M60 Oil Pump bolt experience

Fred W wrote:
> KMS-Brett Anderson wrote:
>
>> Hi Fred.
>>
>> Many of the early cars came with the chain guard and BMW had us remove
>> them due to the risk of, of all things, an oil pump bolt falling out
>> and getting caught by the gaurd, jamming the chain and exploding the
>> motor.
>>
>> So the short answer is that if your car came with one, a dealer
>> removed it many years ago.
>>
>> Brett Anderson
>> KMS
>
>
> Thanks again, Brett.
>
> I'm wondering, have you ever heard the oil pump chains make any noise if
> they are loose?
>
> The reason I ask is that mine is making a randomly intermittent
> "clicking" noise that seems to be coming from the lower front of the
> engine at idle and just above. The clicking happens sporadically but
> will usually reoccur within 10-15 seconds. It seems to increase in
> frequency when I rev the engine just above idle.
>
> I'm not driving the car at all until I can get back in and adjust the
> chain tension with the hope that this will remedy that situation.
> Otherwise, I suppose one of the drive belt pulleys or driven accessories
> might have a bearing on the way out. I will have to remove the belts
> and see if the noise goes away (engine only run briefly)
>

Never mind Brett, I found the source of my noise. It turned out to be
one of the two idler pulleys for the serpentine drive belt. The bearing
was dry and was making the noise. I was able to pull off the seals,
clean up the bearings (did the other idler pulley while I was at it) and
and regrease them (and refit the original seals).

I don't know how long they would last like this, but I'll be ordering up
some new ones and swapping them out preventively. Tossing a belt on the
freeway is a bad deal...

Thanks again for your help with the oil pump chain adjuster.

--
-Fred W