[newtothescene]

First off, I know some of the things I'm about to say are bad and I know they were bad ideas. You will remind me, I know, but I deserve it. So here goes, this is gonna be a little long but i have to get it all out.

My car has been overheating for awhile. It started out not doing it every time and got worse from there. The tubes would be super hot. The coolant would do the usual spray out when i uncapped the radiator. I use to pour water straight into the top(overflow?) tube and that worked a few times. It overheated on the freeway and in the city. Even in this cold weather. I never have checked the thermostat because it was so hard to get to. I just bought a new fan clutch because I did the newspaper check and it stopped very easily. I didn't get a chance to put it in though. Fast forward to last week. I was on my way to somewhere about 25 minutes away. Within 5 minutes the car was overheating. i have driven it while overheating before and was able to get where i was going no harm done(i know thats not true). Anyway, about 17 minutes in the speedometer stopped working and the rpm gauge started acting weird. At the 21 minute mark i smelled and noticed a cloud of smoke. About the 24 minute mark the car just shut off and i rolled into the , luckily right there, gas station. I got out and it was smoking pretty good. It was also, dripping a green fluid(coolant?) which I have seen before. It was also dripping oil, which was new. i had to go so I left it there. When i got back i had it towed to a car shop. They mentioned things it could be that I already figured. Radiator, blown gasket, possibly cracked. they quoted like $1500 which I guess is pretty close to correct for a gasket replacement(if it's not cracked)? I can do most of those things, probably even the gasket replacement or i could just let them do it. I have heard of thermaweld? Does that actually work, even temporarily? Also, if that didnt fix the problem would that be an indication that it is actually cracked? I don't want to get rid of it. I like it. I will just garage it and work on it little by little if I have to. Maybe even swap out the engine. Which i would have to learn how to do along the way. Which i am down for.

With that being said, what do you guys think? Any ideas? Any suggestions? Thanks!:thumbup:

 

[MeNoo]

You already learned your lesson hopefully. If you can do a head gasket, then you can do an inspection to see what's cracked and what isn't. I'm having a blonde moment, so I can't think if it would be a head that would crack. Anyway, if it was a head, I'd just pull one off a junk car. There are members that literally always have cars that they are parting out, so if I couldn't find a junk 525i, I would look there, however they might prefer to sell an entire longblock, rather than taking that apart.

 

[Larrick]

The obvious thing that you did wrong was allowing the problem to continue
so long without determining the cause of the problem.
OVERHEATING is a major problem and cannot go undiagnosed.
The water pump is a usual suspect since the original equipment impellers were plastic.
But you have bigger problems now, unfortunately.
Never heard opt thermaweld***8230;is that an additive?

 

[newtothescene]

The obvious thing that you did wrong was allowing the problem to continue
so long without determining the cause of the problem.
OVERHEATING is a major problem and cannot go undiagnosed.
The water pump is a usual suspect since the original equipment impellers were plastic.
But you have bigger problems now, unfortunately.
Never heard opt thermaweld….is that an additive?

Its a head gasket sealant I guess. like steel seal or bar's leak.

I never considered the water pump.

 

[DrCharles]

I think your engine is beyond any "mechanic in a bottle" product, sorry. As you have learned the hard way, when that temp needle moves to the right, STOP immediately.

About your original cooling problem, with a 65 mph blast of wind going through the radiator (on the freeway), the car should stay cool with no fan at all. So the fan clutch is not the problem. A bad clutch will show up (by overheating) at very low speeds or when the car is stopped.

 

[newtothescene]

I think your engine is beyond any "mechanic in a bottle" product, sorry. As you have learned the hard way, when that temp needle moves to the right, STOP immediately.

About your original cooling problem, with a 65 mph blast of wind going through the radiator (on the freeway), the car should stay cool with no fan at all. So the fan clutch is not the problem. A bad clutch will show up (by overheating) at very low speeds or when the car is stopped.

Yeah. You're probably right but at this point I either can try that or pay a bunch of money for it to possibly not be cracked. I may just pay for them to at least disassemble first and take it home from there.

 

[newtothescene]

You already learned your lesson hopefully. If you can do a head gasket, then you can do an inspection to see what's cracked and what isn't. I'm having a blonde moment, so I can't think if it would be a head that would crack. Anyway, if it was a head, I'd just pull one off a junk car. There are members that literally always have cars that they are parting out, so if I couldn't find a junk 525i, I would look there, however they might prefer to sell an entire longblock, rather than taking that apart.

Thanks. I do need parts even besides what in talking about here. I'll check that out.

 

[MeNoo]

Your welcome. I'd say south26 is the main part-out E34 guy, I'll give him a plug. I don't know if he has a M50 car right now, but he gives fair prices. BTW, if you've seen the coolant before, then you likely had some issue that would cause a leak, which narrows it down ( you might as well fix it while the car is apart, but that means you can't troubleshoot, so you will have to track it down).

 

[BMWFatherFigure]

+1 on South 26 (Andy). My parts from him were A1+

 

[Alpina535I]

Agreed andy sells very high end parts.

Alpina

 

[paul1733]

Yeah. You're probably right but at this point I either can try that or pay a bunch of money for it to possibly not be cracked. I may just pay for them to at least disassemble first and take it home from there.

Fk that, you put that engine, wiring, hoses, seals & electrical components though so much heat for so long that just replacing the head will eventually lead to a money bonfire, prime example your instrument cluster going stupid. Probably didn't feel so hot inside when your driving cause your in winter over there. The oxygen sensor in the exhaust starts working at 600ºF thats just over the 1/4 mark on your temp gauge, that's when its starts idling at a lower rpm, so you can just imagine what temperatures the whole engine compartment & electrics on the the otherside of the firewall suffered when it went beyond the 3/4 level.
If you were willing to spend $1500 to get it fixed your better off buying another for that price & keeping that one for spares. Good luck in your decision.

 

[south26]

Thanks to all. I am parting a 95 525i, but the engine is already sold. I can help with other parts.


Andy

 

[MySatinDoll]

Well..... If your in love with the car, drop anoher engine in it and keep on trucking. IIRC I know Mark189 has a m50 in is parts car. But I haven't spoken to mark in a while. So I have no clue if he still has that car. Speaking I have to give him a ring.

But Paul is also correct. you can find another for 500-1500 on the cheap. That way you have one good running car and one car for parts.