my 528i

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joeye - 25 Jan 2006 17:53 GMT

I have a 1997 528i. Last night I finished replacing the radiator, thermostat
and housing, all hoses for the coolant system, and of course replaced the
fluid. I'm seeing some white smoke from the exhaust. I think it may be the
head gaket. I wanted to know how long I can run on it if indeed it is blown?
Will it do a lot of damage to my car if I do not fix it right away?

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R. Mark Clayton - 25 Jan 2006 18:34 GMT

>I have a 1997 528i. Last night I finished replacing the radiator,
>thermostat
> and housing, all hoses for the coolant system, and of course replaced the
> fluid. I'm seeing some white smoke from the exhaust. I think it may be
> the
> head gaket.

So do I. Did the fluid blow out or the engine overheat because of radiator
failure? If so and you ran on then the head may be warped.

> I wanted to know how long I can run on it if indeed it is blown?
> Will it do a lot of damage to my car if I do not fix it right away?

Probably too late, you will need to skim the heads and rebuild the engine...

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Russ (www.e36coupe.com) - 26 Jan 2006 08:17 GMT

Before you jump to any conclusions, are there any other symptoms?

A rough idle for example,is usually one of the first signs, loss of
power when driving or lots of white gunge on the inside of the oil
filler cap?

The rads on the M50/M52 engines failing is not that uncommon. The
black plastic section that runs down the side of the water reservoir
probably swelled up and then started pissing water out....right?

It's bloody cold outside at the moment, so if the engines cold it may
appear to be chuffing out white smoke, but it's only until the car
warms up.

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