running hot after water wetter

**FLiPModE** · 10-31-2002, 07:38 PM

I put in water wetter yesterday. I siphoned some existing coolant out to allow one bottle of WW to fit in the tank. Today, car was running okay,until I accelerated quickly (tires broke loose from rolling start in 1st and during shift to 2nd, btw, hehe).Right afterwards, the temp gauge rose quickly. All the way to the red!!This has never happened before. I've had the engine fan off since late summer, now it was 50 degrees and it heats up? Could it be waterpump?thermostat?water wetter?Thanks for any help.

**wicked** · 10-31-2002, 09:34 PM

Maybe you should have mixed it! I would flush the system and then mix new coolant with ww before you put it in the radiator.

**328bimma** · 11-01-2002, 04:09 AM

did u close the coolant cap?

J

**FLiPModE** · 11-01-2002, 09:41 AM

hehe, yeah i closed the cap. HELLLPP!!

**bimmer95** · 11-01-2002, 10:33 AM

Well seeing as you have a '92 - '96 32X/M3 and you're even mentioning the waterpump as a possiblility, are we to assume that you never changed it? It does sound like you just blew yours up.

**ms318is** · 11-01-2002, 11:27 AM

The coolant in the engine was hot, but I'll bet good money the radiator was still quite cool.... Most likely a circulation problem - ie - the hot coolant in the engine block was not being circulated through the radiator. The Water Wetter is intended to allow the coolant to pick up heat faster from the engine block, and then transfer it more quickly to the radiator.
Likely suspects:
- Air bubble in the system (did you re-bleed after installing the Water Wetter?)
- thermostat stuck closed
- water pump not up to snuff

Did it cool back down on it's own?

**bimmer95** · 11-01-2002, 11:42 AM

The "accelerated quickly then overheated" is what ALWAYS happens with the junk plastic waterpump impellers. They stress crack over time and then the come apart at high RPM. I've seen it WAY too many times.... "I was racing an XXXXX and then my car overheated, WTF?!?"... waterpump

:

**UD///M** · 11-01-2002, 02:06 PM

I'm with Bimmer95 on this one. Your pump is most likely no longer a pump.

**FLiPModE** · 11-01-2002, 02:07 PM

Thanks guys, I'm gonna take it all apart today to see what is wrong. I have a metal waterpump, new thermo + housing sitting in my garage waiting to be put in.

**Bernman** · 11-01-2002, 04:01 PM

I seem to remember that water wetter is not compatible with all types of coolant? Make sure that the coolant you use is the correct one. I expect that if what I remember is true, the WW bottle would warn against this.

All these years of reading and writing about E36 stuff tends to blend together in my mush of a brain, so I could be completely off-base. Should be worth it to do a little forum searching though.

Good luck,
Bernman

**bimmer95** · 11-01-2002, 04:06 PM

WW and Prestone makes ugly oily globs, but they wouldn't jamb up the cooling system.

**FLiPModE** · 11-01-2002, 06:30 PM

Thanks Bernman, I plan on putting in BMW stuff just to be safe. Also, If my waterpump is in pieces, how and where do I find the bits that flew off? I don't want them floating around in my cooling system. Thanks guys!

**bimmer95** · 11-01-2002, 07:01 PM

You'll probably find a big chunk lodged in the block behind the pump, some bits will be in the radiator hoses and others will be permanently stuck in the coolant passages in the block. If you didn't want impeller bits in there floating around, you should've swapped the pump before it blew up

:

**Erik@EDGE** · 11-01-2002, 08:44 PM

Another word of advice...If you are running without a fan/clutch, than you should also be running the lower temp aux fan switch and the lower temp thermostat to help keep the engine cool.

As for your problem, sounds like an H20 pump to me too.

**FLiPModE** · 11-01-2002, 10:55 PM

Originally posted by bimmer95
If you didn't want impeller bits in there floating around, you should've swapped the pump before it blew up :

I wanted to, I already had all the parts, just waiting for a free day to do it. I'm VERY busy. Also, I was very unclear on whether I already had a metal waterpump or not, I've asked on the boards many times, nobody knows (96 328is, build 6/96). Thanks

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**bimmer95** · 11-01-2002, 11:23 PM

That's why I always say, if your E36 is not a '97+ just assume that you DO have a plastic impeller and swap it ASAP. The pump install will take WAY longer once the pump blows up. What was once a 30 minute job will now take almost 2 hours.

**Jim O.** · 11-01-2002, 11:39 PM

Most of our cars are getting old enough that it's worth it to change out the water pump whether it's a metal impeller or not. Water pumps are pretty cheap, and as Bimmer95 says, it's a fairly quick and easy job to replace it. Better to just replace it every couple of coolant changes than to be stranded at the side of the road when the bearings go bad...

Jim

**FLiPModE** · 11-02-2002, 01:34 AM

Originally posted by bimmer95
That's why I always say, if your E36 is not a '97+ just assume that you DO have a plastic impeller and swap it ASAP. The pump install will take WAY longer once the pump blows up. What was once a 30 minute job will now take almost 2 hours.

Yes sir, definitely learned my lesson

**mini///m3** · 11-02-2002, 03:26 PM

Hi , I have a 4 cyl M44 engine in my ti. My car is also a 5/96 production. WHat about my waterpump? Do you think I have the plastic pump also?

Thanks

**FLiPModE** · 11-02-2002, 03:34 PM

Originally posted by mini///m3
Hi , I have a 4 cyl M44 engine in my ti. My car is also a 5/96 production. WHat about my waterpump? Do you think I have the plastic pump also?

Thanks

yup mine was plastic. Also turned out waterpump wasnt the culprit. The thermostat was messed up looking, one of the tabs snapped off.

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