Hello nairalanders,

Iown a 325ix bmw but it returns water from the engine (they say its overheating).it drives great and have functional parts, but i need to fix this problem at a very minimal cos ,becos i love this car.

A mechanic cheCked and said its the top cylinder that has issues , but i dont know if this guy is sure of what he as said.

i will be awaiting for your responses.

Yes you have to replace the top cylinder but that will not stop the over heat. The reason for over heat is ignorance and its cause by you. Ask me why? when you are filling water in a BMW radiator it must not get to the brim. there is a guage where its mark for water level. if you fill water every morning when you notice it shut then it causes over heat. solution is tell your mechanic after changing the top to look for a mechanic who can bleed air out of the water space, if he does it right then go to sleep. BMW is the best when you know how to stop it from over heating. Dont just fill water in BMW the way its done on other cars, otherwise it will suck air into the water cooling system and start overheating and that will burn you top cylinder or sometime mix the wtaer with oil. you can call me 08066609382 but call me from 29th of October because right now am not in naija.

Bros is very correct. Over heatung may be caused by not just one reason. Does ur a/c fan work while d engine is running?? Does it overheat while U̶̲̥̅̊ r driving @ top speed or just when U̶̲̥̅̊ r in traffic or when U̶̲̥̅̊ put on ur a/c? If U̶̲̥̅̊ answer tese M̶̲̥̅γ̲̣̣̥ questions correctly, i will be able top tell U̶̲̥̅̊ d actual cause of d over heating and d easiest way out! All d best.

Thanks People, Prince 15 and Bros


For now, i do not use the a/c so it does not work at all


The overheating was caused by ignorance. so do i pour water to get to that minimum water level like you said.

Also bleeding?? where can i do this and does it require expertise or any bodyb that knows about it can do it? the engine overheats in traffic.

It travelled from Ilorin to Lagos in about 4 hours and and did not show any sign of overheating.

Bleeding it will reduce d over heating if not end it completely. Bleeding is mostly frm d radiator or d water pump head. Any good mechanic will help U̶̲̥̅̊ out M̶̲̥̅γ̲̣̣̥ man.

Bleeding will completely solve the problem. I have xperienced such prob with moi BMW but did not get the hint on time. I spent close to 30k changing top gasket and grinding engine block, but all proove abortive, until a good nigerian told me to bleed the radiator which i did and the car still moves around lagos for close to 6hrs/day. Pls dont wast ur money !

@Charles, AM a BMW frick not mechanic, i know 2 much about BMW so when i speak its nothing but the true, spending all the time and money on BMW mean your mechanic doesn't know anything about BMW. BMW cars are not made to develop any major fault, its only very sensitive and when you correct it, you can stay under hot sun in a hold up for 100hrs with your AC working no problem, no mata how old. Bleeding is done by experts who knows what to do. if you call a mechanic and you don't see him pressing the hose that connects the radiator with the water pump just stop him because it mean he doesnt know what to do.

Bleeding process is done by first add water to the brim which is what cause the problem initially. while the car is steaming, continuously press and release hose btw radiator and water pump with radiator cover open, the water will keep over flowing until it stops. but you need someone who know what am talking about. just some tips.

i wish luck broda.

I believe nearly all BMW have Viscous/mechanical fan coupling. The overheating could be caused by two things: air lock or failed Viscous fan.

Air lock:
when you have air lock in your car's cooling system, the engine will start suffering from what is called air pocket. Which is a severe overheating. If you do not bleed out air after refiling coolant/water in your car cooling system, the trapped air in the system will make the water/coolant to boil faster & overheat. It wont also allow fluid to flow through thermostat back to radiator when it opens. So, you will need to bleed the system. Nearly all Euro cars have bleed screw/valve for the cooling system. It s normally located on the upper radiator hose or any other hose that leads to the radiator. You just have to trace & find it. Google it if you cant find it. You can as well bleed the system without the bleed valve. Google the best way of bleeding BMW cooling system. You will have to do this yourself, forget about the mechanic. What you will gather online will guide you enough, better than the mechanic. If you have the car owner's manual, the cooling system bleeding process will be detailed/explained there. But normally with bleed valve, all you will do is to open the valve, pour in your coolant & keep pouring in via the radiator opening after removing the radiator cover, until coolant start flowing continously from the valve opening/hole (meaning the trapped air has been pushed out completely via the valve). Then why its flowing & you are still pouring coolant/water, gradually with one hand, screw back or close the valve.

Failed Viscous fan:
Most Euro RWD cars use Viscous fan for the cooling system & not electric fan. Its not the type of mechanical fan locked to the engine or water pump, like the ones on Peugeot 504s & 505s I4 XN1 engines, here in Nigeria. The type am talking about wheels freely when engine is started, but its start to drive (turn faster or turn with engine) when it senses the hot fluid/temp from the radiator & goes off again after it has sucked out heat from the radiator. It has a clucth that engagages & disengages when the water pump drives it. When the viscous fan fails, it can no longer sense the hot temperature of the radiator and wont clutch to start turning with the engine, thus, overheating occurs. You can find out by starting the car, allow it to idle some minutes until the engine gets to operating temperature (on your temperature guage on instrument cluster, the needle should be pointing at the middle of the guage, supposing you have not removed your thermostat). The heat from the radiator will trigger the fan to clutch in & start turning with the same speed with the engine & will go off after some seconds, a minute or two. If that dosent happen, you will need to repalce the viscous coupling (that thing the fan is attaching to facing the radiator). If you cant find a working one, convert it to electric fan. If I were you, I would do the electric fan conversion, which I did on my Peugeot 505 V6 myself. I had a failed Viscous fan & converted it to electric pull/suck fan last month. I connected it to radiator sensor & it works perfectly & better. In fact, the engine now retains some hp loose formerly when it was mechanical fan. The engine is now soundless when revved. The engine runs & sounds smoother now. Even the added hp makes the car to accelerate faster than before. I would advice you to do the same. I did the conversion myself. The fan only turns when the engine temperature wants to exceed operating temp. It turns off as soon as it sucks out heat from the radiator. It dosent run when the car is in motion, to save the fan's motor lifespan. It only runs when in traffic or engine idles for more than 15 mins.

Good luck!

Ikenna.

Thanks Bros, Lexican, ikenna.

@bros do u suggest that i still change the top cylinder? before bleeding the cooling system?

@lexican, where or who assisted in bleeding your cooling system, i need the overheating to stop completely

@ikenna, it does not have a thermostat again i will google like you advised.

If I were you, I will put back the thermostat. Without t-stat, your engine will always be running on low temperature and will be hindering the proper lubrication of the entire engine. Be ready to rebuild or replace that engine soon if you prefer to use that engine without the t-stat. Mind you, without thermostat, if the temperature becomes too high, you are in for trouble. You need to know the function of t-stat for you to know what & how are killing your engine by yourself, not your mechanic. People should stop listening to all these stupid mechanics. What made you think that t-stat was causing your engine to overheat? Because mechanics or people told you so? Do you know the operating temperature of your engine? Do you kow the temp level on your car's instrument cluster that should be the normal temp guage? The problem with us is that we assume & believe that needle on the temp guage shouldnt rise or climb up at all. That it should remain at very low temp guage. Very very wrong! Normal temperature of 99% vehicles in the world is when the needle on the temperature guage points to the middle of the guage. Thats the normal engine operating temperature. If you doubt me, check your car owners manual.

simply put, you are killing your engine, running it without t-stat.

Ikenna.

Also, dont waste your money replacing the top gasket since you have not eliminated air lock & Viscous fan. Only then, if the two mentioned are ok, you can think of the top gasket. Besides, if the Top gasket has failed, the symptom will be well pronounced, more than overheating. Water/coolant will be coming out/flowing from the exhaust tail. The engine sound will be terrible & would hardly rev.

Ikenna.

The engine was smoking and i had it rebuilt(ringing).

Thanks ikenna i will fix the thermostat, i dont want to loose the engine again.

For the airlock. i will ensure that its done.

Thanks

First, find out if the thermostat is ok. Get the t-stat, put it in a pot, pour in water covering the t-stat & boil. As soon as the water temperature starts to rise, the t-stat will gradually open, even before the water starts boiling. You can find out the temperature at which the t-stat opens with thermometer (if you have) as the t-stat opens in the pot of hot water. The temperature at which the t-stat opens should be engraved on the t-stat, e.g. 79 C. If the t-stat dosent open, replace it. I heard it cost about 2k or so.

You said the engine was rebuilt. Did the overheating started after the engine rebuilt? If an inferior top gasket was used when coupling the Cylinder head, it could cause overheating. Thats why people use two top gaskets, once the follow-come top gasket has been removed. But lets hope the problem is not with the replaced top gasket, rather, with airlock in the system or a failed Viscous fan clutch or brush. Goodluck.

Send me your email address so that i can upload and send you pics of the test of my t-stat 2 weeks ago, to confirm if it was still working. I can upload them here (size not allowed). The pics will teach you how to test t-stat in a pot of water and how to install it.

Ikenna.

Woah, what an insightful tip. if i engrave the degree at which the thermostat opens on the thermostat, what will i do next(as why do i need to engrave it.my email address is rockcharlie2003@yahoo.com

The engine gasket had been earlier replaced to 2. i found this out when i was ringing the engine . the mechanic said the overheating was what wore the engine.

anyway, now is rebuilt, he has put another double gasket and says the top cylinder has to be changed.

i pray that the new top cylinder solves the issue.may be i may still need to bleed the radiator.

Thanks

I meant that the temperature at which the thermostat opens will be "written" on the thermostat. You will see a number written/engraved on the thermostat. Mine has 79 engraved or stamped on it. You will see the number on mine on one the pics i will send to you. The 79 on my car's thermostat means that my thermostat opens when the engine temperature or the coolant in the engine walls rises to 79 degree centrigrate. As soon as it opens, the water pump will draw the hot coolant in the engine to the radiator, while the cold coolant in the radiator will flow into the engine. Once the cold coolant enters the engine, the thermostat will close & the cold coolant will be cut off from the radiator & remain in the engine. The hot coolant that entered the radiator when thermostat opened will then be cooled by the radiator cooling fan or breeze coming via the front grill (from outside the front car), if the car is in motion. This cycle will repaet itself when the car becomes stationary for a long time, maybe in a traffic. Thermostat helps to maintain the engine operating temperature to be constant, with the control of the coolant flow from engine to radiator & vice-versa. Without thermostat, the engine will usually run cold or below engine operating temperature which will make the engine oil to be cold enough not to lubricate the engine properlly. That will cause severe wear & tear on the engine (piston, rings, crankshaft, cramshaft, conrod bearings, crankshaft bearings & engine main bearings will die sooner than you expect).

Ikenna.

Hi Charles,

Have you received the pics i forwarded to your email?

Ikenna.

Thanks Ikenna,

I got them, that was really helpful.i will ensure that i do that.also my mechanic is sugesting i change the radiator.does this sound like a better option after ringing the engine and changing the top cylinder.please note that i am yet to change the top cylinder, but he confirms that its warped.

Thanks
Charles

since the Cylinder head has died, it now confirms & proves to you that thermostat wasnt the cause of overheating, since you have long removed your thermostat, yet the engine overheated & killed your cylinder head.

You can only tell if Radiator needs replacement by the appearance of the radiator. If the vents on the radiator have not been clogged/blocked, & still passes air very well, then the radiator should be ok. If the holes that fluid passes on in the radiator have not clogged, the radiator should be ok. Some would open the radiator top while been washed to see the condition of the holes & for thorough washing & would weld it back. Some have pointed out that replacing a single cell radiator with double cell radiator help. There is no harm in replacing radiator, but that should be only if the radiator is dead. Am not there to see the condition of the radiator, to tell if it need to be replaced or not. But remember, Radiator dosent rust, no matter the age. If you are seeing rusty colour of fluid in the radiator when the engine is running, then is because you are using water, instead of coolant (mixture of antifreeze & water 50:50). If you are using water, then it would also be contributing to the overheating. Why? Because overtime, water will turn into sandish fluid around the engine wall & corrode the engine which will cause the engine overheat and blow up the top gasket. But coolant dosent rust, no matter how long its in the engine or the radiator. It is not the radiator that is rusting or causing that rusty color. It is the engine wall (engine block). Those rust you see in the radiator would also block holes in the radiator. When the holes are blocked/clogged, the radiator cooling fan wont be able to suck or push heat out of the hot fluid in the radiator. Even breeze coming in from the front grille wont be a able cool a clogged/block radiator. I buy & use TOTAL coolant. Theirs is already mixed (water & antifreeze). So no need of mixing it with water before using. You could see the blue color of fluid on the thermostat housing on one of the pics i sent to you. Thats how fluid in Radiator & engine wall should look like. Dont ever use water again, to prevent another replacement of cylinder head.

Goodluck!

Ikenna.

Wow!!

Ikenna coolant? is it poured in the radiator as well, i am asking this because i pour water directly into the radiator, does that mean that i will pour this coolant directly too? dont get crossed with all these questions o.

i pour water like every two days,will i pour coolant like these too? i think the rust sign is what causes the mechanic to sugest it too.

Thanks

Drian your cooling system completely, to flush out the water. Pour in coolant only. Dont add any water. Depending on your radiator & engine size, it may cost you 1k or 2k coolant to fill your radiator. A litre/bottle of TOTAL coolant is N350. It used to be N250. Buy like 5 bootles & see if that will fill the radiator.

Toping your radiator with water every two days means that there could be a leakage some where or that your dead cylinder head was the cause. Coolants are meant to be flushed out once in a every two years. By then, it shouldnt go down in the radiator. Its almost the same thing with engine oil. You only change engine oil till another replacement without adding or toping oil before the next change. If the oil is always going below level, then, either there is an oil leakage somewhere or that the cylinders are burning oil which will show on the exhaust tail (blue smoke color).

Ikenna.

Morning, Trust your weekend was good.

My mechanic has claimed that the cylider of a 2.5 litre engine is scarce.
Ladipo says its 20k. i dont have this kind of money to spend at the moment.

i understand that mechanics who has changed other peoples engines have it as spoil and they sell it for 2k to the aluminium guys.

anybody with info should kindly reply the thread

charlnwu

Naija! The gentleman asked a simple question "Who can fix my overheating BMW". He did not ask for DIY. Recommend a mechanic or yourself simple. AH AH!

Ovo Close: Naija! The gentleman asked a simple question "Who can fix my overheating BMW". He did not ask for DIY. Recommend a mechanic or yourself simple. AH AH!

you just responded to comments almost 2years old?

yungboss:
you just responded to comments almost 2years old?

Yea. I was searching the site for a BMW mechanic and this was the closest hit. so imagine my disappointment at all the self professed experts.

Ovo Close:
Yea. I was searching the site for a BMW mechanic and this was the closest hit. so imagine my disappointment at all the self professed experts.

Disappointment? What are you doing in this section then? This section is not meant for people like you please. Keep searching for BMW mechanic online and stay away from here.

If you dont know the purpose of creating this section in the first place, all you needed to have done was to ask, than those nonsense you said.

By the way, make sure you dont come back someday to ask for solutions to issues to your car. After all, the BMW mechanics are online.

Ikenna.