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DISCUSSION => General Topics => Topic started by: GigaG33k on December 20, 2006, 10:25:55 AM

Title: Water pump seized ...
Post by: GigaG33k on December 20, 2006, 10:25:55 AM
First the fuel pump goes I  want to mess with that myself, I'm new to diy, so I took it to the shop. many dollars later I pick it up and on the way to work the car started overheating. I pulled off the freeway, kicked on the heat to cool it off a bit faster and all I get is cold air. I decided to milk it to a spot I knew I could leave it for a while. After work I went to go see what was going on. The first thing I found was the water pump / alternator belt was broken. I checked the water pump for any kind of rotation to no avail. There were no leaks in the radiator. I'm guessing that the water pump has seized, there was a small leak there before that I was aware of.
so...
How hard is it replace? in the process I figure I should go ahead and do the thermostat too. both parts from bavauto.com include the gaskets. Is there anything else I should do while I'm in there. I have a few days off between jobs and figure this would be a good time. I'm pretty new to this so any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
Christopher
Title: Water pump seized ...
Post by: bmwman91 on December 20, 2006, 11:41:43 AM
The pump is not all that hard usually.  It can seize in there and be a royal pain to get out, but with a block of wood and a pry bar it is manageable.

The T-stat...easy stuff, just make sure you put it back in the right way lol.  There is a little bypass notch in the housing that can clog with old crusty coolant...clean that out if clogged.  Use a gasket scraper/putty knife to get all the old gasket off the head, it likes to get stuck on there real good.  After scraping the crud off the housing I got some 600 grit wet-sandpaper on a flat surface and lapped the housing's gasket surface for good emasure.

The pump should come with the big o-ring on it.  The t-stat comes with the housing gasket?  Make sure it comes with that and not just the litle o-ring.  Good luck!
Title: Water pump seized ...
Post by: RED IS 91 on December 20, 2006, 02:23:02 PM
http://www.esatclear.ie/%7Ebpurcell/318ismaintenance.html#waterpump


http://www.esatclear.ie/~bpurcell/318ismaintenance.html#thermostat


follow the procedures  above and you should have no problems.Be very careful when you torque the bolts . I believe it's 7 or 10 ft.lbs .not much .
Get yourself  Bentley Manuals (You'll need 2 ) if your going to work on these cars.
I changed the fuel pump ,thermostat,and water pump on my car and I'd rather put in a fuel pump any day of the week .
Good Luck to you and keep us posted.  :)
Title: Water pump seized ...
Post by: GigaG33k on December 20, 2006, 04:49:39 PM
thanks for the advice guys. I'm going to start collecting parts in the next day or so and attack the project after Christmas. I have the internet versions of the 2 manuals. hopefully things go smoothly.