E36 Over heat problem
 

Hi all,

I was wondering if anyone here could help me with a problem that happened
today with my 2.5L - 6 cylinder E36 on a K plate.

Basically the car has been as good as gold.. it's done 119,000...

So today I was on a 4 mile journey to the next town. As I drove into the
town I noticed that the temp gauge had crept up above the 1/2 way mark. Well
as I stopped in the car park I noticed a little waif of smoke from under the
left hand side of the bonnet, and then the red temperature light came on. So
I switched it off, I then opened the bonnet, waited for about 40 mins for
the engine to cool completely, I opened the cap on the side of the radiator
to check the water level and it was fine.

So I decided to drive back home, upon getting home it done the same thing
again, so I opened the bonnet whilst the engine was running, and could see
at the top of the engine block, nearest the front, you have two hoses going
into what I can only assume is the water pump. Well the steam seems to be
coming from the back underside of the pump. All the hoses seems ok and the
radiator is fine.

The odd thing about it was, whilst on idol the temperature drops, back down
to 3/4, but under load it goes straight back up.

Now am I right in thinking that the reason it does that is because some of
the blades have come off or the pump is failing ? hence when its under load
it can't keep up ? common problem I've heard ?

I don't think its the head gasket as there was no smoke at any time from
the exhaust, plus the car hasn't really used any water at all, maybe 100ml ?
and when the temperature was low it was fine.

Whats more of a pain is that I phoned the garage up, and they can't even
look at it next Monday !

Any help would be grateful !

Thanks

E36 Over heat problem
 

> Now am I right in thinking that the reason it does that is because some of
> the blades have come off or the pump is failing ? hence when its under load
> it can't keep up ? common problem I've heard ?

Correct. Early pumps have a metal shaft and plastic impeller, yours is
failing. Newer pumps are metal, 25 quid from euro car parts. Change the
thermostat at the same time, six quid.

--
Who needs a life when you've got Unix? :-)
Email: , John G.Burns B.Eng, Bonny Scotland
Web : http://www.unixnerd.demon.co.uk - The Ultimate BMW Homepage!
Need Sun or HP Unix kit? http://www.unixnerd.demon.co.uk/unix.html
www.Strathspey.co.uk - Quality Binoculars at a Sensible price

E36 Over heat problem
 

Thanx for that,

I will mention that on Monday when I take it in !



"Emma Ward" <senninha1@ sad.btinternet.com> wrote in message
...
> Hi all,
>
> I was wondering if anyone here could help me with a problem that happened
> today with my 2.5L - 6 cylinder E36 on a K plate.
>
> Basically the car has been as good as gold.. it's done 119,000...
>
> So today I was on a 4 mile journey to the next town. As I drove into the
> town I noticed that the temp gauge had crept up above the 1/2 way mark.
> Well as I stopped in the car park I noticed a little waif of smoke from
> under the left hand side of the bonnet, and then the red temperature light
> came on. So I switched it off, I then opened the bonnet, waited for about
> 40 mins for the engine to cool completely, I opened the cap on the side of
> the radiator to check the water level and it was fine.
>
> So I decided to drive back home, upon getting home it done the same thing
> again, so I opened the bonnet whilst the engine was running, and could see
> at the top of the engine block, nearest the front, you have two hoses
> going into what I can only assume is the water pump. Well the steam seems
> to be coming from the back underside of the pump. All the hoses seems ok
> and the radiator is fine.
>
> The odd thing about it was, whilst on idol the temperature drops, back
> down to 3/4, but under load it goes straight back up.
>
> Now am I right in thinking that the reason it does that is because some of
> the blades have come off or the pump is failing ? hence when its under
> load it can't keep up ? common problem I've heard ?
>
> I don't think its the head gasket as there was no smoke at any time from
> the exhaust, plus the car hasn't really used any water at all, maybe 100ml
> ? and when the temperature was low it was fine.
>
> Whats more of a pain is that I phoned the garage up, and they can't even
> look at it next Monday !
>
> Any help would be grateful !
>
> Thanks
>
>
>

E36 Over heat problem
 

I agree with John. Further, have your garage check to see whether your
themostat housing is plastic or aluminum. If plastic, replace with an
aluminum one:

http://69.0.158.19/live/G401062812MTC.JPG

It should cost you about $30-35US.

E36 Over heat problem
 

"bfd" > wrote in message
oups.com...
>I agree with John. Further, have your garage check to see whether your
> themostat housing is plastic or aluminum. If plastic, replace with an
> aluminum one:
>
> http://69.0.158.19/live/G401062812MTC.JPG
>
> It should cost you about $30-35US.

I've just got into E36s after many, many years in E23/24/34s so I've not had
the M52 engine prior to this vehicle. Can I just ask why change the plastic
t'stat housing for the ali one? Was there a problem?
Just curious really, as I swapped out a failing stat the other week and
couldn't see any problems with the plastic one at the time.
Cheers,
JB

E36 Over heat problem
 

I've checked and its alloy !!

So thats one thing.. and the interm hose that joins to the other two is
plastic..but new.. so it's had problems before I guess !!




"Emma Ward" <senninha1@ sad.btinternet.com> wrote in message
...
> Hi all,
>
> I was wondering if anyone here could help me with a problem that happened
> today with my 2.5L - 6 cylinder E36 on a K plate.
>
> Basically the car has been as good as gold.. it's done 119,000...
>
> So today I was on a 4 mile journey to the next town. As I drove into the
> town I noticed that the temp gauge had crept up above the 1/2 way mark.
> Well as I stopped in the car park I noticed a little waif of smoke from
> under the left hand side of the bonnet, and then the red temperature light
> came on. So I switched it off, I then opened the bonnet, waited for about
> 40 mins for the engine to cool completely, I opened the cap on the side of
> the radiator to check the water level and it was fine.
>
> So I decided to drive back home, upon getting home it done the same thing
> again, so I opened the bonnet whilst the engine was running, and could see
> at the top of the engine block, nearest the front, you have two hoses
> going into what I can only assume is the water pump. Well the steam seems
> to be coming from the back underside of the pump. All the hoses seems ok
> and the radiator is fine.
>
> The odd thing about it was, whilst on idol the temperature drops, back
> down to 3/4, but under load it goes straight back up.
>
> Now am I right in thinking that the reason it does that is because some of
> the blades have come off or the pump is failing ? hence when its under
> load it can't keep up ? common problem I've heard ?
>
> I don't think its the head gasket as there was no smoke at any time from
> the exhaust, plus the car hasn't really used any water at all, maybe 100ml
> ? and when the temperature was low it was fine.
>
> Whats more of a pain is that I phoned the garage up, and they can't even
> look at it next Monday !
>
> Any help would be grateful !
>
> Thanks
>
>
>

E36 Over heat problem
 

John Burns wrote:
>>Now am I right in thinking that the reason it does that is because some of
>>the blades have come off or the pump is failing ? hence when its under load
>>it can't keep up ? common problem I've heard ?
>
>
> Correct. Early pumps have a metal shaft and plastic impeller, yours is
> failing. Newer pumps are metal, 25 quid from euro car parts. Change the
> thermostat at the same time, six quid.
>

But it sounds like you will need to diagnose the "waif of smoke" (steam
actually). Under the higher pressure of the overtemp you may have
ruptured a hose or it may be leaking from the pump you will be
replacing. You'll want to know in advance so you can get new hoses if
needed.

--
-Fred W

E36 Over heat problem
 

Why change the plastic t'stat housing? I don't know, call me
conservative, but I would think plastic will deteriorate alot faster
than aluminum. I hate that BMW uses plastic just about everywhere in
its cooling system. If you're paranoid like me, I would change that
plastic radiator, t'stat, coolant reservior every 80K-100K. Otherwise,
you might be in for a big, and wet, surprise.