[mike3000fl]

Cruising on interstate, yellow temp light, baaaam red temp light and no power.

I pull off at the first exit and inspected under the hood. Expansion tank was bubbling inside violently and presumably the cap had puked coolant everywhere (I see no cracks in the tank). Big mess.

Let her cool down and topped up coolant. On the road again and no issues in the last 3 days.

Here's the deal though....

I have no idea what caused this overheat condition. The fan works and I was not low on coolant (I had no low coolant light until after the car puked out the coolant). So I am thinking that since I am overdue for a waterpump (150,000+ miles on the original), maybe it failed. Later on though I ran the vent procedure and then peeked inside the expansion tank while the car idled, in both cases I could see the return line pumping water back into the expansion tank, the pump IS working now. Has anyone heard of the water pump acting intermittently and failing, then later on working again ???

NOTE: When you get the red temp light, don't wait for it to go into a protect mode and shut off by itself, pull over somewhere safe and shut her down. Do not keep driving the car. Even though it is in a limp home mode, it will get hot enough to cause permanent damage.

[ndog14]

Oh wow. I'm glad you made it to safety. I'm subbing to this thread.

[GarySL]

http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=757615

[Meeni]

This is typical for a failing pump, it stops working intermittently for some time before it fails definitely, great opportunity to overheat the engine. Have it replaced asap (or DIY, not so hard). It is recommended to do the thermostat at the same time.

[monaco330]

Water pump mine went a couple months ago.

[2ndname]

You know what time it is...water pump/thermostat time. When in doubt and you're around 80K without having the WP replaced, do it...