General Forum : New Radiator in!

melloh	Posted Sunday, Apr 8th 10:00am [Edit] [Quote] [IMS] [View car]
Member Post nr. 531 California, USA (San Jose) 1980 320is, 1991 318is	Just wanted to share my joy, here. New rad, new water pump, & new set of hoses installed today w/ full flush. Man it feels good. Turns out the "Super Duty Cooling System " radiator that Top-End sells is just an oem replacement made by Nissens that can be bought for like $40-80 less anywhere else.... so a few bucks wasted, but oh well. Too late now. Was able to start it up and ran it @ temp for ~5min to circulate the water and so far, no leaks anywhere! Tomorrow morning will top it off. WOO HOO! Next on the list if to tweak that WUR (thanks JRCOOK!) to get my sys pressure right, then find out what the popping sound is @ revs over 4k, and then deal w/ surface rust (oy... not excited about this one)... a lot of which I was enlightened to today. But, for now, the car is finally streetable!

ArnZ	Posted Sunday, Apr 8th 12:40pm [Edit] [Quote] [IMS] [View car]
Member Post nr. 87 Qld, Australia BMW 323i	good work mate, feels good when ur car is back to normal and able to be used again

melloh	Posted Sunday, Apr 8th 10:38pm [Edit] [Quote] [IMS] [View car]
Member Post nr. 536 California, USA (San Jose) 1980 320is, 1991 318is	DOH! Ok, so tooling around the streets, it stays at or under 1/2 - great! So, decided to do a "traffic simulation" (or drive-thru) and have the car sit and idle for 5 mintes. It slowly crept up and up and up, over the 3/4 mark. at this point, I turned the heater vents on full and revved to 2k to cool it down to 5/8 and shut it down. Got out of the car to find it had been dripping out of the overfill tube at the top of the radiator neck. Any ideas what I can do now (besides never stopping)? Is it a bubble? Bad thermostat (it's ~5 yrs old)? Thaoughts anyone? Thanks much.

BruceH	Posted Monday, Apr 9th 2:49am [Edit] [Quote] [IMS] [View car]
Member Post nr. 1116 Atlanta, GA USA 81 323 Baur, 85 745	Have you checked your fan clutch?

melloh	Posted Monday, Apr 9th 9:16am [Edit] [Quote] [IMS] [View car]
Member Post nr. 539 California, USA (San Jose) 1980 320is, 1991 318is	Uhhh... no clutch? I think my car has no fan clutch (m10). its bolted to the water pump and spun by belt. I replaced the water pump and it's definitely spinning. I suppose I could do the newspaper test, but I honestly dont think I need to b/c that, as I understand, is usually for cars w/ fan clutch (correct me if I'm wrong, tho).

BruceH	Posted Monday, Apr 9th 3:13pm [Edit] [Quote] [IMS] [View car]
Member Post nr. 1117 Atlanta, GA USA 81 323 Baur, 85 745	Sorry, I was thinking of the 323. No newspaper test needed as no clutch on the m10.

Greg323i	Posted Monday, Apr 9th 6:40pm [Edit] [Quote] [IMS] [View car]
Member Post nr. 317 Melbourne, Australia 1982 Hennaröt 323i	Did you bleed the cooling system, or is that just 323i specific as well?

melloh	Posted Monday, Apr 9th 9:34pm [Edit] [Quote] [IMS] [View car]
Member Post nr. 540 California, USA (San Jose) 1980 320is, 1991 318is	I highly doubt bleeding is engine-specific (though I'm guessing you were being facetious ). I'm not exactly sure what classifies as bleeding. Everything (rad, twin channels, block) was completely drained and flushed until water came out clean and clear. Then, I hooked everything up (pump, T-stat, hoses, radiator) and topped off the rad. Ran it (w/ heater set to high) for ~5 min at temp (revved @ ~2k to increase flow), let it sit and cool overnight, then toppped off the rad. My doubt has now been raised as to whether or not this is the correct precedure....

sunbeam***	Posted Monday, Apr 9th 9:55pm [Edit] [Quote] [IMS] [View car]
Member Post nr. 287 wirral UK 1982 323i	If your cooling circiut does not have a bleed valve then i suggest leaving the uppermost coolant hose loose the engine side of the stat is best , then top up the system (with the heater valve to hot) and make sure all of the air is expelled from the loose top hose and water runs before tightening the clamp.

Greg323i	Posted Tuesday, Apr 10th 3:51am [Edit] [Quote] [IMS] [View car]
Member Post nr. 319 Melbourne, Australia 1982 Hennaröt 323i	Nah, not being facetious. Owning a 6-cylinder, I'm not sure if the 4-cylinder has a bleed screw, which is located on the top of the thermostat housing on my car. That needs to be opened when the system is being filled until coolant comes out of it and then closed off.

melloh	Posted Wednesday, Apr 11th 3:56am [Edit] [Quote] [IMS] [View car]
Member Post nr. 541 California, USA (San Jose) 1980 320is, 1991 318is	Unfortunately, as you all surmised, there is no bleed valve. So, should I completely drain the sys again and start over?

myersport	Posted Wednesday, Apr 11th 4:50am [Edit] [Quote] [IMS] [View car]
Member Post nr. 184 east tennessee '82 320iS. '91 327iC	The fill point on the m10 engines is the highest point of the cooling system, therefore no bleed screw. If you are still getting overheating problems, it is possible that you have head gasket problems. Or a bad gauge. I have experienced both, with exactly the same symptoms you are describing. --Dennis

melloh	Posted Wednesday, Apr 11th 5:47am [Edit] [Quote] [IMS] [View car]
Member Post nr. 542 California, USA (San Jose) 1980 320is, 1991 318is	Huh.. thos certainly are not pleasant thoughts. Are there any at-home methods of determining what it may be?

g323	Posted Wednesday, Apr 11th 8:14am [Edit] [Quote] [IMS] [View car]
Member Post nr. 120 California 323i 1982	melloh, what i do if i cant find a bleed screw is the following. I unplug the highest coolant hose i can find, and i fill it up with water, to the top. Or alternatively, you can make your highest coolant flow point even higher. http://www.amazon.com/Lisle-Spill-Free-Funnel/dp/B0002JMJ08/ref=sr_1_8/103-3738618-2072628?ie=UTF8&s=automotive&qid=1176268719&sr=1-8

BruceH	Posted Wednesday, Apr 11th 3:32pm [Edit] [Quote] [IMS] [View car]
Member Post nr. 1118 Atlanta, GA USA 81 323 Baur, 85 745	You can test for combustion gases in the coolant with a kit . Simple and relatively cheap. This could eliminate the head gasket.