Quote:
Originally Posted by 318tom  Thanks for the great info, John. The main symptoms the car has been experiencing are:
1) very fast leakage of antifreeze (tank drains to about 2/3 empty within minutes of starting).
2) coolant dripping from tailpipe.
Sounds like you've got some good experience with this....would these symptoms suggest the head gasket to you?
I'll look out for the other symptoms you mentioned, which I have not specifically noticed. But eliminating them would give me some hope that the car does have life in it yet!
Thank you again! |
Coolant coming out the tail pipe is almost certainly a blown head gasket. If you want to keep the car, take it to an established indie BMW mechanic, get him to look it over and give you an estimate for getting it in shape which would include replacing the head gasket and overhauling the cooling system, ie., new radiator, water pump, thermostat, probably new coolant hoses, and most definitely the two plastic coolant fittings, one at the back of the engine next to the firewall, and the other underneath the intake manifold. One or both of them often break sometime after 100,000 miles. Good luck, again. John