Need Help Diagnosing Overheating Prob...

Hey guys, I have a 1995 BMW 325IS and it is overheating, I only have to drive it for about 5 minutes before the gauge is all the way in red. The coolant system isnt leaking, but other than that I don't know what the problem could be. Can someone tell me how to test the water pump to see if it is working and any other problems which could be causing this, thanks.

Could be a bad water pump, thermostat or one of your main hoses are cloged. Your radiator might also be cloged and not letting enough AF pass. To test your pump you could take it out of the car and spin it. It you can turn it by your hand then its not seized. Also take a look at the paddles in the pump. Ive seen one pump that every paddle was missing and the pump wasnt pumping the liquid through.

I think it's your water pump, they usually go out and/or should be replace at about 60,000 miles. Also look at the belt to the water pump. May be you lost it.

Thanks for the help guys. All the drivebelts are in place and in good condition. This is what i've done so far. I took out the radiator and flushed and reverse flushed it, it had a lot of debris in it, I am still working on getting the thermostat out. I cannot access one of the screws because of the fan so I have to get that off. About the water pump, I do not know where it is located. Is it the part that the is directly behind the cooling fan? How do I know what it looks like? When I do get the water pump out, do I have to open it up to check the paddles and see if they are broken? Thanks again...

This should help you . . .

http://www.logun.org/waterpmp.htm

Good Luck ! ! !

This is perfect, thanks a lot guys...

Ok I finally got the clutch fan off (this was the hardest part, had to jam a wrench between the belts to stop the fan moving so I could unscrew it). Then I got the thermostat housing off, I am stuck again cuz the thermostat will not come out. Is it supposed to come out fairly easily because I was pulling on it quite hard and its jammed in there, I even tried WD-40 and this didn't help...any suggestions?

Got the pump out, I can spin it easily by my hand, so I guess its not seized. All the plastic fins are there too, should I change it anyways since I have it out to one with the metal fins?

Yes ! ! ! !!

Change it . . . . if not your gonna have bigger problems on your hands when those plastic impellers brake off and you have to find all the pieces and replace radiator too.