[V8] Back on the road again!

[bkrddrvs at comcast.net]

First, again thanks for the best wishes.  It has been great since "we" got it back.  Problem - my wife has laid claim to it and I have to request an appointment if I want  to use it! 
My '89 M-3 - for sale - is sitting because I need to change the water pump, and my new toy - '75 911 - is waiting for me to finish the air box replacement.  I realize that if you drive older cars, your have to play with them to keep them working but  for now I am religated to an SUV.
Anyway, I will try to be a bit more specific as to what I think happened to the V8.  Since approximately December or Janurary, I had noticed a "rumbling rattle" from the front section of the engine under the timing belt cover.  I am a tax accountant and being self-employed, I crossed my fingers and tried to get through April when I planned on doing the timing belt and related.  Of course, April 17, I went to the garage to make another trip to the post office to mail some more returns, and I started it and it immediately died, although it sounded a bit funny.  Tried to start it again and it fired but was only running on the left bank.  No other noises.  Eventually, my son & I got it apart to replace the T belt and all other bearings, pulleys, and tensioners related thereto.  The belt itself was still in good shape, everything appeared to be ok, but the belt had slipped about 6 teeth on the right bank.  Yes, there is a guide to hold it against the cam gear on the 4.2, but some how th
e belt had skipped.  We figured it had to do with a bearing in the water pump, which was not seized but was difficult to turn, along with the oil pump bearing - same thing - that probably resulted in a tempory collapse the the tensioner allowing the belt to skip.  Everything was turnable, the belt was intact and undamaged, what really happened I could not say. I would like to caution other listers about delays in checking out the reasons for any noises that start appearing in the front of the engine behind the cam belt cover.  I do not see this problem being associated with the  fan bearing, but I could be wrong.  
Bruce @ GermanAutoConnection has a warning on his web page about the bearing noises after t-belt service and the resulting service costs.

Next time I, for one, will pay attention.  

If there are any other questions about what happened, I will try my best to answer.

Rich Ehlert