2003 330 PCM - impeller disintegrated and water in pistons.

[AirTool]

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In an overheat the most common damage is the head gasket failing, second most common is the head cracking due to the heat.
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Or ring damage.

I ran a 2.8L v6 chevy at 260 F for a long time. Put water in it and ran it another 10,000 miles ....but it constantly blew oil back into the air cleaner. Twice a month I'd put a new buck-fifty kmart filter in it and wipe the oil out of the housing with a ball of paper towels.

[kwinm]

How did you flush out the pieces of the impeller? At what point in the system did you attach a hose or did you just flush the impeller chamber?

[kwinm]

All

Could use your advice. Yesterday I got out a half mile and found the engine that started smoking on me. The smell was rubbery. I shut it down and got a tow. The temp never went above 190 and upon inspection I found an impeller that looked like it had an encounter with a lawn mower. We are talking maybe 20 hrs since replacement. Engine sounds fine when cool. My issue may be that I installed before the winter vs after, but need to know the following
1) What could chew up a new impeller like that? Backwards, before winter? What? and why now?
2) What to do from here? Replace impeller? Flush raw water system? How do you do that?
3) I am not finding any of the pieces, where could they have gone and how else can I feel good they are out?

[surroundsound64]

How did you flush out the pieces of the impeller? At what point in the system did you attach a hose or did you just flush the impeller chamber?

Sometimes they just go, but probably sitting stationary (bent) for the winter they got brittle. I like to change mine in the spring.

Pull your hoses apart and look for bits of rubber. Unfortunately you can't get into the coolant passages in the engine really, so get what you can and hope the rest blows out.

[jhersey29]

Take off thermostat housing. Should find pieces stuck in it. Also lots of pieces will fall down into the hose feed to the impeller. Drain the u section before the circulating pump.

[kwinm]

Thanks! So I began looking at the hoses and found that they are stuck on the fitting pretty tight. I managed to get one of them off, but wanted to know if you had any tips on this? The thermostat housing is a pain too, but found a thread on that and have a wedge, mallet, and new gaskets to hit that one.

[surroundsound64]

Pre gingerly with a flat blade screw driver. Try to get some light penetrating oil in there but make sure you get it cleaned up before putting it back together.

You should be able to get it with just a screw driver and some muscle.

[s_kelley2000]

You can also try rotating them back and forth if you can get a grip on them. A strap wrench might work or SnapOn and I am sure other quality tool makers make some amazing pliers that are for exactly this. They come in a variety of sizes and basically have a ring at the end of the jaw that is just slightly smaller than the hose. This allows you to get a grip and work it off without compressing the hose onto the fitting.