A bit of a Mystery

[mike murphy]

Any budding Sherlock Holmes out there?

I've got a 325i convertable which I've had since new from 91. Only 80,000mls.
I've been loosing coolant, so my BMW authorised garage replaced the radiator, this didn't help. So then they said that the head gasget needed replacing, again no result so then they said the head neaded re-skiming. This didn't help. So I took it to another garage and they said that THEY wanted to skim the head. Again this didn't help. Both garages did pressure tests and couldn't find any losses.

Obviously I'm down a lot of money and I still have the problem.

I can't see any external leaks, and the consumtion of coolant seems to be getting greater.

Now for the strange bit. Recently I drove some 300 miles armed with gallons of coolant . after about 20 miles my coolant warning light came on, but as the miles passed the temperature gague didn't move.

After the journey I had a look at the coolant tank and saw that there was still some showing. When I released the pressure, the remaining coolant dissapeared.

Any advice thoughts or just hunches would be greatfully recieved.

Thanks in advance.
Mike.

[CiscoKid]

radiators are known to go on E36s... take it to a mechanic. There is a chance that he will be able to fix it, but it will most likely cost around $200 for a new one

[MrM3]

have you changed your oil recently? when you do, check to see if there is coolant in the oil

[88'325]

Dad just replaced the second water pump in our 88 at 260 000 KM.

[BimmerKris]

man i just fixed the same problem in mine. there was a little tiny prick in one of the heater hoses. the one that goes to the back of the block, to the bottom of the heater core. fixed it, and no coolent loss.

[viali8]

i just had my water pump replaced not even 10,000 miles ago. and i saw that my coolant level was low. i filled it up again and after a day or two it was low again. i checked for leaks in the hoses but could not find any. but i did find that the water pump was leaking. must be broken seal or somethin. so make sure u check your water pump right around the area where your fan is at. good luck.

[Silver4evr]

If there's no coolant in the oil then maybe if you put a white sheet on your drive way and parked your car over it, started it up and ran it for awhile maybe you'll be able to spot some discoloration.

I don't know.....just an idea off the top of my head....Shurlok, Jr. here!

Another trick is to clean all your hoses, then start your car and use paper towel to go over the fittings, hoses, etc. to see if anything is picked up.

How about heater hoses?

Anyone else?

[bddog]

replace the water pump