overheating and cannot find the cause

head gasket and head $2300 thanks for all the help...... not too bad since i only paid 3k for the car 18 months ago and now its got cooling system overhaul and motor all redone. should get another 150K outta it .

The head had to be replaced too. What was wrong with the head?

warped had to me machined!!

Resurrecting this thread cuz I have a question and didnt see a better place to put it. Was wondering, if the source of a leak is determined to be from the expansion tank, Could one take out said tank, clean it with paint thinner really well, wash it, then fill any cracks with plastic epoxy, put back on. Instead of buying a new expansion tank. Seems like I have to buy a new one like every other winter. Im on my 3rd tank.

That's ghetto. Not to say that it wouldn't work...

So there is my story fellow fanatics, as I'm leaving for Super Bowl to Vegas "thank god " before I hit the free way, my car started over heating while I was on a drive thru waiting to get so,e food, all cooling components has been changed a year and half ago, except the radiator, I left the car home and left in another car. No milky white oil, no smoke, no leaking. What should I do /change first. If some one can shed the light I would greatly appreciate it.

Bump for help

Originally Posted by mick22589

Resurrecting this thread cuz I have a question and didnt see a better place to put it. Was wondering, if the source of a leak is determined to be from the expansion tank, Could one take out said tank, clean it with paint thinner really well, wash it, then fill any cracks with plastic epoxy, put back on. Instead of buying a new expansion tank. Seems like I have to buy a new one like every other winter. Im on my 3rd tank.

I'll say it wouldn't work.

Make sure you're not overfilling your tank, OP. You need air in the top of ET you know. Fill to between min and max.

Originally Posted by Bimmer_Addict

So there is my story fellow fanatics, as I'm leaving for Super Bowl to Vegas "thank god " before I hit the free way, my car started over heating while I was on a drive thru waiting to get so,e food, all cooling components has been changed a year and half ago, except the radiator, I left the car home and left in another car. No milky white oil, no smoke, no leaking. What should I do /change first. If some one can shed the light I would greatly appreciate it.

If the radiator was the only component you didn't change, then it's a decent bet your issue is there. Only other decent possibility is that you used an aftermarket therm or really cheap wp and one or the other failed on you.

You can see leaks from radiator if that's what it is...either between black side pod and fins or at the filler neck.

Could be that you haven't checked your coolant level in a year and a half and just lost enough through a slow minor seeping to finally add up...it'd end up putting enough air into the wp cavity that the pump would cavitate and not pump so well...according to one theory. Others say that the air can create blockages to circulation within the system...and maybe all you need to do is add coolant and bleed the system.

GL...have a good trip!

Dmax, thanks for your respond ; you always been a great source on this forum with my car problems. To clarify my coolant level was always up to the top where the red thing sticks out and I would top it off along the year and half so was never low on that. As far as the WP and the T-stat I bought them from pelican parts so if you would know of specific brands to buy instead of pelican parts, I would appreciate it if you can post a link, also I'm suspecting the fan could have been shot even though its less than a year old, so if you can advise of a way to test the fan also I would really really appreciate the help before. Go crazy and start changing things doesn't need to. That being said; there are no signs or coolant leaks any where. Please advise.

Originally Posted by mick22589

Resurrecting this thread cuz I have a question and didnt see a better place to put it. Was wondering, if the source of a leak is determined to be from the expansion tank, Could one take out said tank, clean it with paint thinner really well, wash it, then fill any cracks with plastic epoxy, put back on. Instead of buying a new expansion tank. Seems like I have to buy a new one like every other winter. Im on my 3rd tank.

Stop overfilling your tank. There is no way you are going through a tank per year without screwing something up. Buy an OEM one.

Originally Posted by Bimmer_Addict

Dmax, thanks for your respond ; you always been a great source on this forum with my car problems. To clarify my coolant level was always up to the top where the red thing sticks out and I would top it off along the year and half so was never low on that. As far as the WP and the T-stat I bought them from pelican parts so if you would know of specific brands to buy instead of pelican parts, I would appreciate it if you can post a link, also I'm suspecting the fan could have been shot even though its less than a year old, so if you can advise of a way to test the fan also I would really really appreciate the help before. Go crazy and start changing things doesn't need to. That being said; there are no signs or coolant leaks any where. Please advise.

You are doing it wrong. Fill it to between the minimum and maximum. The actual fluid should be no where near the top of the ET. That rod is just floating on a float inside the ET and reaches maximum well before the fluid reaches the top. Fill it so the top of the rod is level with the edge of the ET cap flange. Like I said before, you are the cause of your ET failures.

When you say all the way to the top where the red thing is, if you 'mean' all the way to the top, that's too high and why you've been blowing up ETs. It should be where the two balls on that red dipstick straddle the top of the filler neck. Coolant is really only slightly visible beneath the float of the tank...coolant should be 5.5" below the top of the filler neck.

Don't know the brands Pelican sells...but therm should be a plastic housing...and wahler is OE. ET, I'm not sure who is the OE maker. WP...I have a graf pump and it's been fine.

Originally Posted by dmax

When you say all the way to the top where the red thing is, if you 'mean' all the way to the top, that's too high and why you've been blowing up ETs. It should be where the two balls on that red dipstick straddle the top of the filler neck. Coolant is really only slightly visible beneath the float of the tank...coolant should be 5.5" below the top of the filler neck.

Don't know the brands Pelican sells...but therm should be a plastic housing...and wahler is OE. ET, I'm not sure who is the OE maker. WP...I have a graf pump and it's been fine.

ET OEM is CoolXpert I believe. WP OEM is Saleri.

When I say all the way to the top I mean the red rod is sticking out the two red circle balls, I never had the coolant topped off where it's pouring out of the expansion tank so I believe I didn't cause any failure to my EP and by the way I have never blew any EP and never experienced over heating except with A/C on and Idling and the cause was the fan "electric" one as I'm on a MT car not auto and this has been changed with one from BMA parts a year or so ago but I'm highly suspecting it might be that fan cause I didn't hear it engage this time as the car got hot so I wana see how to diagnose that fan. Any other advices please?

Overheating only with AC on and while idling? Could be fan, but I believe it could also be therm or the temp sensor on lower hose. There are a number of 'feeds' to tell therm to open. If yours was an aluminum housing therm, that makes it suspect.

I know the fan should come on for a few seconds when you turn on the AC, just so the car knows it works, but usually it will be off. I don't otherwise know how to test it.

You'd might have some codes stored that would help you diagnose this...find a local with code reader.

Overheats at idle, any normal reader would read it if codes are stored and I have plastic housing thermostat

If it cools down while driving, you need a new fan clutch (if an auto).

Originally Posted by Bimmer_Addict

Overheats at idle, any normal reader would read it if codes are stored and I have plastic housing thermostat

It's probably your fan.

Originally Posted by lcoleman

If it cools down while driving, you need a new fan clutch (if an auto).

That would be more likely a stuck open thermostat. The car should never get too cool. You can drive 90 mph in 10F weather on the interstate, your temp should be 93-95C. In other words too much air flow won't make the car run cool. Too much water flow makes it run cool.

Would an auto zone reader get any stored codes if there was any?

Would an auto zone reader get any stored codes if there was any?