I think my head gasket has gone

[Captain_Birdseye]

The top hose was leaking, by the time I realised there was steam coming from the engine after about an hours drive, called breakdown out and they took it to the garage for me. They've put a new hose on and charged me for the labour, gave me car back and said they're not too confident the engine didn't take lasting damage.

Sorry for long post, I'm after advice. Now I drive the car for about 20 minutes and the temp gauge is in the red. It has improved very gradually (it was 10 minutes driving that would make it approach red when I 1st got it back).

So what, economically speaking, can anybody recommend I do with her. I love the car but how much will it set me back to fix?

Well if your still reading, any advice is much encouraged.

There is heat coming from the blowers inside, there is that soapy smell from the exhaust, no chocolate moose and no real sign of soapiness in the oil. Coolant tank is warm for quite a long time after a drive.

TLDR: head gasket may have gone - what do I do?

[daimlerman]

Engine type?

[Captain_Birdseye]

m20, 2 litre i, 4 dr saloon, 1989/90

[jonny323i]

For a start what kind of garage does that they should have done more checks as now they have worked on it they could be found at fault for your blown motor what engine is it

[daimlerman]

m20, 2 litre i, 4 dr saloon, 1989/90

Minimum £350 to strip the head off the car,have it pressure tested and re-built with new parts as needed....assuming you provide the labour.

About a morning's work to remove the head yourself,allow a couple of days for an engine building place to do the bits that you cannot do.

You will need a set of new head bolts and a new cambelt on re-assembly.

You may be able to find a complete,running s/h 320i engine to swap in for a bit less money,but this is upping the difficulty for yourself/upping the labour cost.

[Captain_Birdseye]

I was quite pissed off with the garage, I mean they would have kept in in IF I'd asked them but they were busy and they certainly weren't offering me up front so to speak, not sure why, I'm new to cars/garages unfortunately.

It's probably not something I'm confident enough to do by myself, even though I might be ok at it. I have a mechanic friend of the famliy who likes the car and did my service recently, his baby daughter was in for some stuff at the hospital recently so I haven't bothered him except for one text when it 1st happened, I may be better asking him what he's charge fpr the labour, either on the head - or as you threw out there for another suggestion - a new engine.

I could sell it and just not tell people (obviously not).

[jonny323i]

2l are very cheap so prob best to get a good engine and drop it in

[jonny323i]

2l are very cheap so prob best to get a good engine and drop it in

[Captain_Birdseye]

cool, i might do that then, I'll have a word with my mate and see if he's up for it. I bettter have a word with the boys on here to see if I can get one.

Any suggestions as to what to put in it, ie stick with the 2.0 L. I mean, will a 1.6/1.8 fit?

[Grrrmachine]

From what I understand, the 2.0 head is more resilient when overheating to its 2.5 counterpart.

If the head is indeed cracked, you'd get two big signs; dramatic loss of coolant, or mayo under the oil cap. Are you getting either of those two things?

If not, there may be the minor chance that your garage have simply failed to bleed the system properly after replacing the top hose.

However, if the damage does turn out to be terminal, the cheapest option would be an engine swap. People can't give M20B20 engines away these days...

[mcbonio]

If you are going to replace the engine, source a 2.5 M20. Same fuel economy as the 2.0 M20 and much more power.!

[jonny323i]

Sticking with an m20 is the best way to go so either 2.0 or 2.5

[jonny323i]

Sticking with an m20 is the best way to go so either 2.0 or 2.5

[Das_BMW_E30]

or you could go 24v.....

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BMW-320i-Engi ... 3cc7a37210

[Cloggy Saint]

Not much point going from M20b20 to M50 b20.

[Das_BMW_E30]

depends if the OP wants to stop overheating...

[Cloggy Saint]

I mean an M50b20 would be just as much work as an M50b25. What's the power on an M50b20, about 150bhp? If you're going to go to the effort of an M50 you may as well fit the 2.5.

[Das_BMW_E30]

Agreed...but OP might need an engine now, as opposed to when a 2.5 might turn up.

[Grrrmachine]

If he needs it NOW, then he hasn't got time to order all the parts needed for an M5x swap when an old M20 2.5 will drop straight in.

[Das_BMW_E30]

Agood point well made...

[asmith88]

are you sure the engine is cooked? as above , coolant may just need bled, visocus coupling, stuck thermostat. etc

[Tom_Maverick]

Air bleed screw at the top of the thermostat would be your best port of call, m20's are really prone to air locks and are an arse to bleed!!

[TDSCHRIS]

if your struggling bleeding it, try jacking the front up while its cold and filling the system right up, then running it up while its jacked up like that
ive found that to help work airlocks to the top of the system before

[Andyboy]

M20's are about the easiest engine to bleed. If the heater blows hot, then the system is bled. However, I've found in the past that 'problem' cars can benefit from a 2mm hole drilled in the thermostat outer ring, and the 'stat refitted with the hole at the top. Nice easy DIY for you and will take you about 20-30 mins.

[Captain_Birdseye]

Big thanks guys for all responses. In my heart I was hoping that it would live another day so shall I try what Andyboy suggests? Or bite bullets and get a new engine.

[Grrrmachine]

before drilling holes, can you confirm that you are or aren't losing coolant, and you have or haven't got mayonnaise under the oil cap.

[Captain_Birdseye]

Sorry. I haven't got any mayonnaise under the oil cap and I'm not loosing coolant. The oil looks normal. There is anti-freeze in the coolant, not sure that matters or not.

[lamby]

thats a good sign then,see if heater is hot and if so viscous fan may be faulty,thermostat, then water pump.is it ok at motorway speeds but gets hot at traffic? heater first though

[Captain_Birdseye]

It seems worse in traffic, stopping and starting. The blower is hot, and after testing the blower fully it behaves the same as normal (as far as I can humanly tell). Is viscous fan the big one at the front? I may be imagining it but although the big fan spins it seems to make a creak creak noise but obviously I'm paying much closer attention to it's noises than before so could be a red herring and might not have been worse mentioning.

[Grrrmachine]

No mayo, no clouds from the exhaust and no drop in coolant would suggest that you've not done any lasting damage to the engine. If the blowers blow hot then there shouldn't be much air trapped in the system either.

I'd suggest you have a good read of this page now:

http://www.e30zone.net/e30zonewiki/index.php/Cooling

and learn what each bit is, what it does and how it can be checked.

[Captain_Birdseye]

Your spot on there, I will need to read up on it so I don't have to ask every little question. Thanks again for people's time to read this and their advice, and for putting up withit being in the general talk and not the technical help.

[mcbonio]

There is always the coincidence than your car has developed a separate problem just after your engine overheated... seen this happen many times.

[matt86]

if you do need any 2 litre parts or engine mate and can do you some very cheap prices on any ancillaries, or if it turns out you do need a engine. Also see how long the car from cold takes to get up to normal temperature when idling, then when up to temperature feel all the hoses, if any are rock solid and you cant squeeze them theres a good chance it is your head gasket/cracked or warped head.

Cheers

Matt

[Captain_Birdseye]

Thanks Matt, but...

I don't know how but the coolant system appears to be working again. It gets near red after about 20 minutes and then drops down to half way between 1/2 way and red, then back up, then down etc. I drove it for 2 hours last night and into work this morning - which was bad traffic then up to 120 nice straight and long on the motorway then stop and start - so, it looks fixed!!!!