m10 Loosing coolant & overheating

Thu Dec 28, 2006 10:47 am

Hi all,

I had a little "moment" yesterday... I was driving at 40 mph when the temp gauge started to move above Ã‚a scale. This has never happened before so I was immediately nervous. It only took it 2-3 minutes to go from bad to disaster.. the gauge rose up into the red during my search for a place to stop. When I got out and looked under the car I saw that the water was coming from somewhere in the back of the engine, maybe between the engine and firebay, and it was running rather rapidly. It was dark so I didn't manage to take a closer look.

Anyone had a similar experience? I don't have time to take a closer look until saturday, but it would be nice to have some hints as for what to search for.
My car is from '88 and has a 316i m10 engine as far as I know.

Thu Dec 28, 2006 11:35 am

If it's an M10 - unlikely on a 1988 model - then it'll be the hose, items one and or two, at the back of the engine that goes from the block to the heater matrix valve, the pic below IIRC:

A common weakspot on any M10 car. They get hot at the back and the hose perishes.

Does your engine look like this (M10):

or like this (M40):

Stewart

Thu Dec 28, 2006 12:00 pm

Hi stranter,

Thanks a bunch for your reply. Now I know where to start looking. The pictures look exactly like my engine, so it's defetely a m10.
I think it was made in 88' and sold as a 89' model with the small (plastic) bumpers...

Happy new year!!

Thu Dec 28, 2006 12:01 pm

ohh... sorry, the top picture looks like mine

Thu Dec 28, 2006 12:06 pm

hmmm... no, now I'm confused...
the fan and cooler, and the top of the engine with the idle control in the top picture looks like my engine, but the rest: battery, fuse box and wiper fluid box, is exactly like in the lower picture...

My car must have been right as they were switching from m10 to m40???

gurgli

Thu Dec 28, 2006 12:30 pm

It's the engine bit that's important. If the engine looks like the top picture, and it has four cylinders, it's an M10.

And if it's the M10, it will definitely be the hose I mentioned!

Stewart

Thu Dec 28, 2006 12:30 pm

it is entirely possible to have an 88 or 89 M10 engined car. Si316 has one like that - a late build for an m10, but one of the first plastic bumper models.... only he's doing a BIT of work to it (like 150bhp of work)

i think the top picture is not an E30, as the bonnet opens towards the screen, not like e30s do. If the ENGINE looks like the top pic (M10) then thats your engine for sure and the hoses in the white diagram at the top should help you out.

Thu Dec 28, 2006 12:49 pm

Thanks for the tip.. I looked Si's thread up.. looks really nice with the engine tune-up. I might wanna change mine to something more powerful. Have to find out if I can swap it for a 6 pot sometime in the future...

Thu Dec 28, 2006 1:51 pm

you CAN swap for a 6pot.... you'll need engine, loom, ecu, gearbox, prop and diff, manifold and exhaust and a bit of time and effort. worth it though.