cooling nightmare continues

[McGyver]

I bought a generic pressure tester off amazon that came with an assortment of caps, one of them fits just fine.

I would focus on finding the leak. Pressurizing the system may show it to you while the engine is cool, allowing you to wiggle all the hoses to find what's wet. There is a chance the engine needs to be running to push coolant to some place it's leaking.

M20s aren't that hard to bleed, especially if the car is sitting on a slight incline. I bet your problems go away once you find the leak.

Check the throttle body heater and the coolant lines around the heater core.

[82eye]

I
Check the throttle body heater and the coolant lines around the heater core.

all brand new. the throttle body heater has a new gasket as well. i'm gonna run the car a little the next 2 days and see what happens. heater core and o-rings replaced as well.

[MrBurgundy]

Maybe it's time to invest in a power bleeder.

I know that's a lot for someone a DIYer, but with these m20s, they truly are a pain to bleed.

[82eye]

Maybe it's time to invest in a power bleeder.

I know that's a lot for someone a DIYer, but with these m20s, they truly are a pain to bleed.

pretty sure we now know what it is. my local indie shop let us put it on a hoist overnight. they say the leak is behind the timing cover which means a defective water pump. it was bad from new, there's less than 3000km on it.

i'm pretty disgusted and tired of chasing the problem. it's past driving season here and the car might have to wait til spring. in the meantime the shop said just to keep it topped. it won't leak when running or warm, only dead cold. was told it's a seal in pump itself that is bad, not the gasket or install.

edit: the shop is too busy to do the work. told me it's worth the break on my wallet to do it myself since i have the tools etc.

[DesertBMW]

just what I said, what cooling nightmares when you haven't even changed the water pump yet

[82eye]

just what I said, what cooling nightmares when you haven't even changed the water pump yet

try follow the plot. it's brand new from build. how many 3000km water pumps went bad on you?

[McGyver]

try follow the plot. it's brand new from build. how many 3000km water pumps went bad on you?

I had a Graf WP take a shit after less than 5000 miles. It worked fine out of the box, then started weeping, then completely let go. I'm glad you found it, cooling system pressure tester would probably have saved a huge headache in finding the leak with the car cold.

[reelizmpro]

Glad you found the problem. It really sucks when new parts go bad on you. Graf put out a batch of leaky water pumps for the E30 M3 many years ago and now everyone just buys OE BMW pumps at twice the cost.

Edit: it wasn't Graf....it was Laso

[82eye]

I had a Graf WP take a shit after less than 5000 miles. It worked fine out of the box, then started weeping, then completely let go. I'm glad you found it, cooling system pressure tester would probably have saved a huge headache in finding the leak with the car cold.

it won't leak under pressure. only after it has cooled completely and the pressure lets off some. when we pressurized the system to find it, the leak would seal, then open up after. also won't leak running. made it really hard to trace.

edit: pretty sure mine was ok for a while. i had other cooling problems i fixed last season and thought were related. probably would have zeroed in sooner without them.

[82eye]

Glad you found the problem. It really sucks when new parts go bad on you. Graf put out a batch of leaky water pumps for the E30 M3 many years ago and now everyone just buys OE BMW pumps at twice the cost.

i gotta figure which pump to go with now. i run a gates blue belt and it may have been part of a kit.

[McGyver]

I used a Graf recently and have 1000 miles without issues. I also used a Graf before this and got 5 or 6 years and probably 10-15k miles out of it without issues, I took it out when I swapped heads and did the timing belt.

[82eye]

I used a Graf recently and have 1000 miles without issues. I also used a Graf before this and got 5 or 6 years and probably 10-15k miles out of it without issues, I took it out when I swapped heads and did the timing belt.

that was my go to until i saw what McGyver posted about his. indie shop that has been helping me out also mentioned they've been having a lot of bad pumps from new in the last 2 yrs. just in general, not specific brands.

edit: was thinking of spending the extra and getting one from FCP but they told me on another order they won't honour their warranty outside the US now.

[TobyB]

Grr.
years back, I spent extra for the Genuine Motorcraft water pump-
and it came out of the box with a FoMoCo made in China sticker on it.
Leaked right out of the box, too.
Put on a $30 GMB, and it's been fine for 5+ years.

There's just no knowing- Graf works great in 2002's but comes apart in M54s.
Reinz M10 head gaskets were great, but the M20 ones leak oil.

what is this world coming to?

t

[82eye]

Grr.
years back, I spent extra for the Genuine Motorcraft water pump-
and it came out of the box with a FoMoCo made in China sticker on it.
Leaked right out of the box, too.
Put on a $30 GMB, and it's been fine for 5+ years.

There's just no knowing- Graf works great in 2002's but comes apart in M54s.
Reinz M10 head gaskets were great, but the M20 ones leak oil.

what is this world coming to?

t

i've always paid attention to brand quality but even once trusted mfgrs are enshittifying their parts...

edit: gonna contact fcp again and check if they can honour warranty here. it's worth it for the next pump if they do.

[MrBurgundy]

just what I said, what cooling nightmares when you haven't even changed the water pump yet

Read the thread at all? lol

For a guy that bashed me for my input... You got a lot of nothing to say yourself.