E30 Zone

what can this mean? ive been looking on the forum and its not sounding good.

it took nearly eight liters of water to get 260 miles, can it be mended....

wail............. sob.....................

I would say... see ya later mr head gasket !!!! hope I'm wrong..

would have to agree head gasket gone bye bye

hope it is the head gasket rather than anything wrong with the head, seems the 325's seems to have head troubles a lot....

If the oil has turned to gunk stop driving it.
pull the head off to see if it's cracked if not you may be lucky and just get away with a new gasket. If it's a 325 i doubt it though.

how do i tell if the head is cracked?

The only way to tell for sure is to have it pressure tested.
That means taking it to a specialist Ԛ£Ã”šÃ‚£Ãƒ”šÃ‚£Ãƒ”šÃ‚£

I've just fixed exactly the same problem myself.

Before you take the head off, run the car up to temp, then remove the rocker cover and see if you can see any water or steam coming from the head. I understand they crack either under a cam bearing, or down the right side of the cam (as mine did).

If you can't see anything, take the head off, strip it down and send it for a pressure test. This should cost around Ԛ£35 give or take a fiver - have a phone around first as loads of places do it.

IMHO if it needs a new head, I would fit a complete recon. ECP seem to be about the best at Ԛ£450+VAT. Buy your HG set and bolts from GSF.
Flush your oil through after it has been up and running again for 1000 miles. (Just to clear any residual emulsion contamination)

all the best!
Dan

bugger......

i may have to break it then as i am skint

Don't panic - it's not a difficult repair.
You could source a second hand head for under Ԛ£100, get thet pressure tested too, new HG set and bolts, oil and filter all for under Ԛ£200, job done.
Don't break your car for the sake of a cracked head unless it's a real dog.

its not a dog its a nice one (imo!). i think ill be going to the bank of mum and dad!

Ԛ£200 sounds not too bad, just got to find a new head then.

Have a search for beemerlads posts he rcommended this stuff but you would have to ask him if it works

http://www.kalimex.co.uk/section.html?s ... 4.&pgid=17

I had the same problem 2 months ago.
Took the head to get pressure tested which cost Ԛ£30.
The head was porous. Apparently the water was coming through where cylinder 4 and 5 were like a watering can.

I got a recon head from www.linwar.com
Cost Ԛ£450 which includes delivering the head to you and picking up your old head when you are happy. You then get Ԛ£75 back when they get your old head.

It cost about another Ԛ£3-400 in all the other parts I used as well though as I changed every gasket and nut and new water pump and tensioner etc.
Its not a difficult job to do if you take your time.

Martinaston wrote:Have a search for beemerlads posts he rcommended this stuff but you would have to ask him if it works

http://www.kalimex.co.uk/section.html?s ... 4.&pgid=17

my gasket/ head started misbehaving on thursday night whilst on a 200 mile hike to Norwich.

Car was spewing coolant when hot and switched off. System was pressurised and it was coming out the breather from the expansion tank.

My old fell gave me a bottle of Kalimex K-Seal and i put this in the cooling system after filling back up with water & antifreeze. I've done about 400 miles since and it is behaving perfectly.

At the moment I can't recommend it enough. They make a bold statement saying it is guaranteed for the life of the engine.

www.kalimex.co.uk

Think it may be Ԛ£30 a bottle but it's a hell of a lot less than a headgasket set at Ԛ£120!

This could be the future for M20 owners!!!
Damn someone else for already having the franchise!

I am 99% sure it is your head cracked and not the head gasket. Been working on BM's for over 20 years, M20 head is very common to crack. Would be cheaper to put a new engine in the car (saves labour charges for stripping head and skim <Ԛ£200ish>(which it WILL need as they warp upon removal), and saves on head gasket and bolts <Ԛ£100>). I got an engine with 3 month warranty, 93k miles on it, looking for about Ԛ£450

Ԛ£450??? r u having a laugh mate??

is that a lot?

not at a specialist breakers maybe
but ive bought mint tax n tested e30s for lot less in the past

so imo pricey as fook

yeah, when u put it like that, dyaaaaammn boyeeee!

Martinaston wrote:If the oil has turned to gunk stop driving it.
pull the head off to see if it's cracked if not you may be lucky and just get away with a new gasket. If it's a 325 i doubt it though.

could be lucky
ive warped 2 heads and not cracked them

In my very limited experience they don't always warp, especially if you undo the head bolts 1/8 turn at a time (they're fully undone in 1/2 turn).
If your engine is running fine I'd do the head instead of changing the entire engine: better the devil you know as the devil you don't.

I certainly wouldn't change the engine. When was the last time you bought a new lamp because the bulb had gone?

There will be loads of people giving you loads of different advice, so take your time and research all your options before making a descision. You can fix this problem cost effectively without cutting any corners.

tourer-dan wrote: There will be loads of people giving you loads of different advice, so take your time and research all your options before making a descision. You can fix this problem cost effectively without cutting any corners.

i hope you are right! and to make it worse its raining today.........

As mentioned above, I knew what my engine was like before the head went. I didnt fancy forking out for another engine which could also be screwed so I just rebuild my own. It might cost more but at least youve got a fresh engine and you know whats in there.

Whats the deal with M20 heads going then? I wasn't aware that this was a common problem, and I have known E30's break 300,000 miles with no engine problems at all....

The 2.5 M20 heads are weak for some reason. IIRC if the headgasket goes then they seem to crack between Cyls 5 and 6 most commonly.

The 2.0 M20 head doesnt have the problem.

I see...panic over (320i!) Incidentally though, it was a 325i that I had known covered that mileage. He had the car from new ('89) and the only thing that went wrong was the fuel pump at 60,000

Sorry and no disrespect to anyone who has offered advice on this subject but I really would look at sticking some of that additive to your cooling system before you start pulling the head off etc.

It couldn't be simpler. Flush the system out, stick in approx 8 litres of water and antifreeze 50/50 ratio. The pour the K-seal stuff into a container with approx 2 litres of water and mix it up, then add it to the cooling system via the expansion tank. Think you have to have the car at running temp, but the instructions are on the bottle.

You will need to do an oil change also because of the water contamination in there.

But if it works as well for me as it did for you, that will be the end of it, full stop.

What's the worst that can happen, you've spent Ԛ£30 on a bottle of stuff and then maybe have to look at doing the head/ gasket.

My honest belief is this stuff will work and it is not just a bottle of crappy red-weld or other temporary get you home measures. It is guaranteed for life!!!!

Nuff said.

watching this carefully beemerlad
glad its held up so far cant wait to see how long this stuff lasts lol
have you been givin it some stick since its gone in??
this could be the find of the century mate if it lasts
good luck mate Daz

Hopefully it works but to be honest, if there is a crack starting I dont think this will stop it expanding and getting worse.
As Daz said, it will be interesting to find out how long it lasts.

dazleeds wrote:watching this carefully beemerlad
glad its held up so far cant wait to see how long this stuff lasts lol
have you been givin it some stick since its gone in??
this could be the find of the century mate if it lasts
good luck mate Daz

Not stopped giving it stick since putting it in mate, had it bouncing off the limiter several times, as is my ritual style of driving

Put it this way, my old fella put it in a diesel shogun with a cracked head 7 months ago and it is running fine still. Compression on a diesel is twice that of a petrol engine, I've heard it has been used on the blocks of HGV's too.

The stuff contains copper and carbon fibre and seals the leak within 3 minutes. I keep opening the bonnet every now and again and the coolant level is the same as it was when I put the stuff in. Really does seem to be pour it in and forget about it, couldn't be happier at the moment.
Well I could I suppose, I could have a 3.5 slaag sat on my driveway

sounds goo mate is this stuff readily available??

don't believe it is in the shops.

It is from the USofA and someone seems to have got the import franchise

try www.kalimex.co.uk

Not sure how much it is as the old fella had a couple of bottles but I think he said it is Ԛ£30 a bottle, which is dear but not if you get what I mean

just been reading info on there site all sounds good dont it
cant wait to here in a few months that yours is still sweet

think i may have to get a bottle in for emergencies

Used that stuff on a diseasal Clio that had head gasket issues. Fixed the head issues, but the stuff blocked the heater matrix. Fine running engine but ice on the inside of the screen in the winter. Replaced the matrix and the old one was totally blocked.

Just a word of warning and something to consider.

Used simlar stuff to that by an Australian company on the previous car (1988 HDT VL Turbo calais) which ran a 2.6L skyline engine, that HDT turned into a 3.0L turbo at the expense of reliability. It lived off the stuff for about 6 years with a badly cracked head (80% of VL turbos have a cracked head but the owner never knows) until it finally had a cambelt snap and some valve intercourse.

In that time the cooling system itself needed to be degooped / desludged about once every year, as the sludge from the chemical welding agent that doesnt act to seal the crack builds up and causes cooling problems.

The stuff is only effective when it is under extreme temperatures which are present usually in the crack it is sealing, so whatever doesnt get hot enough quickly mixes with the oil / minerals in the coolant and forms slime. Its a pain, but will last you as long as you want it to as long as you follow the directions.