Cooling System

[maharaj1]

Just a friendly reminder to everyone, check your cooling system and make sure it is in good working order. Had my water pump fail on me Friday and after replacing that found out that my thermostat which was replaced several months ago, is stuck open and the car isn't reaching proper operating temperature. Never hurts to check.

[stiggy5]

Yes! Its hard to realize how important it is to do that with these cars as a new owner. It took me half a year to find a nice E36 in my budget. I found a nice 160xxx km 2 owner with service records Boston Green dark caramel (cinnamon?) interior. I quickly scanned the service records and thought I saw water pump being done. Well it wasn't, the thermostat was, and the water pump (early model plastic one) disintegrated on me. I always keep an eye on the temp gauge but it takes no time for it to overheat when the water pump completely fails like that.

Needless to say that was a really expensive lesson. 3 months later signs of head gasket issues appeared. Head was warped .009 inches, not cracked thankfully. I took the bus to school for the last month while the car sat. Ive spent every day of my break so far working on it. I am just about done putting it back together and fingers crossed, will be starting it up tomorrow. Not only did it take a lot of time and money to get it fixed, but its hard to think of the once mint never overheated car I had the same way as I did before. I don't know if it will ever feel the same.

To those of you who are new to the E36 world, if you are not sure if your cooling system has been overhauled, OVERHAUL IT. Its cheap insurance. Trust me, you don't want to learn the hard way like I did.

[95Alpine3]

I just put the last of the hoses on yesterday. I replaced W.P., thermo, and rad when I got it 3 years ago. I had the intake off so I decided to replace the 4way and all the heater hoses. I broke my warmup thermostat when connecting it but i'm glad, because on closer inspection the plastic was in very bad shape. Might be worth replacing in an overhaul if it's never been done.(This is the part that mounts into the air box and has a single mounting bolt and two coolant lines connected to it.)

I also replaced my fuel lines which is also worth mentioning.