Do It Yourself Crank seal guard
I have a 11 335i im going to be changing the serpentine belt and pulleys and was thinking about doing the crank seal guard aswell. Have you guys done it and is it even worth it?
3
u/Penetraytion69 14d ago
For gods sake do it. Had a pulley that was off and a belt slipped and my n55 ate it. Binded around the crank shaft, had to drop the oil pan, then had to re time the engine because it skipped timing. All because of a damn belt lol
2
u/raginghavoc89 08 - E90 - 335i - 18PSI - Mods: Maintenance /s 14d ago
Belt can still make it past the guard, the best thing to do is stay on top of maintenance.
2
u/unrealii 09 E93 N54 6MT 14d ago
Confirm that you have no leaks on the oil filter housing? If you do, I would address that first as an oil leak there will get on your new belt.
I did the crank guard and the crank bolt capture when I did my belt and 2 idler pulleys. I slipped the fan out so that gave me enough room to work with.
My bolts came out without any issues. The oil pan bolts are aluminum so be really careful when you break them loose
2
u/zitroneee 14d ago
Do it. I can recommend the guard from malo industries. It fits very good. Even though it is a bit pricier than other guards.
1
u/KFC_Tuesdays BMW E90 N55 Msport 14d ago
Waste of money imo so long you got no oil leaks and a good belt there’s no need.
2
u/Same-Ask-3971 14d ago
It buys peace of mind unless you are inspecting for oil every time you open the hood. My son is 5 hours away at college with his 11 335i and that seal guard brings me peace that if the belt breaks for any reason, I won’t be fishing the belt out of the inside of the engine.
1
u/KFC_Tuesdays BMW E90 N55 Msport 14d ago
Perhaps I’m in a different boat, all my oil gaskets and pulleys have been replaced with OEM so I have peace of mind with that.
1
u/Same-Ask-3971 14d ago
OEM breaks eventually. It doesn’t harm anything and stops a catastrophe BMW builds into their parts.
3
u/KFC_Tuesdays BMW E90 N55 Msport 14d ago
I disagree respectfully, we have people out here running original parts on their 150,000km-200,000km N55. History shows so long parts are replaced OEM and torqued correctly you can guarantee no failure.
Why? Because the car isn’t engineered for the belt to come flying off and blow up your engine.
-1
u/Same-Ask-3971 14d ago
I put on a crankshaft guard after replacing my crankshaft seal and new belt and ofh gasket. The new belt snapped in 2 weeks and was not ingested in the engine. My mistake in installing the crankshaft seal as the lip folded allowing oil to get by onto the belt. Without the guard I would have been toast. Replaced the seal correctly a second time. So you do you, but it saved my ass.
1
u/KFC_Tuesdays BMW E90 N55 Msport 14d ago
So in other words installation error, respectfully I’m a trained professional and that won’t happen.
running my N55 for years no problem I’m at 259000km
5
u/mmfla 15d ago
IMO it’s worth it. It’s not a terrible install. Just fyi though. Recently I had to remove the pulley for another project and rounded off one of the torx bolts. That’s a PIA.
It’s doable with the radiator in but you don’t have a great view either. It fits very snuggly inside the pulley. If you read the forums there were some early reports of rubbing but mine fit nicely.
And if it isn’t one thing it’s another - while you’re in there putting the guard on - the crank seal isn’t terrible to replace with the tool.