Well guys, I got my THIRD thermostat, and installed it. I then took great care to bleed the system perfectly.

No dice. The temperature rose to normal, and still no heat. I shut it down before it got any hotter, because it's obviously not working properly.

Note that the engine ran, both idled and reved, perfectly and smoothly.

Here's the weird thing:

The hoses on top didn't pressure up once they were warm. I popped the hood on my wife's Rover and started it, and the hoses got nice and hard.

Does this mean my water pump isn't working?

If so, here is my question:

It most CERTAINLY was working on Sunday night, because I drove it around for a long time, and it worked perfectly (about 1.5 hours). Then suddenly, it quit. (by "it quit", I mean the heat stopped being hot, and the engine began warming up, so I shut it down.)

So- IS IT POSSIBLE, THAT A WATER PUMP COULD WORK SOME TIMES, AND NOT OTHERS?

I guess that's what it all boils down to.

Let me know your thoughts.

Thanks, friends.

PS- When the shop did my head gaskets two weeks ago, they also installed a new water pump for safe measures. It was $170, so I assume it was a genuine part.

 

Yes I would say your water pump is toast.
The impeller could be slipping on the shaft and when it does it wont pump coolant through the system.
Have it towed back to the guys who did the work, they should R&R for free.

 

Towed to shop; Everything worked perfectly; They gave up.

Towed to dealer. Waiting for call.

 

I had this happen on a 2000 D2 that I had the headgaskets replaced and somehow we put the t-stat on wrong. Sounds stupid but we managed to do that, corrected the position and everything has been fine since. Just a thought.

 

I think mine's on correctly, unfortunately ;(

Thanks for popping in though- ended up being a crack in my engine block.