Quote:
Originally Posted by vwnate1
I remember when I learned about the under intake manifold location of the starter, HUH ?!  .
I'm old so I well remember Ford's Y block V8's having a third starter bolt way up high where you were sure to burn your hands / fingers on the hot Summer day when it came into the gas station or shop ~ in those days the mechanic wasn't allowed to choose to let it cool down . |
You should inspect the new BMW engines now, the harmonic balancer is built backwards - meaning the damper weight (which is larger than the belt hub) is outside the belt hub rather than inside like every other engine of the world.
The piece of crank you see sticking out of the timing case is not part of the crank but bolted to it with friction washers (no keyway) - and its an inward cone shape meaning its larger at the balancer side and tapers nicely to a smaller end which is fastened to the crank with those diamond washers.
the harmonic balancer oil seal which is pressed into the engine has no stop collar, meaning it can fall into the engine too.
make a mental picture of all the above and now imagine the serpentine belt breaks or slips, now as the damper weight is outside, the belt will not just fly off and lay in the engine room or ground etc, but get wrapped by the oil seal which will let go and now your belt will be introduced to the timing chain by that very welcoming taper of that nose piece. - You get belt material plugging the oil pump pickup which destroys that 10K dollar engine.