E30 Zone

Its only been 2 fooking days since i done the head gasket, and guess what? its fcuking gone again!!! Drove all the way to Kent with no issues at all... got car re-mapped, and on the way home temp gauge started to creep up... pulled over, heaters on, no joy..... stayed near red.. drove off motorway into juice station, and it seemed like an air lock so i spent 2hrs trying to bleed the fcuker, still no joy, on way home it started kicking and smoke outta the zaust, oils pressure light started coming on at low revs... WHY ME??????? im bored of this game now, i dont even wanna look at the car anymore i fcuking hate it !!!

My sympathies with you at this terrible time! Been there!
Has it used up oil or water?
I hope your head hasn't warped the first time, or will need doing again with a head skim - worst case mind!
Are you sure sure you bled all the air out? Can take ages sometimes!
Don't think the worst yet! Check it out with a calm, open minf first!

alloy heads need checked every time there off

it stunk of burnt oil when i opened the bonnet? water just kept over flowing from the expansion tank it wasnt circulating, rad was cold. but head/gasket is def gone as it was kicking around first time it went and its doing it again now... i just aint got the time to go through with it again!!!

mate i feel for ya

Feckin bad show dude! surely the heads unclebucked if its done it that soon after. You must be close to thinkin about insurance scams seriously dude i hope this story has a happy ending.

check the head is the message here !!! i feel
but is the water pump Ok thermostat working ok ?
several other reasons why head gasket can go
look at all the possibilties first befor righting the car off

im going out now to look at the bitch !! but last night, the bottom of the rad was cold so i loosened the hose and let it drip. it started to warm up but temp still didnt come down.... loadsa mayo in the expansion tank, loadsa pressure coming out from the bleed valve on thermo housing but no sign of water.. my concern was the oil pressure light coming on at low revs.. obviously caused by the mayo crap in the block..

its fucked needsa good flush out with water before even thinking about running
sounds like you have well and true defunked it get that head checked
where did all the water go straight in the oil gte it worked on professionally then you have some kind of guarentee

ive just had head off and examined the fcuker.... no sign of gasket failure at all, head looks hoky doky.. But one thing that i did notice when taking the head off was that some bolts come off easier than the others??? Im now assuming that when torqueing the head down, i didnt use any grease or the correct allen key socket, i used a sump drain plug with a socket over it... i managed to get to 66lbs of torque before the allen key started to twist so i left it for a day until i got myself a proper socket, then when i went to try 80lbs of torque, the torque wrench just clicked in position???? hence allowing pressure to escape ... but im still confused as to why there was no sign of this on the gasket or the head .. Anyway, im gonna get a new gasket and try again this time using grease on the bolts and a new torque wrench.. can anyone think of any other reason ive experienced this problem? or have i hit the nail on the head ? (together with a possible air lock)

It would be worth getting the head measured to make sure it isn't warped. That could be why it went again straight away.

is that what they call a pressure check?

FFS....DO NOT USE GREASE ON THE THREADS !!!!!!!!!!

Head bolts (like all others) should be lightly...note, very lightly oiled. Just a couple of drops of clean engine oil on each bolt thread should be enough.

Did you make sure that the bolt holes were totally clear of any oil / water / debris before you installed the bolts?
If they aren't clean, then the bolts can compress any fluids in the holes and give you incorrect torque readings (it's called 'hydraulicking').
In the most extreme cases, it can even crack the block.

The fact that some of the bolts came off easier than others suggests this is whats happened.

The fact that you've got mayo in the system shows that the coolant system has not been cleaned properly (if at all ).
Mayo is a real bitch for blocking water and oil galleries / radiators / hoses / thermostats / etc, and WILL cause overheating, etc.

Get the whole system (both oil & coolant) flushed out properly before you think of doing anything else, or you are definately going to have further problems.

Sorry if this isn't what you wanted to hear m8, but it's got to be done.

HTH.

Iain S

Cheers for that sooty.. im gonna try and do everything 100% this time round.. put it all back together and flush both oil and colling as soon as i start her up.. then replace with freshness!!!

No probs m8, but a word of advice from someone thats had to do all this before (Not caused by me I hasten to add....sorting out someone else's f**k-up)

Try & do it all before you even attempt to rebuild the top end.
Take the rad out / water pump & thermostat off / header tank out / sump pan & oil pump off and clean them out thoroughly with traffic film degreaser. It will take you several goes to get all the shit out, but it pays dividends in the end.
Flush the block out with the same stuff. It helps if you can fill the block with it & leave it to work on the mayo for a day or three, then flush with plenty of clean water at as high a pressure as you can get.
Don't forget to flush out the car heater core as well. Bit more awkward to do as it's in the car, but at least the heater hose connections on the bulkhead are easier to get to with the head & manifold off.

Whatever you do, don't try & cut corners or think 'Sod it...that'll do'.
It'll come back & bite you in the ass.

Good Luck

cheers buddy

Flush the heater the right way around or you'll knacker the valve. In at the bottom,out at the top.

quick update!! heads back on and tightened down, everythings back together, just rad to go back on in the morning before i go to work in the afternoon. then to just top up cooling system and start her up with crossed fingers and toes... if all goes well on start up, i'll warm her upto temp, add the engine flush and cooling system flush!!!

Good luck dude!
Hope it's ok this time!

good luck mate hope it works

blingsta wrote:quick update!! heads back on and tightened down, everythings back together, just rad to go back on in the morning before i go to work in the afternoon. then to just top up cooling system and start her up with crossed fingers and toes... if all goes well on start up, i'll warm her upto temp, add the engine flush and cooling system flush!!!

Good luck dude!

Keep us informed

Mark.

Get back on the horse dude!
Wishing you all the best.

Thanx guys... well today was the day !! started her up, sounded good... i actually got goose bumps!! ran her to temp, and tried to bleed cooling system best i could... temp gauge sits on just over a 1/4.. so i took her for a drive.. seems to be fine, but only 1 little niggly issue... put the heaters on and i get hot air for 20secs or so, it then gets cold ... temp gauge stays where it is though and viscous locks..... could it be a bit more air in system? poss in the heater matrix? whats best way to sort this out, do i pull off both heater hoses and put a water hose in the bottom one to flush crap out?

More likely you've put the heater hoses on the wrong way around.

Hmmmm??? so which one should be the hot one Brian, top or bottom? or is it both? how can i tell if they are the wrong way round?

www.realoem.com/bmw

go into the ETK and put the last 7 digits of your VIN in

then search around for the thermostat and it shold have a diagram of how the setup should be.

hi m8 i'm no pro but the heat thing i had in a different car (mk2 golf) hot air for a quick burst then cold again, it was a bypass valve locked closed, basicly to stop all the pressure from the coolant system going through the heater matrix, so this valve bypass's some of the coolant, neway to the point, i drilled the crap valve out so it's free flowing. Maybe your valve is just clogged and could do with blowing out while off the car. Just an idea for you to explore

The hoses go on the wrong way around from what looks like the way they should.
Hose from the back of the head goes to the bottom stub; tee hose goes to top.

cheers guys, i'll have a quick look and report back..

DOH !! it was on the wrong way round.. ive just changed them and will start car up a a bit.. gotta feed my little monsta first

thats a great site !!

Well done Brian, cheers matey... spot on with your answer.... i swopped the hoses around, let her warm a bit, and ....WALLA !!! constant heat.... cheers buddy.. this means im back in business!!!! But Brian, what damage would that do if any?? would it cause an air lock?

trial an error.

lol

blingsta wrote:Well done Brian, cheers matey... spot on with your answer.... i swopped the hoses around, let her warm a bit, and ....WALLA !!! constant heat.... cheers buddy.. this means im back in business!!!! But Brian, what damage would that do if any?? would it cause an air lock?

You won't have caused any damage in the short while it's been the wrong way around.
The electric heater valve has a solenoid which retracts to allow the disc in the valve to move of its seat and allow water through. If the water flow is the wrong way, as soon as the water gets moving, it pushes the disc hard back into its seat and stops the flow.