I guess? Looked very oily though. But now that you mention it, I remember that the oil hadn't dropped a millimeter from what I could tell.

Check the pipework around the battery box and check the hp pump (drivers side behind the oil filter housing lower down) both known to leak. (Had both issues before)
Thanks, I'll look into that! I think that would be the passenger's side over here though ;) So can the actual hp pump leak, or would it be a bad seal or something?