So as I'm driving home, I look down and notice my temperature meter is just a hair short of red. About 10 seconds later, it's in the red. So I pull over and pop the hood, and low and behold, a lovely antifreeze/steam combo is spraying out from inbetween my radiator and the plastic filler tank thing. At least I was fairly close to home, but now i'm carless until I get this fixed.

I've heard that E36s had a weak point in the radiator area, a filler neck or something. I've done the fan delete, and no problems whatsoever until now. Also, my car is a 98, so it should have the metal impeller.

Can I get any help here? Does this sound like anything that any of you know - like a common failure point on the radiator or something? If nothing else, what is the proper name for that green plastic jug attached to the passenger side of the radiator? Tomorrow I'm goint to start pulling it apart, looking for the exact problem, but some advice from you more knowledgable ones would be nice.

The overflow tank?

My timing was worse. My radiator blew after I left Queens Hospital to get some gas. My aunt wasn't doing too well, but I figured I'd take a short trip to get gas and come back. Radiator blows on Beretania St and I make it to Punchbowl. Radiator is in stock and replaced in a couple hour. Unfortunately, my aunt passed just as the car was done. :(

Sorry to hear, that's sad news.

The leak seems to be coming from the overflow tank area. I'm going to take it all apart tomorrow and check, I really hope that's it.

Kind of a shame I wrecked the motorcycle, My wife and I are down to one car now. Another vehicle really comes in handy in times like this.

Thanks!

My overflow tank took a dump a couple years back. It wasn't that expensive to replace.

Oh, that's definitely good to hear. I'm tired of expensive things lately.

I was busy with other stuff so I sent it out. I think it was @ $200 parts & labor.

more than likely the plastic fill/end radiator necks.. it is a common problem on E36's...

i've done more than a couple of these radiator swaps.. ask natedawg and chase (cant remember screen name at moment)... i have done this quite often it seems and if you need any help, let me know

ZIONSVILLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!! and while your at it , replace the thermostat and houseing, and pump. the pump was ugly lookin' and the stat was shot. *side note* cal and brian are the sh!t !!!

If it's just the bottle, then just replace that.
If you need to replace the entire radiator go to Performance Radiator, they have OEM replacement Rads and are much cheaper than the Dealer. Call first to be sure they have it, which I believe they will. They had one for my '91 318, they should have one for your car.
A good pressure tester would come in handy about now to give your system a good test to help find the leak/leaks.
Whatever you do, don't run your motor or you will risk damaging your head, and then you will really be in hot water!

hehe ... hot water ... ................... I'll grab my coat.

Thanks guys, the problem ended up being the plastic filler job thing, apparently the pieces of plastic inside it had broken off, there was a lot of crap in the plastic tank. So I'm ordering that, shipping it overnight, and flushing my cooling system. I already replaced my thermostat with the lower temperature one when I did the fan delete mod. I probably won't do the water pump yet, simply because right now I really need my car running again.

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH SHE DID IT AGIAN!!!! RADIATOR FLUID RUNNIN' AWAY!!!!!!! goin' down Kam and temp went up got her to Checkers and opened the hood. bellows of steam come rushin' out. baffled cause we did the whole radiator job. steam cleared out and i see the fluid on the a$$ end of the manifold. not cool, Cal scares me w/ fairy tales of the head gasket ... i hope its just fairy tale.

Check your heater hoses that connect at the manifold!
If it was your head gasket you would see white smoke from the exhaust however, this is more of a symptom for a crack head (engine crack head not human crack head :stickoutt ) also car would idle rough due to coolant in the cylinder, which would be cleaning your piston and spark plug!
Or, water and oil mixture in your rad/block.
I would guess some heater hose/plug has a hole, but it's just a guess.

Do a pressure test to be sure.

rog, thanks thrlls

Do a pressure test to be sure.

Do this and check for coolant leaks.

ok so i'm lookin' at the bently cause my plan is to take my car to the autoport hobby shop tommarow and see where this leak maybe at. and i read over the "cooling system pressure test" and it says that i need "a special pressure tester" ... so i'm doin' a call out, anyone have a pressure tester that i could steal for a bit? if not , then i'm goin' to try puttin' my car on the lift and turnin' her on , and see where the leak comes from after things get hot ... it could lead to some pain but these things need to happen :)

Sorry, I can't help you here.
You may be able to purchase on from Sears or Snap On however, these tools are expensive.

thanks anyways ...

I highly doubt it is a head gasket or block/head crack. Most likely a heater hose as Thrills suggested.

... hmmm well ummm Brian you know that i lack a lil knowledge on cars, I'm lookin' into the Bently , we thinkin' its the heater valve hoses?

I gave my Bentley to Cal, so he could give it away free.... so I dont really know whats back "at the a$$ end of the manifold", my memory is not that good. Just fill it up with water, warm her up and look for leaks.

rgr

Sorry, I can't help you here.
You may be able to purchase on from Sears or Snap On however, these tools are expensive.

Also, bear in mind that most radiator caps vent at ~13 - 15 psi (if they are in proper working order), so the cooling system isn't under a lot of pressure.

If you have coolant spewage somewhere, it'll manifest itself at a lower temperature than it takes to cook the motor.

You may want to make sure your cap is new/in good order as well.

You might want to have a strong flashlight handy while doing the squirt test, as it may help to see the lead as the light reflects off of the coolant...especially in the dark areas!
Don't forget to wear your goggles and gloves!

Most of the leaks I've seen in that area came from the elbow of hose labeled #5 where it comes out of the heater valve. It could also be from the hose clamps cutting into the hoses in the same area. Hopefully, you won't have to run the engine and wait for it to warm up - could get messy, even painful. Since you have a coupe, you have more room to peek between the rear of the manifold (a$$ end, if you want to get technical) and the bulkhead. You may have to pull the plastic vent covers that the engine harness is tied to. Of course, at this point, you'll want to replace at least those 3 hoses and related clamps. Whatever you do, be careful not to overtighten the calmps on the heater valve!
Good luck! (by that I mean I hope the leak is coming from somewhere else)

oh man, the specter of that damn heater valve emerges again :p
/knocks on wood
/thrice more for my hoses too

... so your tellin' me this might be a hard job if its one of those hoses?

They are hard to get to. I think there's a freeze plug back there that has problems, too.

rock on; where is the location of the freeze plug?

and thanks for your help yall.

... so your tellin' me this might be a hard job if its one of those hoses?

if it's the hoses that go to the core... :mad that's how you hear about the cars w/bypassed heaters etc. the P.O.s gave up. the valve itself isn't that bad to get to and kinda' cool how it works but they give up on that too being tightwads or something.

if it's the hoses that go to the core... :mad that's how you hear about the cars w/bypassed heaters etc. the P.O.s gave up. the valve itself isn't that bad to get to and kinda' cool how it works but they give up on that too being tightwads or something.

I resemble that remark. :stickoutt

This tightwad has bypassed more than a few heaters.

I resemble that remark. :stickoutt

This tightwad has bypassed more than a few heaters.
Who needs a heater here anyway?

Who needs a heater here anyway?

I dont know about a heater, but I did use my seat heaters on those cool nights. I'd roll with the windows down, sunroof open, hoodie on, seat heaters kicking, and S62 engine screaming.....:buttrock

I dont know about a heater, but I did use my seat heaters on those cool nights. I'd roll with the windows down, sunroof open, hoodie on, seat heaters kicking, and S62 engine screaming.....:buttrock
Gotta love seat heaters! On my cab I took a drive with the top down in 65* weather last week. The car loved that cold weather.

she's fixed; found the problem ... and i found out i couldn't get to the problem ... so i took it to my guy, and he fixed it fast ... i was pissed to say the least that he did it so fast, i feel stupid, but at least it wasn't the gasket like Cal thought. I got pictures but i fear they aren't good enough to put up, i'll look later to night and see what i can do.

Who needs a heater here anyway?

oops, thought I was ranting and raving in the bay area still! :help

I'm with you and PCP who needs a heater here!
:alright

:alright :alright

:alright :alright :alright

:alright :alright :alright :alright

:alright :alright :alright :alright :alright

:alright :alright :alright :alright :alright :alright

:alright :alright :alright :alright :alright



:alright

i didnt say it was the head gasket, I said it was one of many possibilities... dont put words in my mouth nate... NOT GOOD...

btw.. some of your "goodies" came in on thursday, hope the rest get there this weekend, so as soon as I get back on the 26th.. we can knock it out.. and have it good to go for the Jan 6th, cruise.... hehehe... "go fast goodies" on nate's car.... should be interesting

your right, you did say it "could be the head gasket" and i said sometin' to the effect "oh ok not cool" and then you said sometin like "you don't understand the seriousness of that do you?" and i said "its goin' to cost me a lot of money to replace?" and you were like " well not the part but the labor" and i said "... more than a thousand?" and you said "uhh try more"

but yeah "go fast goodies would be awsome for the cruise but i'll be in texas from the 28th through the 9th of jan; so that kinda blows .... sorry.

so what was it, low blinker fluid right? :D

so what was it, low blinker fluid right? :D
I thought the blinker fluid never leaks and never needs to be changed or refilled!
Did I get the wrong info?

Omg I Need To Worry About Blinker Fluid Too?

only if you don't buy bmw's Lifetime Blinker Fluid warranty!

wow, I'm beat from yardwork. anyone want the tickets for the carshow?

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

mine didn't come in, so after someone said soemtin about them bein' 25 bucks my friends were like F that. so i didn't go, heard it wasn't all to good anyways, still i wouldn't mind seein' the women too.

so does this mean i need new suspension?
173305

i didnt say it was the head gasket, I said it was one of many possibilities... dont put words in my mouth nate... NOT GOOD...

btw.. some of your "goodies" came in on thursday, hope the rest get there this weekend, so as soon as I get back on the 26th.. we can knock it out.. and have it good to go for the Jan 6th, cruise.... hehehe... "go fast goodies" on nate's car.... should be interesting

Nate - The answer is no. That part you are looking for is sold, but to replace it, you have to remove your shock. While you're at it, you might as well put in Konis, springs, sway bars...

lol, oh so the stuff that i ordered a lil bit ago and we're waitin' to come in?

nice, a shredded bumpstop? :D as long as the shock doesn't push through the mount or something. I bet mine look like that too.

That fender well needs a wash! :D

nice, a shredded bumpstop? :D as long as the shock doesn't push through the mount or something. I bet mine look like that too.

so its a bumpstop , sweet thanks.

sweet cheeks + rumpstops =

(?)

http://www.genreenaction.net/IMG/bmp/sweet_cheeks.bmp

:confused

sweet cheeks + rumpstops =

(?)

http://www.genreenaction.net/IMG/bmp/sweet_cheeks.bmp

umm, = bim's bum??

Dude, is that you? I think I saw you on Kuhio-coner-Kaiulani the other evening... you winked at me in my BMW but I didn't stop... :stickoutt

:confused

/thread

this, uh, backfired!

think Happy Thoughts
think Happy Thoughts

http://www.unc.edu/~tkchen/w&m/w&m%20parties/happy%20thoughts.JPG

Please, no USC colors.