No heat after expansion tank replacement

Originally Posted by 7xWDC-MSC

Do you have a link to this TIS, apparently thespaghetticoders link was removed by BMW?

Not anymore, but here's TIS for Z3. The E46 one reads quite similar but specifically says not to start the engine. I'll keep looking around for an alternative. I'm sure someone here can post it.

http://adkusters.hobby-site.com/TIS%.../17_00_005.pdf

Bleed. I think it was impee that has a pretty good bleed method. Fill up with water till it comes out bleed screw with heat on. Put cap on and screw on bleeder screw but don't tighten all the way. Then start the car and Rev it a few times, not too hard though. Turn off and rebleed. After You bleed several times turn on the car with heat on full blast and wait till it gets to operating temp, if heat blows hot your good...if it doesn't rebleed...

Originally Posted by E46Snowball

Bleed. I think it was impee that has a pretty good bleed method. Fill up with water till it comes out bleed screw with heat on. Put cap on and screw on bleeder screw but don't tighten all the way. Then start the car and Rev it a few times, not too hard though. Turn off and rebleed. After You bleed several times turn on the car with heat on full blast and wait till it gets to operating temp, if heat blows hot your good...if it doesn't rebleed...

Eh, no.

E46Mango is correct.

TIS steps do not involve starting the car.
I've just done coolant replacement 2, 3 weeks ago and standard bleeding procedure has worked for me.

You have to open that bleeder screw and keep pouring through the filler neck until air bubbles stop coming out of the bleeder opening.

Not having hot air means you have air trapped in the system.

Also do not overfill seems to be little bit confusing advice.
You have to overfill on the initial fill. When I was pouring coolant back in, the filler neck was full to the rim. At that point I only had about one gallon in but I slowly kept pouring and air bubbles kept coming out of the bleeder screw.
You can massage the lower hose to get that mix sucked back in.

When I was reaching two gallons in, air bubbles stopped coming out.
I then closed everything up, hot air on max and fan on max and took her for a spin - all good.

The next day level was at minimum on a cold engine so I just topped it off a tad. I like to be in the middle with coolant level. No issues since.

lucas...the thing is now, that the system was filled and improperly bled from the start, that bubbles could be anywhere...and when you fill according to standard TIS instructions, there's no circulation of coolant.

The alternative method 'blows' out the bubbles where they should collect in the ET.

I don't think he can just pour coolant in now and fix his issue so easily...but maybe I'm wrong. Certainly wouldn't hurt for him to just add coolant and see what he ends up with...but usually the only time you'd fill to the top of filler neck is when you've drained the entire system and are slowly adding coolant...waiting for it to come out the bleeder. Now, I don't think it's that simple...but we'll see! lol

Originally Posted by dmax

lucas...the thing is now, that the system was filled and improperly bled from the start, that bubbles could be anywhere...and when you fill according to standard TIS instructions, there's no circulation of coolant.

The alternative method 'blows' out the bubbles where they should collect in the ET.

I don't think he can just pour coolant in now and fix his issue so easily...but maybe I'm wrong. Certainly wouldn't hurt for him to just add coolant and see what he ends up with...but usually the only time you'd fill to the top of filler neck is when you've drained the entire system and are slowly adding coolant...waiting for it to come out the bleeder. Now, I don't think it's that simple...but we'll see! lol

Coolant does not need to be circulated, D. Air will get pushed to the top through gravity alone. The system is not airlocked. Also, even if your theory was true, the engine has already been started and driven once. Any "circulation" of coolant has already been initiated. He just needs a proper bleed, that's all. I've done several E36s and E46s per cold bleed procedure with 100% success rate.

And yes, the tank MUST be initially overflowing. This job done properly will be messy.

Originally Posted by E46Mango

Eh, no.

Wasn't asking you.

Originally Posted by E46Snowball

Wasn't asking you.

Oh, I know.

Originally Posted by E46Mango

Oh, I know.

Lol it did work when I used it, there are safer methods though. I usually combine a few...not that You asked.

Originally Posted by E46Snowball

Lol it did work when I used it, there are safer methods though. I usually combine a few...not that You asked.

If it worked for you, that's great. But it's good to start with the safest and proper method first. I think people just aren't taking their time... i need to do a video.. but it's just time consuming.

Thanks for the responses. I will try to rebleed system in the next few days and post my results. I have to set up for the Chicago boat show for the next few days so I won't be able to attend to it.

It's buggin the hell out of me to not have it right so I will get to it ASAP.

Thanks again.

Last night I bled system again with no heat still. However I found that the bottom of the ET cap has started to come apart. The bottom of the cap has deteriorated up to the first o-ring. I purchased a new cap and have it installed. I wish they had one i. Stock when i got tank and maybe I wouldn't be going though all this.
I am thinking that those pieces have gotten lodged in the heater core. My next question is what is the direction of flow from the ET? I would assume that the heater pulls from the bottom if the ET then returns to the middle/ upper hose that goes into the back side of the tank. I want to try to back flush the heater but I want to make sure I don't push the pieces deeper into the core.

Thanks again for all the comments and advise.

Originally Posted by E46Mango

If it worked for you, that's great. But it's good to start with the safest and proper method first. I think people just aren't taking their time... i need to do a video.. but it's just time consuming.

VIDEOO...VIDEOO...VIDEOO.

I wouldn't worry about pieces leaving the ET and lodging in the system too much. I remember when I cut mine apart, someone was worried about their broken ET dipstick getting sucked into the system...and I recall looking at the pieces I had to see if that was possible...and I recall clearly that I didn't think it was. The ET has a number of chambers...and nothing big allowing a piece of cap to leave it. I'd say I'm 97% confident.

Fixed! Finally!!!
I tried the mango method and the dmax method with no heat still so I took all the cooling system parts back off the engine and drained all the coolant back out. I used compressed air to back flush the heater core and hoses and didnt really see anything come out that would stop flow. Then I removed the water valve and cleaned it and check to see if it was working properly by applying 12v to it. Seemed to work fine. I was puzzled not finding anything obvious. I then reassembled the cooling system and bled the system per mangos instructions. With the exception of I put a 6" piece of clear 5/8" ID hose coming straight up off the bleed screw hole. I didn't like the idea of pouring new coolant all over the floor. Filled the ET to the top and started squeezing the lower hose to try to help force air bubbles the bleed screw. The hose really minimized the coolant being dump onto the floor as well as giving me a site tube to watch bubble escape the system. After 20-30 min of squeezing the hose and topping off ET no more bubbles were coming out of bleed screw. I then put 2 90 deg elbows together with clear hose on both ends going from the bleed screw then pouring into the ET cap I the started the car and lightly revved up the engine and I could see a whole bunch more bubbles come out the bleeder. I let run for 2-3 min the shut off engine. I put the screw back in and the cap back on the ET and restarted engine and let come up to OT and the heat was pouring out of the vents better than in ever has before. I will check level of coolant in the morning and adjust as needed.

Wanted to say thanks again for all the advise to get this problem resolved.

Tried to add pic to post but apparently I'm not smart enough to know how.

Figured it out. Here is a pic of my contraption to help bleed system without wasting a lot of coolant. Hope it helps the next guy not have to go through what I had to.