Running hot after repair...Goin Nuts Here!

[andycook]

Here's the background: Wife was stuck in traffic, the plastic gooseneck on the back of the head broke spewing antifreeze everywhere. After a hefty flatbed ride I got it home. I replaced the gooseneck, but now the car runs extremely hot and the fan does not come on.
I saw some info on here about bleeding the cooling system? How do I do that? My car will get up to the red before I shut it off. No cooling fan at all. And I don't know how to test that either. I am at wits end here.
Anybody got any ideas for me?By the way, it's a 96 318ti.

[bimmerboi318]

Did the gooseneck thing break because the car overheated in traffic? Find out what is causing the fan to not work. Probably the fan relay, but you cant be sure without checking the wiring, etc... To bleed the system there is a bleed screw next to the filler cap. Take that out and fill with coolant until it comes out of the hole with no bubbles. I doubt fixing the gooseneck caused the fan to not work. It sounds like the fan failed and then overheated the car, taking out a weak component which happend to be the gooseneck.

[J!m]

If you still have air in the system, it is possible the sensor the fan uses for coolant temperature is in air, rather than water, which will give a false reading. This is assuming the relay and fuse are OK...

[swits]

I had a very similar problem just recently. I had a new radiator put in my car and 2 days later it overheated after about 15 minutes of traffic, causing a connector in the back of the engine to break (I think it might be the same piece you're talking about). I replaced the piece, only to find that my engine was still getting hot after bleeding! Turns out the guy who switched out the radiator didn't reconnect the fan properly. I was so pissed!

What led me to the discovery that the fan wasn't connected was that I noticed a wire hanging down from the bottom of the engine. I'd make sure that all the wiring is in place!

Good luck!

[Jeff Spooner]

you may need to check the water pump. they had a plastic impellerthat would fall off.

[Constant]

you may need to check the water pump. they had a plastic impellerthat would fall off.

What?? You're thinking of the E36 6 cylinder (M50/M52/S50/S52) engines. The M42/M44's do not exhibit this problem.

Constant

[bimmerboi318]

Well, the m42/m44's that had a waterpump with a composite impellar, would fail prematurely. The impellar would deteriorate and then break up and overheat the engine quickly. I've read of several cases,some as early as 60k miles or so.

[KIRASIR]

Not entirely true.

Stock m42/m44 water pumps do come with a PLASTIC impeller but it has not been known to fail on the same scale as the 6cyl models. All of the horror stories are regarding the faulty 6cylinder water pumps with platic impellers.

There is absolutely no history of 4cyl pumps failing prematurely. I have two tis, one had the water pump replaced at 100k(was still working at 100%) and the other at 130k still has the original plastic pump.

SL



Well, the m42/m44's that had a waterpump with a composite impellar, would fail prematurely. The impellar would deteriorate and then break up and overheat the engine quickly. I've read of several cases,some as early as 60k miles or so.

[bimmerboi318]

Some ti's had metal impellars and some had plastic (composite). It might notn have happened as often as on the 6's, but the plastic ones will fail sooner than the metal ones. It may not be an epidemic, but it happens more often than with metal impellars.

[KIRASIR]

...but the plastic ones will fail sooner than the metal ones. It may not be an epidemic, but it happens more often than with metal impellars.
And this claim is based on what?
SL

[Jeff Spooner]

I have seen electrolyis(sp) eat the impellers off the metal ones and the plastic impellar off on two different 318's. So my claim is based on a w/p in one of my hands and the plastic impeller in my other hand.

[andycook]

Well, Thanks for all the information guys! It turned out my system was just not bled correctly. After Following Jim's instruction, and turning on my heater during bleeding, it came out of it. The fan is working again and I am driving it again finally.

These boards are priceless for stuff like this. Thanks again for all the input. Now, does anyone here know anything about Porsche charging systems? :o)
Thanks again.

[robermaldo]

I just wanted to thank Jim for his instructions about bleeding the coolant system. I had the same problem as andycook. The whole thing started when a drive belt broke off and the resultant overheat caused a heater hose in the back of the engine block to pop off and leak the coolant. After replacing the belt, tensioner and reconnecting the hose (VERY difficult from over and behind the engine block!), the engine was overheating, the fan was not turning on when the car warmed up, and the heater did not heat at all. I replaced the thermostat only to find that the thermostat I took out looked like new inside and the new one did not make a difference.

My mistake was that I kept pouring coolant only until it leveled off at the
mark where it is supposed to be when cold. I had seen posts where people mentioned pouring coolant until no bubbles were seen, but I did not know where to look for the bubbles. Jim made it clear that I was to pour coolant until it started to come out of the vent hole. When I saw that post I ran back to the car, bled the cooling system correctly and the problem was solved.

Thanks guys!


Well, Thanks for all the information guys! It turned out my system was just not bled correctly. After Following Jim's instruction, and turning on my heater during bleeding, it came out of it. The fan is working again and I am driving it again finally.

These boards are priceless for stuff like this. Thanks again for all the input. Now, does anyone here know anything about Porsche charging systems? :o)
Thanks again.