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View Full Version : Success story! Waterpump fixed, thermostat replaced, Auxillary fan back to quiet



stevodotorg
03-02-2008, 08:51 PM
This is more of a continuation of the "May-day May-day 202 down!" thread seen here: http://www.club202.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=14427

Let me start off by stating some problems that you the reader might be having for future references:

- Your auxiliary fan turns on as soon as your car is turned on and is obnoxiously loud because its running at full speed.
- You take notice that one of your spindles (such as the spindle on the waterpump in my case) is shaking or wobbling and effecting the spin of the belt in your car.

Well in my case, around in September an obnoxious problem occurred with my car, the auxiliary fan would not turn off and would not stop from being on full blast, from the time I started my car to the time I turned off the car. I began joining mb forums asking around what the problem could be, the best answer I got was that there is a good chance it was my "Auxiliary fan regulator" (and I'm glad that it wasn't, it would have been a $125 part).

Well about a month and a half ago I started to notice a *clunk clunk clunk* sound coming from under my hood, along with the fan always on, I wasn't too happy with the loud sounds coming from my car. Looked under the hood, that spindle I was talking about earlier was indeed wobbling. After some research I found out that it was the water pump. So after a couple posts, I got myself some detailed instructions (thanks Cru328prod!), ordered the part I needed on ebay (also ordered a thermostat, I figured why not, it was a decade old as well).

After receiving the parts I found some time this weekend with my friend who has a jack to help me install the parts. We took off the engine pan , drained the coolant, took off the hoses to the parts, installed the new parts, flushed my cars coolant system, filled it with coolant and water, turned it on, and now it runs like a champ!

A couple things, after taking out the old water pump, we were in for a treat, not only were the bearings of the old pump pretty much shot, the whole thing was filled with almost mud like gunk from over the years, and when we drained the coolant (keep in mind, I had just filled it a few months prior), it was a brown non transparent color.

So the moral of the story is, Cars need their parts replaced, its just the way of their life. My car is a 98 c230 and it was ready to have its waterpump replaced. I highly suggest to everyone: if you have never drained your coolant before, do it, you might be surprised what comes out and you might be due to have a couple parts replaced.

Anyway, If I get the chance if my friend hasn't thrown out the old parts yet, I'll see about taking some video of my old water pump, its pretty gruesome.

PS: total cost of everything: $90 + my time. Would have cost through a mechanic: $500-600

timmyj51
03-03-2008, 10:21 AM
Was your coolant the brown color when you last changed it? If
so, and it changed brown again in a few months it may be the sign
of a blown head gasket.

expo5.0
03-03-2008, 10:46 AM
i know a couple of us with C43s have been having this problem iwth our auxiliary fans-

My coolant is fine and my water pump certainly seams to be working...

so my problem probably is the regulator? how did you determine which thing was at fault in your case?

stevodotorg
03-03-2008, 05:04 PM
Originally posted by timmyj51
Was your coolant the brown color when you last changed it? If
so, and it changed brown again in a few months it may be the sign
of a blown head gasket.

I had never changed it, only filled it about 6 months ago, i probably should have drained it back then but never thought to do so. I suggest draining it and seeing what comes out. Lets hope it doesn't turn brown again :)

I mean, you figure it hadn't been drained/changed in 10 years, grime, dirt, sludge, or whatever is going to somehow end up in there. Anyway its all cleaned out and nice and clear like it should be now :)

stevodotorg
03-03-2008, 05:45 PM
Originally posted by expo5.0
i know a couple of us with C43s have been having this problem iwth our auxiliary fans-

My coolant is fine and my water pump certainly seams to be working...

so my problem probably is the regulator? how did you determine which thing was at fault in your case?

Troubleshooting I suppose. My first problem before anything was a few months ago when that darn aux fan started turning on full blast and wouldn't turn off. I started posting around here and over mb forums about my problem. Majority of the people said to check the aux fan regulator, open it up, if it has residue built up inside of it (usually if you live in a rainy/snowy area, which I personally don't), then that is probably the problem, they run around $120 dollars but I didn't bother, once that clanking noise (along with the spindle wobbling) started coming from my waterpump, I decided to get that taken care of first. I figured the thermostat was 10 years old, it was ready to go, so I bought one of those while I was at it. I also figured, hey, maybe once I get all of this switched out, maybe my aux fan problem will go away and sure enough it did.

The best thing I can suggest is check your coolant to make sure its clear, by doing so I would remove your engine pan and drain out a little coolant, enough to check the color of it and troubleshoot from there. Make sure your spindles the belt spins are all spinning smoothly. If your car is 10 years old like mine, and the thermostat has never been replaced, replace it. Check your all your hoses/lines for cracks or breaks.

Good luck to all of you reading this post and feel free to share your experiences :)

-Stevo