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E36 (1991 - 1999)
The E36 chassis 3-Series BMW was a huge hit among driving enthusiasts from the first moment the car hit the pavement. The E36 won numerous awards over the years it was produced and is still a favorite of many BMW enthusiasts to this day! -- View the E36 Wiki |
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#1
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I think I blew it up
With my nightmare of a registration process done and over with, I decided to celebrate by taking my new to me 325is out for a drive. Which was cut short by an over-heating issue (imagine that).
Temp gauge told me it was pretty hot (but from reading the stickys, it may have been hotter), but after pulling over and filling the coolant which was so graciously puked all over my engine bay, I let it cool down and it ran and drove fine no over-heating after that. Took it out for another drive, to which after awhile I experienced another overheating issue (didn't get nearly as hot as last time as I made sure to stay close to home), it would seem that it is spewing coolant out of the overflow in my expansion tank onto my radiator fan. Now I'm just waiting for next paycheck to order everything to completely over-haul the cooling system. But main question being, with it getting so hot the first time, what are the odds I warped/cracked the head? It seems to run fine with no white smoke bellowing out the tail-pipe, or any crazy bubbling expansion tank. Would it be stupid of me to tear it down anyways or is there any checks I can do in the mean time while I wait to get it into a shop for a leak-down test? I'm definitely starting to learn the meaning behind "The most expensive car is a cheap BMW" |
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#2
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While severe overheats put you at high risk of head or head gasket damage, it's not a certainty. Two tests you can do to see if there's any damage. Compression test to verify no leakage from the combustion chambers, and cooling system pressure test to ensure there's no cooling system leaks. If both of those come out OK then you've dodged the bullet.
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#3
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Apologies for any dumb questions, I'm entirely new to working on European cars. 99% of my experience is fixing domestics.
From what I found in that guide in the sticky, I should be looking for about 145-160psi in each cylinder, right?
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2019 VW Jetta GLI - Daily
1996 BMW 318is - Project |
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#4
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Correct. 145 would be considered low.
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Quotes to live by:
guessing gets expensive...drivinfaster nothing is more expensive than a cheap BMW...c4harpe13 buying a ratty example (of a BMW) is a parasitic relationship.(and you ain't the mosquito) 7pilot Ken Kanne, Silverhill, AL, Bimmerfest Site Moderator BMW-CCA #441426 1993 325is M3 clone"Ashlyn"; 1993 325is "Elvira"; 1985 635CSi "Katja"; 1984 633CSi "Sylvia"; 1987 325is "Odette";1995 318is"Bebe "; 1985 325e "Hazel Ann" |
#5
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Sounds good! I'll run these tests later in the week when I have a couple days off and report back with what I figure out!
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2019 VW Jetta GLI - Daily
1996 BMW 318is - Project |
#6
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As DC said damage is certainly not a certainty (ask me how I know). If engine is operating normally you could just monitor it for a while - checking for any coolant in the oil, continued loss of coolant, white smoke. You may see the need to add coolant a bit at a time for awhile as all the air works it's way out. This is different from coolant loss as it's just filling in where there was air. The probable appearance difference is that a blown gasket or cracked head would have a more steady loss related to how long and hard you are driving. Just my guess but only thing for immediate concern and action is if you see coolant in the oil. Maybe more danger to watchful waiting that I don't appreciate and DC or Horns can point it out.
Why wouldn't I just run the tests ? Learned a long time ago not to "fix" it if it ain't broke and getting a bit lazy in my wonder years.
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Cheap Trick
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#7
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Quote:
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#8
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Sorry for such a late reply. Life kinda threw a curveball and haven't had time to work on it at all. Did the compression tests and results aren't good.
#1 - 175 #2 - 120 #3 - 140 #4 - 60 #5 - 200 #6 - 190 With #4 being so low, looks like that cylinder may be roached. I did look into the cylinders with a flashlight though. Cylinders have carbon build up, they don't look steam cleaned like some have said a blown head gasket might do
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2019 VW Jetta GLI - Daily
1996 BMW 318is - Project |
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