The other day, on the way to work, I notice the temp is getting higher than usual. When I hit my offramp, I notice a bit of smoke/steam coming out from under the hood, and as I slow to idle, the oil pressure light comes on. I give it a little gas and that goes away, I pull the car over and pop the hood. Torn hose, not sure of the reason. I replace the hose on lunch break, and drive it home after work... but it overheats on the way. I keep pulling it over, letting it cool down, and generally limping it home.

Now it has a tough time starting, and I hear a little bit of bottom-end noise (very slight, but apparant) at idle. When I just start it up and let it run, it just warms up and goes straight to overheating. No heat from the vents either, so looks like for some reason, coolant isn't circulating. Gonna pull the t-stat to see if it's seized, but I'm doubting it. I'm thinking of bypassing the heater core to see if that's plugged, which is definitely a possibility... could it be the waterpump failing internally? These cars had the metal impellar, so I don't think that's it.

Anyhow... anybody have a guess at why the oil pressure dropped at idle? I've heard of E30's having this problem, but why during the overheat? And why doesn't it want to start now... any ideas on that? What do you guys think my plan of attack should be?

Thanks a ton...

-Tim