Well this can't be good

Yep, another one of those threads. Need to lay out a plan.

1) Coolant Flush
2) Coolant Flush + Stop Leak
3) HG replacement (good time to get a thicker gasket...?)
4) Head rework
5) Head replacement



I'm hoping the problem is fixed before step 3, and definitely before 4/5.

What do you guys think?

I think its fairly obvious from the photo (unless your using some sort of thick yellow coolant I've never seen) that you have oil and coolant mixing. Most likely head gasket, if your unlucky perhaps cracked head. After you have confirmed that you need to pull the head, have it pressure checked, if it passes have the head re-surfaced and replace the head gasket.

That is what I was afraid of. Should I even bother with steps 1 and 2?

looks like a blown HG, how much boost are you at?

6-8psi

hmmm seems weird... what blower are you on?

DO NOT EXECUTE STEP 2!!! The stop leak crap is indiscriminate in that it will happily try to fill or plug any gap or small passage it can. It rarely solves any issue more than temporarily and then you'll have a hell of a time getting it flushed out of your system.

Originally Posted by Mr Gusta

hmmm seems weird... what blower are you on?

VF S/C. Not sure which one, and I don't want to go out and check.

Originally Posted by dc_wright

DO NOT EXECUTE STEP 2!!! The stop leak crap is indiscriminate in that it will happily try to fill or plug any gap or small passage it can. It rarely solves any issue more than temporarily and then you'll have a hell of a time getting it flushed out of your system.

Roger that.

if its a kit that flows more air at 6psi than a smaller kit makes at 11 the milshake makes sense

any driveability issues?? overheating??

i always suggest confirming a with one of these...http://www.blockchek.com/

they all work the same, and are available from napa, and most likely other parts stores and online.



df

Damn Jared, sorry man. It looks like you'll be pulling the head... Perfect time to get a more durable head gasket and throw in some ARP head studs.

Originally Posted by drivinfaster

any driveability issues?? overheating??

i always suggest confirming a with one of these...http://www.blockchek.com/

they all work the same, and are available from napa, and most likely other parts stores and online.



df

Nope and Nope. I'm crossing my fingers I caught it in time to not have a warped or cracked head. I'll check out the kit. I had a couple of other suggestions to check for exhaust gases in the coolant, but I'm pretty sure it is oil. Definitely not using any of that waterless coolant of similar color or anything similar.

I know a thing or two about wrenching, but I've never done anything as complicated as a head gasket repair. Should I bother even trying it on my own? I have time and patience. Could be a good learning experience...

If you have time and patience, go for it. You'll definitely learn a lot about your car...more than most. It's an involved job, but well within DIY status. There are many DIY write-ups on how to go about it.

Never even knew you had FI lol

Hope its nothing TOO serious

Originally Posted by ZeGerman

Damn Jared, sorry man.

Oops.....all this time I thought it was Jason. My bad.

And I didn't realize it was blown either. Sweet!

Sorry to see that picture, how sad that must have been.


Sent from my LG Revolution 4G using BimmerApp

Originally Posted by E36 Phantom

Oops.....all this time I thought it was Jason. My bad.

And I didn't realize it was blown either. Sweet!

Sorry to see that picture, how sad that must have been.


Sent from my LG Revolution 4G using BimmerApp

Yep. I was trying to keep it 'secret' for Bimmerfest, but oh well. Now my goal is to have her back up and running in time for the Bay Area caravan, if we're still doing that...

Sorry to hear.,

There's a bay area caravan? Wah? I saw no such post anywhere :0

And sorry for the bad news :s

So if anyone local is bored, I'm accepting helpers for this job. I pay with food and drink (adult beverages if appropriate)

Right now I'm assembling literature. I already have the bentley manual, and I think the Pelican DIY article will be my main approach. My roommate has already expressed interest in helping. I'm trying to stay positive about this, but I know it's going to be expensive and frustrating.

I think the guys at MotorSpeed West will be my fallback, but I don't want to piss them off by breaking something. We'll see I guess.

Dude id totally be down if you weren't a billion miles away and if I actually knew what I'm doing lol.. Never did a head gasket, currently helping out a friend replace his as practice (his blew twice).. how long do you think the car will be out of commission for? I'm sure you're going to try to get her up n running in a hurry lol

Well, I forgot I'm going to PR for 2 weeks in May, getting back right before Bimmerfest, so it looks like I have just over 1 month to get this all done. If I have to bring my X5 down to Pasadena, I won't be able to park with any of you guys

Vallejo to East San Jose is no more than an hour and a half... Maybe on a weekend? Probably not this weekend, seeing as it's Easter. I know it is going to be a long process, so I'll try to get stuff off the car during the week. Hoping to have the head off by the 14th. May need to buy some special tools it looks like.

So they park all models together? like e36's together and e46's etc? J/W b/c I think me in the e36 and the misses in the x5 are driving to bimmerfest east.

I've never been, but from what pics I've seen there are two sections. Organized parking, and just regular FCFS parking for spectators and such.

Hmm I might be able to swoop by next weekend and offer the little help that I can lol. I mean, I've taken heads off cars before, but they were usually on scrap motors where I didn't care if I broke something in the process. And I know, been to SJ a lot back in the e36 days lol I was just teasing you

And they don't really separate you..they do manage parking so as long as you roll in as a pack, then you all will be parked next to each other. After an hour there are usually open spots around where you can move your car if you did happen to park far away .. But I still don't know if I'm going or not this year

Hey man I just got this same diagnosis 2 days ago! Im in the same boat. Ordering parts today!