[DRock3d]

I'm in Lansing, MI and I live in Columbus, OH. My water pump is dying on me car is fine to drive for a while as long as I top up the coolant but it's inevitable that the dreaded yellow then red light will come on. I've been very careful to shut off the car as soon as I get the red light but I don't know if I can limp it home 4 hours. I haven't lost heat and I keep it full blast while driving. It is fine as long as I keep it under 2k but it's 70mph all the way home, so it's almost impossible to keep it that low. What should I do?

[mike3000fl]

Either way you have to get a new water pump. That is money you will pay sooner or later. Do it now, no need to risk a blown head gasket or motor.

If you must drive it...
Drive it at night, keep that heat on high, go into hidden service menu and pull up the temperature menu item and monitor it (you will see it climb past 107 and things get more fun), if you have been topping up with plain water you would benefit from a 50/50 mix of coolant and water to raise the boiling point, I would also run the vent procedure while the car was cool to get out any air bubbles in the system.

[DRock3d]

Originally Posted by mike3000fl

Either way you have to get a new water pump. That is money you will pay sooner or later. Do it now, no need to risk a blown head gasket or motor.

If you must drive it...
Drive it at night, keep that heat on high, go into hidden service menu and pull up the temperature menu item and monitor it (you will see it climb past 107 and things get more fun), if you have been topping up with plain water you would benefit from a 50/50 mix of coolant and water to raise the boiling point, I would also run the vent procedure while the car was cool to get out any air bubbles in the system.

Tried to get into the hidden iDrive menu when I was stopped, I was unable to get anywhere.

[ken1137]

Go to the Regional forum as ask if anyone knows a good Indy. Just dont mention you are from Columbus You will have to pay for a new one plus thermostat anyway and it's better not to be stranded.

Not a good risk your taking, I would find a good local BMW indy shop and take it in.

[VTECaddict]

I didn't even want to risk driving 5 miles home when mine blew, much less 4 hours!

[apskinner01]

Parts under $500 from my local dealer website. If you're lucky, you can print this out and another dealer will match it. that's probably your only shot of getting the parts quickly at a good price.
http://www.tomkinsonbmwparts.com/par...iagram=1942075

If your coolant is low however, i'm guessing a leak is your problem.

[m@rco]

I wouldn't take the risk... Drive it to the nearest dealer... If you HAVE to drive it, immediately switch off the engine at the RED warning light. If i'm not mistaken, it comes on at a temperature above 120C. Here is how to get the temperature visible:

1. Turn on engine
2. Press reset button for odometer, for about 10seconds (or more)
3. You will first see some icons regarding maintenance, do not release yet, then you will see a plain Arial Font with numbers
4. Release the button, and push again until you are in sub-menu number 17
5. Wait until the sub-menu is active. the 'cursor' now becomes active on the right. Add up the last 5 digits of your VIN number. So 12345 gives you password 15. That is your passcode. Again, use the reset button to reach your password. As soon as you reach the password, the hidden menu will unblock automatically
6. Now, hit the reset button until you reach sub-menu 7. That is where the water temperature is indicated.
7. If you switch off the car you'll have to start from scratch again...

I find 70mph too fast for driving with a heated engine. I'd suggest 50mph max. THat is when the car is most fuel-economic, thus least heat created. There is no more "cooling" at higher speeds, remember your pump is down too...

When you see the temp run hot (getting over 110, 112), turn off the engine while driving (!). If the ORANGE warning light is on, use the Board Computer stalk to "see" the hidden menu again. Then, place car in neutral. Press start button for a few seconds (else car wont shut off) then roll along as far as possible with maximum wind cooling. Stop at shoulder and wait until the engine cools down to 80 or 90C. That takes a long time... For safety: stand behind the guard rail... Don't stay in the car.

I've done this procedure to cover a distance of 20 miles and it took me almost 1.5 hours... Once the engine is hot, it takes a long time to cool down.

Better NOT to take the risk and go to the nearest dealer. Topping off on coolant shouldn't make a difference (unless the water already came out... that's a serious sign of overheating. Avoid that)

Good luck.

[DRock3d]

I topped up the coolant yesterday and put about 50 miles in, then it started to get warm. I'm wondering if there is a leak or the pump is just getting really weak. I was having a hard time topping up when it did overheat because the coolant wouldn't stop boiling over.

[DRock3d]

Originally Posted by m@rco

I wouldn't take the risk... Drive it to the nearest dealer... If you HAVE to drive it, immediately switch off the engine at the RED warning light. If i'm not mistaken, it comes on at a temperature above 120C. Here is how to get the temperature visible:

1. Turn on engine
2. Press reset button for odometer, for about 10seconds (or more)
3. You will first see some icons regarding maintenance, do not release yet, then you will see a plain Arial Font with numbers
4. Release the button, and push again until you are in sub-menu number 17
5. Wait until the sub-menu is active. the 'cursor' now becomes active on the right. Add up the last 5 digits of your VIN number. So 12345 gives you password 15. That is your passcode. Again, use the reset button to reach your password. As soon as you reach the password, the hidden menu will unblock automatically
6. Now, hit the reset button until you reach sub-menu 7. That is where the water temperature is indicated.
7. If you switch off the car you'll have to start from scratch again...

I find 70mph too fast for driving with a heated engine. I'd suggest 50mph max. THat is when the car is most fuel-economic, thus least heat created. There is no more "cooling" at higher speeds, remember your pump is down too...

When you see the temp run hot (getting over 110, 112), turn off the engine while driving (!). If the ORANGE warning light is on, use the Board Computer stalk to "see" the hidden menu again. Then, place car in neutral. Press start button for a few seconds (else car wont shut off) then roll along as far as possible with maximum wind cooling. Stop at shoulder and wait until the engine cools down to 80 or 90C. That takes a long time... For safety: stand behind the guard rail... Don't stay in the car.

I've done this procedure to cover a distance of 20 miles and it took me almost 1.5 hours... Once the engine is hot, it takes a long time to cool down.

Better NOT to take the risk and go to the nearest dealer. Topping off on coolant shouldn't make a difference (unless the water already came out... that's a serious sign of overheating. Avoid that)

Good luck.

Is it possible to do this in iDrive?

[Potty_Pants]

is your engine fan even running... if it's not you could probably replace it... if you can get the part.

ppp

[See5]

I'm surprised you can limp it to 70mph. Mine just shut off and I was doing about 20.

[ozzy1]

If you are going to drive, cleaning out the radiator with spray and some cleaner will help a lot. My fan was blasting continously last year until I cleaned the radiator. Seems, you may do regular long distance driving, which means lots o bugs in radiator.

By the way, if you insist on driving, and can wait, Friday night temps will be in the 50s. I'd drive then.

[fun2drive]

I would honestly look at renting a car to drive home and get the parts shipped to where you are at then driving back and getting any indy to fix it if you can't.
Even a dealer if you supply the parts will do this and not cost you what they pay for parts.
The risk is extreme to blow a head gasket.
Rent a car leave the BMW there or rent a truck with a trailer and drive it home then get it fixed.

[mike-y]

if you have to drive, use cruise control to keep it at 60 to keep the rpms below 2k. I was able to limp another 1.5+ hours back home by going slow and turning off the AC.

took the car to a local indy place the next day and got the pump and thermostat replaced.

[EDM92]

Don't drive.

[NashvegasR]

I wouldn't chance it - sorry - I know not what you want to hear. Even if you keep turning the car off upon "RED" warning, the temperature spikes will inevitably lead to problems down the road (blown head gaskets, etc etc etc). Just not worth it... sorry for the bad luck mate.

[ctuna]

Do I want to pay 1000 to 1500 for a pump now or 10k plus for a Engine.

[VTECaddict]

Keep in mind that with a broken water pump, theres pretty much no water flow. So even if the indicated temperature isnt above normal, the coolant in the engine block could very well already be super heated. It's just it hasnt had time to flow to the temperature sensor yet to trigger the warning light.

[El Cheapo Loco]

Our cars are not meant to be driven more than 50 miles away from your trusted Indy.

[DRock3d]

Well guys I'm going to replace the pump in the hotel parking lot tonight like a boss. Should be interesting, dad is driving up with parts and tools.

[JimKW]

Cool. Father and son bonding. I could definitely see my son and me doing that. I would drive to Lansing to help him out and I am in the Columbus, Oh area.