the neck that the hose attaches to broke. Since I'm the mechanic of the family, I got drafted to fix it.

What has my brothers car gotten me into? I've replaced radiators before (and rebuilt a few engines) but I've never touched an E36 and haven't even seen under the hood enough to remember what it looks like. How much time should I expect this to take me?

it's really easy to replace but asking in the e36 forum will get you better answers then the SW forum. :)

pull off the radiator shroud and you'll see how everything hooks up. get him new hoses while you're at it, it'll save you the headache of changing them out later.

Yeah.. happens all the time. My radiator was replaced in 2005 or I'd be afraid it would happen to me too.

Not difficult at all. I wouldn't be suprised if there is a DIY write up somewhere. Check in the e36 forums like madhatter said. Also, while all of that is apart, you may want to look into an aluminum t-stat housing, new t-stat, and new water pump if those haven't been replaced. :thumbup:

i would at least make sure you got 2-3 hours if this is your first time on an e36. its really easy though. i'm sure you'll have no problem with it. i do all my work myself, and am mechanically inclined like you, (minus the rebuilding engine part). but i did mine last fall in about an 1 hour. so i'm sure it'll be easy for you.

sweet. I was just really hoping it was not like the 300ZX I used to have. That was hell to change the radiator.

I asked here 'cause I've never been on the E36 forum and I figured I'd have just as much luck here since it seems like almost all the MofO's drive them.

Not difficult at all. I wouldn't be suprised if there is a DIY write up somewhere. Check in the e36 forums like madhatter said. Also, while all of that is apart, you may want to look into an aluminum t-stat housing, new t-stat, and new water pump if those haven't been replaced. :thumbup:
don't forget to add a new expansion tank to that list. mine just popped on my this past weekend.

don't forget to add a new expansion tank to that list. mine just popped on my this past weekend.

Is there anything we can do to prevent existing plastic tanks form popping? I know the real fix is an all aluminum radiator for zionsville or something.. but what about some sort of preventative measures for existing installs?

WHY do they break? Does the plastic get dry and brittle on the outside from the heat? Can it be treated?

What kind of e36? For a couple dollars more you can fit an S54 M coupe rad in there... that is if you are replacing an S52 rad. Just something to think about.

What kind of e36? For a couple dollars more you can fit an S54 M coupe rad in there... that is if you are replacing an S52 rad. Just something to think about.

its a 94 325is.

its a 94 325is.

Original rad? If so, I guess it was due to pop.. hehe.

Original rad? If so, I guess it was due to pop.. hehe.

as far as i know it was. he's only had it for about a year. i can't think of any car i've ever had with a plastic radiator. i guess these days its pretty common to cut costs.

Nvm

they ordered a radiator, and the one that arrived had the neck broken in the same place that his broke. :shifty So they sent it back.

Since I didn't want to come up there later, and went a head and drove up there to do what we could without the new radiator.

Pretty much cake. I don't follow directions when I work on cars, so I did it a way that made it way easier. Instead of pulling the fan, then the fan shroud, then the radiator, I instead undid the clips that hold the fan shroud to the radiator, then disconnected all the hoses and the two radiator clips, and lifted the radiator straight up and out. Then I took off the fan and replaced the thermostat, and re-installed the fan, all with the fan shroud still in there sitting where the radiator had been. This was nice because with the radiator already out and the fan shroud pushed forward out of the way, its alot easier to get a 32mm wrench on the fan nut and a huge screwdriver holding the pulley still.

While in there, I discovered a possible reason for the exploding radiator. The thermostat was actually physically broken in three pieces and jammed sideways blocking coolant flow, which led to an overheat. Fortunately all pieces were present and accounted for in the thermostat housing.

So all my brother has to do is put the new radiator in, re-install those ridiculous clips and secure the fan shroud. :buttrock

Hope your bro's head gasket is OK. Sounds like it was pretty catastrophic when the cooling system cratered.

black zip ties are far easier to work with then those PITA fan shroud fasteners.

black zip ties are far easier to work with then those PITA fan shroud fasteners.

Black zip ties FTW.. they're holding the left side of my JTD underpanel on :)

black zip ties are far easier to work with then those PITA fan shroud fasteners.

yeah those are kinda lame, but oddly enough I didn't have that much trouble with them. they've been all over all sorts of non-BMW cars that I've worked on before so I'm used to it.

What was really a PITA to me was those damn complicated clips that hold the radiator to the supprt beam in front of it. I got one of them off without breaking it, and even after examining it and the broken one I'm still not positively sure I understand how they're supposed to work. Hopefully they're not too expensive, I suppose my bro will find out tomorrow when he gets to the stealership for a new one.

really? those are probably the easiest clip to undo on the entire car! take a flat head screw driver and insert it into the slot (follow the arrow). then press up on the back and bingo, it pops open.

they are maybe $1 from your local dealer.

-Ron

really? those are probably the easiest clip to undo on the entire car! take a flat head screw driver and insert it into the slot (follow the arrow). then press up on the back and bingo, it pops open.

they are maybe $1 from your local dealer.

-Ron

well thats good then. I don't know if they were just old and brittle or what but they would not budge. Apparently I'm not the only one who had trouble with them cause the write-up my bro printed off from the net said they were extremely complex and would probably break during removal. :dunno

well thats good then. I don't know if they were just old and brittle or what but they would not budge. Apparently I'm not the only one who had trouble with them cause the write-up my bro printed off from the net said they were extremely complex and would probably break during removal. :dunno
really? I never read the write up as it's a very straightforward swap.

really? I never read the write up as it's a very straightforward swap.

my brother had read it before I got there, he's not really a car person but he remembered what it said about those clips, and he was telling me in what order we were supposed to take stuff off. I told him to forget the write-up and let the master do his work.

Unfortunately my parents just moved so the garage is a complete charlie foxtrot ifyaknowwhatimean. If not for having to spend so much time looking for tools it would have taken a grand total of about 30 minutes.