water loss plus overheating

[brightyboy]

I Have yet another problem...
My 316i (H reg) is overheating mostly when sitting in traffic or slow running,
& she is also dropping a lot of water from the bottom of the engine (behind the *bottom belt pulley *if thats a part)
I have looked through previous posts and can't quite figure out what it is.

:water pump gasket,viscous fan coupling,thermostat???

if its any help all the hoses get hot but i've never heard the fan kick in ever but the temp is in the RED,i'm going to flush the rad tomorow if the weather dries up if this will help.


help is much appreciated,i don't want her to die!!

[E30BeemerLad]

sounds like your water pump needs replacing if it is leaking down in that area behind the pulleys.

Also, worth looking into the viscous fan situation.

With it running and warm (not in the red) stick a rolled up newspaper into the fan blades, if the fan stops then the viscous clutch needs replacing, if the fan chews the paper to bits or tries to take your arm off then it's OK

Unless your timing belt is only a couple of months old, then you will need to repace the belt too, assuming the M40 is belt and not chain (i know shit about stuff really)

[brightyboy]

thanks beemerlad,i may aswell do the belt at the same time while im in there.
do you think it's a good idea to do a bit of rad flushing aswell?
cheers in advance

[E30BeemerLad]

can't do any harm to flush the rad out in my opinion

belt, tensioner & pump will prob set you back about £30 from GSF or a local motor factors

I don't think the M40 is too known for cracking heads etc, but if you have been boiling her up on a regular basis then it may be worth getting a test done using a sniffer kit which detects for exhaust gases in the coolant. No point doing all that work if the head is buggered, but you are most likely safe.

See what other folk think though as I may be over exaggerating the problem

[brightyboy]

cheers.

[dobbie82]

My touring P*ssed water out of the water pump, sounds like you have the same problem, should be an easy job on the 316i though? a 320i is a nightmare!

[Martinaston]

The M40 has two idler pully's have a look at the link.

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do ... g=11&fg=25