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PLEASE HELP OVER HEATING PROBLEM

1K views 6 replies 4 participants last post by  bmwboyuk 
#1 ·
While driving down the road about a week ago all of a sudden the temperature gauge shot right up on the red and i lost all heating in the car.I know when there is no water in it the heating dont work there are no water leaks that i can see.I took it to a garage and they told me the thermostat was faulty and i paid to have it replaced along with a sensor on the rad.Car was fine for about half a day but when driving today the same thing happened has anyone had this problem or got any ideas.
cheers bmw posse
:banghead :banghead :banghead :banghead :banghead
My car is 328i coupe e36 1996
 
#3 ·
your car sounds like it a typical problem.. In almost every case where the symptoms are no heat and the gauge goes up past it's normal operating temperature, the Thermostat is usually a popular culprit, as well as, a lack of proper amounts of fluids in the system.. check these and let us now.
 
#4 ·
Assuming the thermostat is good, since it was supposedly replaced, and the coolant level is adequate, I would look at the water pump. You car might be one with the plastic impeller on the water pump. Over time, this plastic impeller will break away from the shaft. Eventually, it'll lock up in the bore, and not pump at all.
What can happen is this. The impellar will get loose on the shaft, but not broken. At slow engine speed, the impeller will spin fine, and pump water. As you increase the rpm, the resistance of the coolant will cause the impellar to spin on the shaft, and not pump. Once it breaks loose and starts spinning, it won't pump again until the rpms come back down.
You can check the output this way: with the engine cool or warm, not hot, pull offf the radiator cap, carefull of overflow.
Run the engine at idle, and look for coolant flow from the bleeder port where the cap screws in. It may or may not be pumping. Rev the engine up a little, and see if you get flow. If you do, rev it up more and see if the flow stops.
If the flow stops, or isn't there at all, the pump is probably not pumping.
The system needs to be full and bled for this test to work. Sometimes at idle, there won't be much flow indicated, even though there is nothing wrong. If you rev it up, there should be a good stream.

Also check to make sure the clutch fan is ok, and the auxillary fan.
 
#5 ·
Thanks to all that replyed the car is now back in the garage having a new water pump fitted hopefully this will sort it out.I only had the car 6 weeks it came with a 3 month 5 star warranty so i have got to get it sorted before i end up paying for it this is the first bmw i have owned i hope i dont continue to have problems
cheers
chris
london
 
#6 ·
Originally posted by bmwboyuk@Jan 24 2004, 04:07 AM
Thanks to all that replyed the car is now back in the garage having a new water pump fitted hopefully this will sort it out.I only had the car 6 weeks it came with a 3 month 5 star warranty so i have got to get it sorted before i end up paying for it this is the first bmw i have owned i hope i dont continue to have problems
cheers
chris
london
If it's not too late, tell them that you'd like to look at the old pump. If it is indeed plastic, you'll see what I was talking about.
 
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