1. Engine off, feel around water pump and Tstat for wetness.
2. Search for Sapote’s bleeding method and use it to bleed air out, as praying won’t help the air out.

 

Thanks Sapote - am planning on bleeding, thanks for the instructions.

I’ve visually and physically (above and below the car) inspected the hoses around the radiator, tank, and thermostat - all are dry as a bone.

Praying has never produced results on any of the cars that I’ve owned

 

I'm going with water pump, with perhaps a side of cracked expansion tank.

How far away is your indy shop? Just keep a close eye on the temp gauge and be prepared to pull over and stop as soon as it starts going up. Maybe have a few gallons of water in the car to top up to finish the trip.

 

Thanks Vpoint - that’s what I thought too, but want to get confirmation from the shop. They’re about 15 miles away, but with traffic / side streets / stop&go traffic, it could easily be a 30-40 minute trip. I’ve still got the 50/50 coolant mix in the garage, will throw that in the trunk on the way over.

 

those small splatters are something from your water pump

i had the same issue - mine compeltely imploded itself internally

 

Thanks tks - that would explain the grinding noise and the smell/vapor that hit me when this all started. I’m taking her to a local Indy shop tomorrow to get the cooling system diagnosed - will go from there. If it is the water pump, thank god for FCP’s lifetime warranty

 

Please help! Has anyone had similar issues? I want to bring her to my local Indy BMW shop, but am paranoid about overheating on the way over.

I would do this: remove the engine bottom plastic tray if it's still installed, run engine and let idle until temp got to 93C, turn off engine and get under it to look for leaking around radiator bottom, hoses, water pump, Tstat, tank bottom, left side of engine block. At the moment the coolant pressure is high and any leaks should show up.

 

I’ll do that when I get home. Thanks Sapote - greatly appreciated.

 

Was there any coolant residue on the plastic splash panel? (Sounds like a no.)

Fyi, here is a picture of the green waterfall behind the OFH to look for. This leak wont drip on the ground, but worth a quick check.

The air filter box, upper intake boot are removed (so is alternator but that's not needed to check).

Second pic is with intake removed:

 

Nope - didn’t see any of that. Thank you for the pics though, that’s super helpful and puts me at a little bit of ease, at least for the coolant pipes under the intake manifold (knock on wood)

 

I suggest you unlock the secret cluster menu and get a numerical reading of the coolant temperature. 1-2 mm to the right of center with a temperature gauge that is buffered, on purpose, is not a good way to assess and diagnose. Under normal operating conditions, you should be somewhere between 94-98 degC. It won't be an exact rock-steady number because of various operating parameters. You can have this menu item unlocked while you're driving so you can keep your eye on it.

 

I’ve got the Ancel Bluetooth OBD plugin, which gave me a range between 94-96C last time I was out for over 15 mins. If the temp goes north of 98C, is that a pretty good indicator that I need to stop the car and call for a tow?

 

I'd argue that if it's leaking it's going to end up getting drained out and replaced soon enough that tap water would be fine.

 

That too.

One time with a water pump failure in a truck, I used a 5 gallon water cooler bottle, filled with tap, then refilled with water every mile or so to get the 6 miles home

 

^^

Normally I'd agree with the above two posts, but it is winter and if temps are below freezing (one of the dash pictures shows 32F), then using only water risks the water freezing (expanding) and really causing problems like a cracked head.

 

That too.

One time with a water pump failure in a truck, I used a 5 gallon water cooler bottle, filled with tap, then refilled with water every mile or so to get the 6 miles home

I've refilled from a ditch.

^^

Normally I'd agree with the above two posts, but it is winter and if temps are below freezing (one of the dash pictures shows 32F), then using only water risks the water freezing (expanding) and really causing problems like a cracked head.

This is a fair point.

 

Yeah, it’s getting cold here on Long Island. I took her out for an hour and kept the Bluetooth feed up - she didn’t cross over 96C, engine was purring. Now to pull out my UV flashlight and find this stupid leak. My money is on the water pump, maybe the tank, and maaaaybe the thermostat.

 

@qns_chris

Deja vue - I was visiting my folks (in CT) and I started the car with a squeal / screeching on startup. Once that happened after 30 sec's no issues.

I too had a newly replaced cooling system after buying a new to me e46. I replaced the entire system (except radiator) in Late 2020. Too soon for a failed WP...

I did the remove the splash shield and I was lucky (sort of) that there was BLUE coolant under the car. DAMN....

Filled the car with Distilled water, drove it home (no issues) and once I got it home 24 hours nothing... HMM... but a day later blue puddle.

Failed FCP purchased (YES!) OE Saleri pump had play in it... DAMN !!! replaced the pump, pulley, T-Stat (just in case) and no issues so far.

Not sure if there was a bad batch of WP but 2.5 years on WP with only 30k mileage is not right, only good thing is i got the price back from FCP under warranty.

I bought the STEWART pump which lasted me on my older e46 almost 100k miles and its still going (e46 @ 225k).

Fingers crossed.

 

@qns_chris

Deja vue - I was visiting my folks (in CT) and I started the car with a squeal / screeching on startup. Once that happened after 30 sec's no issues.

I too had a newly replaced cooling system after buying a new to me e46. I replaced the entire system (except radiator) in Late 2020. Too soon for a failed WP...

I did the remove the splash shield and I was lucky (sort of) that there was BLUE coolant under the car. DAMN....

Filled the car with Distilled water, drove it home (no issues) and once I got it home 24 hours nothing... HMM... but a day later blue puddle.

Failed FCP purchased (YES!) OE Saleri pump had play in it... DAMN !!! replaced the pump, pulley, T-Stat (just in case) and no issues so far.

Not sure if there was a bad batch of WP but 2.5 years on WP with only 30k mileage is not right, only good thing is i got the price back from FCP under warranty.

I bought the STEWART pump which lasted me on my older e46 almost 100k miles and its still going (e46 @ 225k).

Fingers crossed.

Counterpoint - I've gotten 100k out of a Saleri water pump.

Twice, I guess, since the original one would have been Saleri and wasn't replaced until 135k.

 

Solved!! Update 12/13/23

After finishing my oil pan gasket (what a PITA that was) and lowering the engine, I heard a sustained "hissing" sound from the expansion tank area, which lasted about ten seconds. I visually inspected the area, still as dry as a bone.

I took her for a test drive - about 20 miles - and upon returning and opening the hood, I found green dye (that my indy had put into the tank a week earlier) all over the top of the tank, leaking clearly from the smaller connection at the top of the tank (see pics). I pressed the connector / pin in toward the tank, and <CLICK> in it went!

Since then, my temp gauge has stayed TDC like it had been prior to this incident, and she's purring like a cougar.

The fitting most likely came loose from when I had changed the engine mounts a few weeks back, which also involved lifting the engine. I'm certainly keeping an eye out for subsequent leaks, but so far so good!

 

leaking clearly from the smaller connection at the top of the tank (see pics). I pressed the connector / pin in toward the tank, and <CLICK> in it went!

I can't tell if the leaking is from the smaller connector or from the tank cap by the pic. But it's great that you fixed it.

 

Nice ... keep an eye on it for a while to be sure the leak is gone.