looks like my E30 has died

[johno]

as titled coming home from trafford centre big pop sound from front of car then alot of steam from under bonnet coolant light came on temp not to bad half way on gauge never went above this limped home lifted bonnet green coolant all over engine bay and steam had a quick look cant see any broken pipes. Noticed a bit more vapour from cold and a small puddle under car last week took it into garage and told to keep an eye on coolant levels which i did levels dropped a bit but nothing to much. Was booked in for new year for a full check now thinking head gasket most likely but on the whole am gutted think if head goosed im fecked with a capital F so in all had a shite boxing day

[Nelly]

What engine you got in her mate? might be able to help out.

Neil.

[jonbuoy]

If your temp did'nt go through the roof and it still run's ok then try changing the thermostat, see how you get on

[johno]

its just a standard 325i m20

and temp never went above half

still on a downer left driving a astra 1.4

dont know if money or misses will let me revive the beast

[Andy335Touring]

Are you sure an old hose or the radiator hasn't just popped a hole some where ?

You might have got away with it, how far did you drive it after it went pop ?

See how much water it takes to top up.

[Templ8e30]

Check and double check the small hose that sits hidden between the back of the cylinder head and the bulkhead, it feeds coolant between the head and the heater matrix inside the car.

This pipe has been known to burst, Danstable a fellow zone member had this and was told by a 'specialist' that the head was cracked. We only discovered the burst hose when pulling the engine out for an engine swap. Could've saved about Ԛ£180 if we'd spotted it earlier

Cheers,

Iain T

[Brianmoooore]

And check you've got the updated radiator cap with the yellow disc on the bottom.

[johno]

thx everyone for there advice but turns out the pipe that runs over the top from water pump to thermostat was touching the fan as it turned hence made a small hole which in turn sprayed coolant into the fan and radiator blowing it all over the engine bay replaced pipe today and all is well so i still have an 325i E30 well chuffed again thx for everyones help cheers

[philn]

I had a similar problem a couple of years ago, easily fixed with a new thermostat though.

[Dan318-is]

And check you've got the updated radiator cap with the yellow disc on the bottom.

One of your favourites ey brian! i didnt have one when i checked my new car though so worth looking for!

just to back up what has been said; it sounds to be like a thermostat!

[Brianmoooore]

thx everyone for there advice but turns out the pipe that runs over the top from water pump to thermostat was touching the fan as it turned hence made a small hole which in turn sprayed coolant into the fan and radiator blowing it all over the engine bay replaced pipe today and all is well so i still have an 325i E30 well chuffed again thx for everyones help cheers

Yet another BMW nearly seriously damaged and BMW's reliability reputation taenished by an incompetant mechanic.
Checking underneath my recently aquired 318iS yesterday, I noticed a nice new prop centre bearing - then found the front prop bolts were only finger tight!!
If anyone has found a good mechanic, then hang on to them - they seem to be few and far between.
Other recent ones I have found, are an inlet manifold replaced with one nut completely missing, found when the gasket blew after eighteen months, and bell housuing bolts merrily unscrewing themselves after a clutch change!

[Dan318-is]

the best one iv ever seen is a gargae tweeking my air flow meter for emissions, an then me driving home an having it run ilke a dog to realise they hadnt plugged the bastard thing back in

silly fuc*ers

[calipsodream]

nasty glad you got it sorted m8. worst ive seen is a 325 i with lose engine mounts when u went round a corner the engine was trying to sit up straight & that was dun by a bmw specilist

[Dan318-is]

nasty glad you got it sorted m8. worst ive seen is a 325 i with lose engine mounts when u went round a corner the engine was trying to sit up straight & that was dun by a bmw specilist

would you like to inform us which "specialist" this was?

[Martinaston]

The temp gauge will not read correctly if you have no coolant for the sensor to sit in so you may have damaged the head.

[Sy_325]

thx everyone for there advice but turns out the pipe that runs over the top from water pump to thermostat was touching the fan as it turned hence made a small hole which in turn sprayed coolant into the fan and radiator blowing it all over the engine bay replaced pipe today and all is well so i still have an 325i E30 well chuffed again thx for everyones help cheers

i had this exact same problem, drivin along and the temp started to rise gradually, switched her off below 3/4 mark... opened bonnet and there was a steady stream of steam bellowing out of (what seemed to be) the radiator... on closer inspection the next day it turned out to be the exact same hose that u had mentioned above, only the steam was belching out of the hole in the pipe next to the fan, and bouncing off the rad...

very amusing i must say 18miles from home at 4.30am on a rainy sunday morning