E30 Zone

hi i have just replaced my heater valve on a 316 because the last one was leaking, and now the new( well second hand) one is starting to leak a small bit.
is this just bad luck or could there be somthing else thats causing them to leak???
any ideas would be great thanks. carl.
p.s can you overhaul them???

you mean the valve on the heater matrix yeh

There are not many heater valves second hand that dont have a slight green furr around them

ye the one on the matrix.
sweep. does that mean they all leak a little then??

is it not the matrix thats leaking

i understand which bit is leaking, just wondered if there was any reason other than being old and faulty which makes them leak.
cheers carl.

These heater valves can fail as a result of the cooling system pressure cap over pressurizing the system.
There was a safety recall in 1996 to change the pressure caps for an improved version, but many E30 owners missed the extensive publicity at the time, so there are still plenty of E30s out there with the original cap.

thanks that was what i had gathered from a bit of searching just wanted to get it confirmed, ill ring bmw n try and get the correct one thanks carl.

BMW will be able to tell you from your VIN whether your car has been supplied with a replacement cap (doesn't prove that it's still on there, of course), and if it hasn't, should fit a new one for you for free.
All the new caps that I've been supplied with have had a large yellow disc at the bottom, but I understand there is a another version 'out there' that's not so obviously identifiable.