1991 318is overheating

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Tom S - 27 Nov 2005 20:32 GMT

I noticed this when steam started to come out of the heater ducts while in
traffic. The needle was near the red. On opening the hood I saw signs of
leakage on the oil pan flange area on the left side.

I got the car to a dealer in Glendale (Pacific BMW) and signed up for an
estimate. That was $115. What ever happened to the days of *free*
estimates?

I got a call from the dealer a couple of days later. They told me that they
couldn't see where the leak was and if I wanted them to investigate further
it would co$t me another $575 to pull the intake manifold. Mind you, that
was on _top_ of the $115, and would still be part of the estimate! Actually
_fixing_ the problem was not included.

I've _had_ it with this dealer! They must have a steady line of suckers to
keep themselves in business, but I have no intention of becoming another
one. >:^[

Anyway, now that I'm done venting, does anyone here know what the probable
cause of this leak and overheating problem is? I'm guessing that the car
leaked out enough coolant over a period of days or weeks to finally
overheat. Once I got some water into it I had no problem driving to the
dealer.

So, what is the most likely failure mode for this car's cooling system?
TIA.

Tom S

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John Burns - 27 Nov 2005 22:30 GMT

1) Nice car :-)

2) Join www.bmwcca.org, your local chapter will tell you about a good
independant specialiast and you'll get the best car magazine your ever
likely to read!

3) M42s have a timing case profile gasket between the front of the head
and block. You need to remove the head to replace it. On your car it was
made from a poor material and can fail. Normally it goes BIG time, if
you were able to top up the coolant and drive again this may not be the
problem.

4) If it only overheats in traffic it's maybe just a bad fan clutch.

5) Failing the above it could be the head gasket or a sticking
thermostat.

> I noticed this when steam started to come out of the heater ducts while in
> traffic. The needle was near the red. On opening the hood I saw signs of
[quoted text clipped - 9 lines]
> was on _top_ of the $115, and would still be part of the estimate! Actually
> _fixing_ the problem was not included.

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Tom S - 28 Nov 2005 15:08 GMT

> 1) Nice car :-)

Thanks, but I'm pretty sure the engine isn't an M42. I think it's either an
E30 or an E36 - but I don't know how to tell the difference. 1991 was
apparently a weird year; even the dealers can't tell for sure which parts it
takes unless they _see_ it - not even from the VIN#.

> 2) Join www.bmwcca.org, your local chapter will tell you about a good
> independant specialiast and you'll get the best car magazine your ever
> likely to read!

Thanks for the tip. :^)

> 3) M42s have a timing case profile gasket between the front of the head
> and block. You need to remove the head to replace it. On your car it was
[quoted text clipped - 26 lines]
>> Actually
>> _fixing_ the problem was not included.

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Kyle and Lori Greene - 28 Nov 2005 15:30 GMT

> Thanks, but I'm pretty sure the engine isn't an M42. I think it's either
> an E30 or an E36 - but I don't know how to tell the difference. 1991 was
> apparently a weird year; even the dealers can't tell for sure which parts
> it takes unless they _see_ it - not even from the VIN#.

The engine is an M42. The body style for a '91 could be either an e30 or
e36. In either case the engine is the same.

Kyle.
98 740iL
01 525i

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Dave Plowman (News) - 28 Nov 2005 16:39 GMT

> They told me that they couldn't see where the leak was and if I wanted
> them to investigate further it would co$t me another $575 to pull the
> intake manifold.

Take it somewhere else. The normal way with a 'difficult' leak is to
inject a dye into the cooling system then pressurise it with air. This
will show where it's leaking from. Without this, on a hot engine, the
coolant may evaporate too quickly to see where it's coming from.

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*What hair colour do they put on the driver's license of a bald man? *

Dave Plowman dave@davenoise.co.uk London SW
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