Engine Water Leak

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Mark-W
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Sat May 12, 2012 1:09 pm

Sooo, changed my starter motor last saturday, ignition switch tuesday, got crashed into wednesday, today , driving along an noticed the temp in the red, stopped car, water everywere :eek:
Pretty sure the head gaskets ok
Just got it home, took the rad off hoping that was broke, turns out it looks like water coming from behind a pulley? Thinking water pump? Or the gasket?
Ive looked on e30wiki an spent ages on google but cant find anything!
Anyone know of any d.i.y pages anywere?
Cars a '90 316i
Cheers :)
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Billwill
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Sat May 12, 2012 2:54 pm

Mark-W wrote:Sooo, changed my starter motor last saturday, ignition switch tuesday, got crashed into wednesday, today , driving along an noticed the temp in the red, stopped car, water everywere :eek:
Pretty sure the head gaskets ok
Just got it home, took the rad off hoping that was broke, turns out it looks like water coming from behind a pulley? Thinking water pump? Or the gasket?
Ive looked on e30wiki an spent ages on google but cant find anything!
Anyone know of any d.i.y pages anywere?
Cars a '90 316i
Cheers :)
I am pretty sure the Wiki here should cover it.

On the M40 motor to replace the water pump you need to drain the coolant, remove the viscous fan and shroud, slack off the alternator/water-pump belt.
Then you unbolt the water pump...four 10 mm head bolts and you will see two open unused-threads in the pump casting..one upper and one lower. You need to screw two bolts into them, 6 mm thread I think, to push the water pump out. Replace the water pump and the large O ring for it at the same time.

It could be that the front seal on the water pump has failed...you can get one other than OEM which tends to be expensive. :)
Grrrmachine
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Sat May 12, 2012 3:09 pm

Most of the disassembly procedure should be covered in this article:

http://www.e30zone.net/e30zonewiki/inde ... elt_Change
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Mark-W
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Sat May 12, 2012 3:21 pm

Ah yes, i didnt think of that, thanks grrrmachine :)
And thanks Billwill, very helpful :)
Wonder whats gunna go wrong next :roll:
mcbonio
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Sat May 12, 2012 7:54 pm

Keeping an e30 on the road is like painting the Humber bridge.. Just when you think you've finished...
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Brianmoooore
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Sat May 12, 2012 11:30 pm

If you just screw 6mm bolts in the 'ears' and wind away, you will invariably just break these 'ears' off. You need to ease the old pump out by levering and twisting it, just screwing the bolts in, keeping a little tension on them, to ensure that any progress you make on one side of the pump doesn't result in the other side slipping back in.
They usually come out without too much bother, but occasionally you'll come across one that insists on being removed piece by piece.
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Mark-W
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Thu May 17, 2012 7:10 pm

Right, finally got the pump today, all went back together an the leak is sorted!
Problem is, filled it back up with coolant, spent ages bleading the system with the heater on an all that, finally got the heaters to blow hot air an all the pipes were hot, topped up again, let it cool down an checked it now, heaters blowing hot, temp gauge reading cold? Dont want to leave it run till the thermastat opens incase i do some damage, doesnt seem to be an air lock? Any ideas whats going on now?
Cheers
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Mark-W
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Fri May 18, 2012 11:44 am

Ticking over fine last night, tried this morning, stinks of fuel, misfiring, smokey!
FML. Headgasket? Really dont need this now, any help appreciated. Thanks
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Billwill
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Fri May 18, 2012 1:40 pm

Check that while you were working at the front of the motor you did not dislodge the wires from the crankshaft sensor and the HT lead pickup.

It is easy for these wires to rub through on one of the pulleys! :?
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Mark-W
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Fri May 18, 2012 3:40 pm

Thanks Bill, i did notice the pulley had worn through it abit when i took the pump out, putting it back together i couldnt find anything it clipped into so i put it over the top of the hose that goes to were the thermostat is to keep it away from the pulley an it was working fine last night, had the misfiring problems this morning, just had a look at the wire an i broke the yellow wire inside that the pulley has worn into, was very brittle, anyway, started it up with the broke yellow wire, it just revs like the accelerator is flat to the floor, misfire has gone though :banghead:
Dont actually know what to do, i have to spend another £100 on ht leads because i cant find the pick up sold separate, still got the heaters blowing hot, temp gauge reading cold problem which has me stumped? Which i cant do nothing about till ive bought the leads anyway :cheese:
Spend sooo much money getting this car running right, about a week after loosing my job the exhaust fell off an its gone downhill from there, fix one thing an another thing breaks instantly. :violin:
I might just burn it an buy a micra
mcbonio
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Fri May 18, 2012 4:01 pm

Hang in there Mark, I'm the same with my turd, Since I've had it I've just about replaced everything on it... Just when you fix something... another thing breaks.!

I was all pleased thinking I'd completed everything on it last week... only to find my radiator head had a split in it and loosing a litre of water a day and my subframe bushes had collapsed causing my rear beam to crack... :x
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