E30 Zone

so, today i drove from bpool to stockport to pick up an alpina splitter from bodger (thanks mate). from there i went to ikea to pick a few bits and bobs up. as im coming off the motorway through some traffic lights, the shadowline on the drivers side decides to come unclipped at the front. I was only a mile away from ikea (according to sat nav) so i just held it in out of the window.

suddenly, my steering goes stiff, so i looked at the dials and my engine had died. pulled the clutch out to bump it and it was only then i realised the temp gauge was off red! pulled over straight away and popped the bonnet, and water had pissed out of the expansion tank lid. after a long boring day on ikea car park (i finally got there) i got the car to blow hot air again out of the heaters after my recurring air locks.

anyway, anythoughs as to why this would happen? Either something caused the car to overheat which then caused the expansion tank lid to leak pissing out water futher enhancing the over heating, or it is the lid itself leaking?

just a little more info - ive had coolant leak for a while now, decided to get it sorted last week - i couldnt find the leak so i put a bottle of the Bars leak sealant in and that seemed to sort the leak out and ive had no problems since.

any thoughts would be much appreciated

chris

Obvious stuff first. Are you sure you put the lid on ? I've done it myself.

yep! i always check it everyday due to the leak i used to have and i have to really tighten it up. i think im lucky and might have just got away without cracking the head/headgasket going! not mayo on oil lid, no bubbling in expansion tank etc..

water pump could be on its way out does the car loose any water?

it did until i used a bottle of leak sealant (about a week and a half ago) and it hasnt lost any since. i only used it as i couldnt find the leak anywhere

if you cant find the a leak the head gasket could be suspect

head gasket has always leaked oil slightly, what would be the symptoms? as stated, theres no bubbling in the expansion tank and no visible "white smoke" from the exhaust. anything ive missed?

chris

Might be an idea to check the thermostat too, just a thought

check the waterpump same thing happened with mine overheated and leaking water,

thermostat is opening as all the pipes are hot, however can the thermostat be dodgy and stick its self shud during operation?

what checks could i do for the water pump? i do have a spare new one, but dont want to have to do that unless its necessary!

new symptoms, i left it over night and topped up the expansion tank but only took about 100mls of coolant. If i let it idle (about 800rpm), the temp gauge will creep slowly but surely, and the heaters will go cool even though the temp gauge is above half. If i hold the revs about 2k, the temp will drop, and the heaters will blow hot air again. It would seem there isnt enough water in the system, however after numerous coolings, the tank doesnt want to take any more coolant! Air lock problems? Water pump not up to scratch? I bleed the 8mm screw on the thermostat housing and about 2seconds of air come out every time, but this keeps happening!

cheers

chris

That rad leak stuff you put in wasnt a good idea. the problem is they love to block heater matrixes hence why you COULD have cold air on idle and when the you rev it (water pump will pump harder) it will force past the blockage giving you hot air. Just a suggestion not a "zoner knows best" answer

i did think this. before i put the leak sealant in, the heater matrix was always prone for air locks and i suspected a slight blockage. Perhaps the sealant has enhanced the problem? I also have a minty spare heater matrix, but not looking forward to having to do that!

When its running at correct temp is there alot of pressure in the top and bottom engine to rad hoses? Obviously the coolant lid has to be on. If it takes alot for you to squeeze them then it could be headgasket asuming all the air is out of the system

i'll have a check. if it was the headgasket, would i not see bubbling in the expansion tank?

Not all the time. A headgasket or cracked head will appear in different ways not just the obvious. Like you could have a headgasket blown for months a not a drop of water will mix with the oil. So the old fable "pull the dipstick out and if its a gravy coulor then its headgasket" isnt always the best thing to believe.

Doubtful, your more likely to see the steam coming from the exhaust, then once the engines off the higher pressure in the cooling system would force the water back into the combustion chamber.

Pull the spark plugs and see if any are steam cleaned, 4,5 or 6 are favorite if the head has corroded.

Have you checked for tiny holes in the hoses ?
Do it in the dark with a torch and see if you can see any fine mist escaping with the engine off so the fan doesn't blow it all over the place.
Front, bottom of the rad and the feed to the matrix at the back of the head are the hardest to spot.

ive checked quite thoroughly for leaks but it is possible ive missed something small, although it used to leak a sufficient amount of water in only a few days. il check the spark plugs, but IIRC, i think the pipes did feel pressurised but i will check all this. So!..i may be a headgasket jobby. Really didnt want to have to do anything major to the engine as i was hoping to drop a 2.5 in the summer. Can i change the headgasket without disassembling the valves etc? This is my daily and i rarely have a lot of free time, so i will be needing to sort this out in the smallest time possible!

So, gasket kit, bolts, timing belt should do it? And may as well replace the water pump whilst i have a new one here. ]


Cheers

chris

i felt the pipes this morning and they do feel pressurised but i can still squeeze them, the system should be pressurised to a certain extent anyway should it not?

Heres a pic of the plugs, nice a brown, but a little clean (hopefully not steam cleaned!). Keep in mind ive been running it on gas for about 6months now. What do you recon? (i mean headgasket wise, i know they need changing but i havent had the desire to spend money on an engine i just need to keep me going until i source a good b25)

plugs look fine to me.

i hope youre right mate. if ive got away with the headgasket (it doesnt seem to be losing water either) then il just renew the coolant system on wednesday. what does everybody else think? im convinced its my water pump that is now fubared. dont know how its done it, but maybe some of the propellers have broken? so sufficient cooling will only occur when i increase the speed of the pump i.e. it only cools when i keep the revs up. is it frequent that a pump is damaged after an overheat?

cheers, chris

Unfortunately with problems like this, you will only REALLY know when you start taking bits off and looking. There is so many different things it could be.

My 325 uses a bit of water... so i just keep topping it up and making sure the oil and water are ok. Did 9 laps of the nurburgring in it last june and it didn't use a drop of water, drove it back to calais on a gentle run, used a litre?!?!?!?!?!?!?

im just hoping the headgasket hasnt gone, so then i can worry about sourcing the problem. as you said, it could be a number of things. il start with the water pump on wednesday, maybe order thermostat, expansion tank cap, and radiator and fit those too. any other tests i can do to check for headgasket? i could do that too as its only about £50 quid for a gasket set, but time is more of an issue..

cheers

chris

You could drop a b25 in with the time/money you're going to spend doing this. hire a crane and be done with it!

http://www.e30zone.net/modules.php?name ... highlight=

dont tempt me alex! lol looks like an alright buy, but id be wanting to rebult and stroke (not in a gay way) a 2.5 before i drop one in! besides, the car really isnt up for the power of a 2.5/8 yet - still need to refurb all brakes, bearings and bushes.

judging by the colour of the spark plugs, the fact i can still squeeze the water pipes so they musnt be under a massive amount of pressure, and also the water level still seems to remain the same - i might have got away with the head/headgasket. So, i recon its the water pump. Il fit a new one tomorrow, along with a new timing belt, radiator, thermostat and expansion tank cap ive just ordered of ECP (hopefully will come tomorrow whilst im doing the pump!) and i will report back.

Chris

CHR1S1990 wrote:dont tempt me alex!

That's what Credit cards are for, buying bargains to stash before you can affford them!

b7's Hi Comp lump in similar condition, but with parts for motronic 1.3, went for £200.

The HC is the best start point for an M52 2.8L stroker, 9.5:1 originally, 9mm extra stroke with 5mm shorter rods = just under 9.5:1

so im looking for a high comp pre-facelift engine, but source the later motronic 1.3? Is it possible to use the motronic parts from my 320i?


anyway, the results

New pump, belt and tensionor, radiator, thermostat, expansion tank lid. Flushed the heater matrix and flushed the engine (only with water, that leak sealer is nasty stuff!). Filled and bled (just with water to make sure there are no leaks, will replace with antifreeze mix tomorrow), and all seems well! Temp gauge is sitting just over the first 3rd mark and drives well. The water pump seemed fine to be honest, on the other hand, the radiator was extremely corroded, and the cause was probably a combination of that and the expansion tank lid which has always been dodgy

Chris

The pre-facelift HC engines had two crank sensors on the gearbox bellhousing, one speed, one position. I can't see a problem using the b20 front crank sensor and wheel. The early engines had diffferent thermostat housing too IIRC.

The ideal solution would be to find an HC engine and matching motronic 1.3 ECU from a facelift car, the chips/ECU must be different I'm sure.

I never got to the bottom of it, but I'm sure my rare combo of HC/1.3 is why my evolve chip didn't work properly in my car.

you can use all the 320i parts all you need is a chip from a face 325 the use the ecu or get an unprated one from one of the zoners that sale them on here.

You didn't metion the viscous coupling on the fan, a new one wouldn't hurt.
Did it boil over while on the motorway or stuck in traffic after thrashing it ?

Those plugs look like there running hot to me, do you run it on gas all the time ?
They could do with changing, the electrodes have worn down and become domed.

sounds interesting. Il start collecting bits soon, in the process of doing the rear beam, next will be front struts (gaz coilovers hopefully), and then finally the engine. How much do the m52 cranks go for and how easy are they to source? Looks like your quite on your way then alex for the perfect stroker build

viscous seemed fine when i checked it, the problem occured literally just coming off the motorway on slip road, didnt get a chance to get to any lights. I run all the time on gas yes, even start it on gas. Already ordered some new NGKs. The laptop for the LPG kit reads diagnostics, and all is fine rich/lean wise.

Chris

Just missing crank and rods and the money to buy them with. LOL.

It took a long time for me to realise you actually had to turn on each diagnostic function. And then a bit longer again to work out the flashing orange led was indicating a recorded fault!

lol hear hear. indeed, mine flashed slowly when i first had the kit up and running, but that was with a random incorrectly sized mixer - then the generic lambda failed but a bosch 4 wire jobby has been great ever since! Its the best £300 ive ever spent. Even with recent temperatures (about -4 on a morning here) i can still start straight on LPG infact, i cant remember the last time i ran on petrol! might think about getting a multipoint injection system when the 2.8 arrives..for performance that is

Mine is not happy starting on gas unless warm, and even then it needs the throttle open a smidge. This may well be down to only using the car every other weekend!
Mine running on gas with the mixer is costing 20bhp over running on petrol without, I would expect to get half of that back with a sequential setup.

i have to open the throttle half way for the first 10 seconds, and then it runs fine. Been considering sourcing a pre-heater too. Sourcing a sequential kit on ebay is well worth at least 10bhp IMO, especially since you get a newever ECU compared to the leonardo - although i do like it, there are better more modern ones out there.

May i ask, how come you gas converted if you only use it every other weekend? For the longer trips?

Chris