what do u think happened?

[pong]

the other day while i was driving... the car suddenly overheated... went to a gas station to cool it down and put water in the radiator... decided to go home after (less than 1km from station)

the following day... i drove for less than 1km and it started to overheat already... brought it home right away

2 days after... i drove it to the repair shop to have it checked and fixed... it did not over heat (10km away)

the question is... what happened?

btw when i was overheating... coolant was coming out of the radiator cap

[Brett619310]

A similar thing happened to me when my water pump went out. It would intermittently fail at first, leading to the inconsistent problem. Then in a week or two it gave out completely leaving me stranded on the freeway.

Get it to a shop and look for white crusty stuff near the water pump, indicating a leak. Also, if it starts to overheat pull over immediately... do not let the needle touch the red EVER, or you may have worse problems down the road.

[pong]

hmmmm.... so do u think that it is my water pump? what is the probability that it is the main and only cause?

[pong]

what are the other indications of a water pump problem...

btw if the water pump is not leaking... what else could be the problem

[Kalevera]

I'm suspecting the WP as well. Could be the thermostat, but I'd suspect the WP first. Do you have an M50 525? If so, you may have a plastic impeller on the pump....get it changed ASAP.

Brett's got the diagnosis down: pull the belt, see if there's any play in the WP bearing/shaft...see if it's got visible leaks around the gaskets.

If the Tstat is gone if you have a M50 525, then be sure to change the plastic tstat housing w/ an aluminum one while you're at it.

Call BMA and talk to Patrick. He'll get you hooked up.

best, whit

[pong]

its an m20 525i 1989

[632 Regal]

you have air cavitation at the pump and the water isnt circulating. Try the bleeding procedures on Brunos site and try again. Even if the radiator is full you can have an air pocket in the engine somewhere and it will expand when it gets hot leading to strange over heating problems such as you have. My bet is the waterpump is good.

[pong]

what is the site of bruno? havent encountered that site before

[632 Regal]

http://www.bmwe34.net/E34main.htm

[pong]

oh... that one... i didnt know it was his site... have been checking it the past few days for mods available for the car