RED ZONE Engine Hot!

[Mothman]

Today coming home for College, my Baby started smoking, when I checked my temp it was just got in the red.

When I opened her up she had antifreeze near the oil stick..

The link below is to a picture of my engine where the antifreeze was. I will let her cool down tonight.

http://www.318ti.org/gallery/data/62...ardipstick.JPG

Other than the thermostat can anyone else think of why it may have gotten stuck?

Thanks,
Mothman

[Mothman]

Oh the major antifreeze was to the left of the Red Oil Stick over the circle thing? anyone know what that is?

Thanks,
Mothman

[bullmand]

That round black thing is part of the flange that circulates coolant through your intake manifold. If that's where the puddle was, it's possible that one of those hoses (and there are many) back there is leaking or burst completely. Check out the diagram here.

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts...67&hg=11&fg=35

[Mothman]

Thank you will do, just downloaded a BMW 318ti total parts book. (Gotta love the internet for free stuff) Only 3 semesters till i grad from college. Cann't wait to have just a little money.

Thanks Bull Man D

[Mothman]

OK I inspected the area around the crank case valve where the antifreeze seem to come from and all the hoses were ok, I removed all the hoses in that area and none of them appeared to be lose or damage. So I started up my baby again and hear a loud hissing sound coming from the crank case valve area. Then I turn the car off and the sound continue for 5-8 seconds then ended with a loud poping sound.

Picture of area: http://www.318ti.org/gallery/showpho...o=3598&cat=629

First is that normal, have a hissing sound coming from the crank case valve?
Second does the crank case valve have anything to do with controlling temp?
Third is the poping sound after the engine is turned off normal?

I also noticed that my RPM at idle is higher?

Thanks for any help you can offer,
Mothman

[Rhys H]

1. Hissing sound may be normal(not to sure how loud it is) if its a hissing u have never heard before then u may have a vacuum leak somewhere
2.the crank case valve or PCV pulls vapours from the crankcase into the intake manifold and then send it to the cylinders with the intake charge. The Vapours are then burned in the combustion chamber. (doesnt affect temp)
3.The popping noise that you hear is normal, my car also does it about 5 seconds after i turn it off

Rough Idle- 20% of the air your car needs at idle comes through the PCV valve, a deffectice or clogged PCV vave or hose can cause a rough or high idle and or a stalling problem

hope this helps...if ur not sure if ur pcv is working properly then i have a few tests

Rhys

[pdxmotorhead]

There is a pressure test gadget for normal cars that allows you to put 15lbs of pressure in the cooling system with the engine off and see where leaks are. You might be able to splice a fitting into the heater hose and use a small hand pump to pressurise the system....

Good Luck
Dave

[John Firestone]

Would that gadget also help get air out of the cooling system? I saw a guy at my dealer doing that while retrofitting an auxiliary heating system to an X3. (The system was only an 800 euro ($1040) factory option but costs three times that to retrofit. Ouch!)

[Mothman]

Thank you SO MUCH!!!! That helps out big time!!!

Thanks for explaining how it functions Rhys,

Mothman

[Mothman]

What kind of test can I do Rhys?

Originally Posted by Rhys H

1. Hissing sound may be normal(not to sure how loud it is) if its a hissing u have never heard before then u may have a vacuum leak somewhere
2.the crank case valve or PCV pulls vapours from the crankcase into the intake manifold and then send it to the cylinders with the intake charge. The Vapours are then burned in the combustion chamber. (doesnt affect temp)
3.The popping noise that you hear is normal, my car also does it about 5 seconds after i turn it off

Rough Idle- 20% of the air your car needs at idle comes through the PCV valve, a deffectice or clogged PCV vave or hose can cause a rough or high idle and or a stalling problem

hope this helps...if ur not sure if ur pcv is working properly then i have a few tests

Rhys

[Mothman]

Would I have to flush the whole system after I am done?
Thanks for the input, I will see if there is something online that can help with with that,

Mothman

Originally Posted by pdxmotorhead

There is a pressure test gadget for normal cars that allows you to put 15lbs of pressure in the cooling system with the engine off and see where leaks are. You might be able to splice a fitting into the heater hose and use a small hand pump to pressurise the system....

Good Luck
Dave

[Rhys H]

The Rattle Test: Performed by removing the PCV Valve and shaking it in your hand.
-if the PCV valve does NOT rattle, it is deffinitley defctive and must be replaced
-If it DOES rattle, it does not necessarily mean that the PCV valve is good. All PCV vavles contain springs that can become weaker with age and heating and cooling cycles

The Card Test: Remove the oil fill cap and start the engine, place a piece of paper over the opening.
-If the PVC system, including the valve and hoses, is functioniong correctly, the card should be held down on the oil fill opening by the slight vacuum inside the crankcase.
-If the card will not stay, carefully inspect the PCV vavle, hose(s), and manifold vacuum port for carbon build up

NOTE: The card may vibrate on the oil fill opening when the engine is running at idle speed, not to worry, this is caused by the longer time intervals beetween intake strokes on a 4 cylinder engine.

The Snap Back Test: Place a finger over the inlet hole in the valve when the engine is running and remove finger rapidly. Repeat several times. The vavle should "snap back" If it does not that the valve should be replaced.

Rhys

[Rhys H]

There is a couple things to check if you are overheating and you are sure its not the thermostat stuck closed. When was the last time u had ur coolant changed? older it is the lower the boiling point becomes, as well as the more acidic the coolant comes..... can be checked with a antifreeze hydrometer. Another way to check is using a DC voltmeter or multimeter to see how acidic the coolant is. place the posotive probe in the antifeeze and the negative to battery negative or suitable ground. Readings of .5V or less are acceptable, readings of .7V or more inidcate that flushing the system and chaning the coolant is necesarry.

The radiator cap also puts pressure on the coolant system to decrease the boiling point of the coolant. If the spring inside the rad cap that creates that pressure gets weak then the boiling point of your coolant will drop as well, and can result in overheating problems. To test this i Suggest you do what Dave was saying and get a radiator pressre tester set. It screws on to where the rad cap goes, it has a pump to create pressure and a guage to see how many psi your putting on the system. For example if our rad cap was rated at 15 psi, then you would start pumping and first see if it can get to 15psi and once there then see if it can hold the pressure. If It CANT then there is a leak somwhere in the cooling system, and usually the pressure will cause it to start spurting out at the leak. If it CAN hold the recomended pressure then the cooling system is ok. If the cooling system is alright then u can get radiatior cap pressure tester and then see if it can get to 15 psi and then hold that pressure. If it CAN then its all good. If it CAN'T then you need a new rad cap

Here is my best shot, hopes its not too long and too techninal

Rhys

P.S. You do not have to flush ur coolant after these tests. Only if it needs to be done(aka old coolant)

[Mothman]

Thanks so much! I will start with the PCV then move to the coolant system. No it is not to long, <--- in college and have to read ever night.

Have a Great T-day and Thank you so much Rhys,
Mothman

[Mothman]

Update on what happen, after checking all the hoses and replacing the PCV (which was bad) I noticed a bubble coming from the top right of the radiator near the radiator cover. It was a small crack that ran down radiator for about 3.5 inches or 8.89 cm (your choice of metric) after 3 hours of pulling the old one out and putting in the new. no more smoke!

Thanks for everyones help here, saved me $214.00 in parts and labor.

Outie,
Mothman