3.0si (N52B30) Water pump bleed procedure... HELP!!!

[nfbr]

Hey Guys,

What I suspect to be the electronic water pump on my Coupé has recently started making a lot of noise and I would like to put the pump into it's 'self bleed' procedure.
I have tried many times using the steps outlined on this thread over on Z-Post.
The issue I'm having is that I simply can't get the pump to bleed at all! No matter what I do, or how many times or how carefully I follow the guide, It does not play ball.

Now, I know my Waterpump is working perfectly as the car gets up to temperature in a good quick amount of time and does not rise above the mid-point on the gauge or over heat.
However the issue I'm having is a whining noise - Which is only there when hot - It's silent on idle, but whines increasing in pitch as I gently raise the revs. By 1400rpm the pitch of the whine is at it's highest and remains the same pitch for the rest of the rev range.
It does not do it when cold!

All I want to do is get my electronic pump running without the engine running, So that I can tell for certain that it is indeed the pump making all this noise!
I'm almost certain that it is - Lets face it, What else would only run when the car is up to full operating temperature and what else would raise pitch when bringing the revs above idle speed.

Any Help - Hints - Tips - Tricks or videos would be very gratefully received as this is really frustrating me now.
Sat here with money pouring out of my pockets reluctant to purchase a new pump until I know for sure it's that... lol

 

[biojo]

Turn on the ignition (do not start car), set the heat to maximum and the blower on the lowest setting. Begin by pressing the accelerator pedal to the floor for at least 10 seconds; be sure NOT to start the engine. Release the accelerator pedal and within a moment, the pump can be heard during activation. While the bleed procedure is being performed, inspect for leaks. The procedure can be repeated several times as needed, turning the ignition off for 5 minutes between each bleed procedure.


also put car on charge as this will drain battery

if its making the noise and its rpm related i wouldnt be thinking water pump, alternator, aircon.

running that though will let u hear the water pump

 

[nfbr]

That's what I was hoping, However my pump does not seem to want to go into the bleed procedure at all.
I was hoping there was something stupid that was missed off the guide on Z-Post which I was missing out, but it seems not

Gonna try it another way I think, By getting the car up to temperature, making sure it makes the noise, disconnecting the multiplug from the pump, then giving it a quick rev to see if the noise goes away.
At least then if the noise has gone, I'll know for sure that it's definitely the waterpump that's making the noise.

As much as it is RPM related, It stops increasing in pitch after 1400-1500rpm ish, where if it was the belt drive / AC / Alternator it would continue to increase it's pitch the more the revs are put on.

 

[biojo]

thats exact procedure i did, and it worked cos we had to do it twice, have you checked voltage on battery

 

[Z4M-2006]

Can you not trigger the water pump into bleed sequence with a diag machine ?

 

[nfbr]

Battery is running at 13.70v with the engine off, 14.38v with the engine/alternator running.

I'll speak with my colleague Mike with the E46 M3 as he has the BMW Diag/Communication tool.
Will get to the bottom of it one way or another

 

[Scooba_Steve]

I've never had a reading of 13 V+...??? Nothing wrong with your alternator though.

 

[nfbr]

TBF, I put a brand new top of the range bosch battery in the car when I bought it, so it's just showing to be strong.

 

[Scooba_Steve]

Was that 13.7 reading just after you had switched off the car? I don't think that's accurate - leave it overnight or for a few hours after use the check again. 12.6 V should be the maximum as each cell is 2.1 V.

Do you have any diagnostic software?

 

[nfbr]

Yeah immediately after a decent drive, Just done another read after not being used since Sunday and It's showing up 12.51v

I only have the VAG Diagnostics equipment myself, but my colleague has the E46 diagnostics stuff, so hopefully that'll work..

 

[Scooba_Steve]

Good charge then - might be worth getting a bcables lead and seeing if that will do it?

 

[yg54sg]

You can try this version I suggested here: this is how I have always done E36 3 series, E46 320d and my Z4 (M54) always works a treat and gets all the air out http://www.z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=74136&p=1089992#p1089992

 

[nfbr]

Thanks for all the input guys Will let you know how it goes this weekend if I get a chance to mess around with it.

 

[nfbr]

So incase anyone was wondering about my weird noise... It turned out to be the oil filter.

The N52B30 engine has a filter that pushes into the oil filter housing and locks in with a nice solid click. If the filter is not locked into the housing properly and the housing/filter is refitted and screwed tight, it twists the oil filter and crushes it a little causing a horrible squeely noise as the oil passes through the pleats of filtration media that are twisted out of shape.

Luckily this doesn't compromise the oil pressure or the quality of the filtration media, but it's definitely something to look out for!
A fresh genuine oil filter and some millers nanodrive oil later and the engine now runs super silky with no odd noises