RockJock
02-18-2010, 12:34 AM
The car: 1989 535i w/ about 183K miles
About 6 weeks ago the car developed a coolant leak around the water pump [6 year old water pump was shot and the short elbow hose that goes from the thermostat housing to the water pump had a pinhole].
A few weeks go by and she develops another leak: this time from the radiator vent return line [the pisser line; which flows nicely as it should] where it connects to the expansion tank. We replace that and everything appears to be okay for about a week or so. Then I notice a leak from the short elbow hose [new] along the hose clamp. I figure that it probably needs to seat itself and I proceed to tighten the clamp some more and everything appears to be okay. I take the car on a road trip and about 300 miles from home the upper rad hose blows [I was able to get the car to the side of the road and shutdown before the temp even got a chance to get more than a needle width past the ¾ mark].
The upper rad hose gets replaced along with the one that goes from the water pump to the expansion tank. Now all hoses [except the lower rad hose] are new. A few hours of driving and I’ve got more leaks; all of the leaks are coming from the hose clamp areas [where the upper rad hose connects to the rad, where the return hose goes into the bottom of the expansion tank, and the elbow hose connection into the water pump is leaking again].
I noticed that the cooling system holds pressure overnight. When I open the expansion tank cap I hear a hiss and the coolant level rises. Oil is nice and clean [no milkshake], and the coolant looks nice and clean. I just replaced the expansion tank cap [200] w/ a 140. We’ll see what gives.
The temp needle always sits about a needle width to the right of dead-center [w/ a brand new fan clutch]; I know many of the guys here are adamant that it must sit dead center…
Any ideas? Could this be a HG or cracked head issue? Should I get the cooling system checked for exhaust gases? Thanks guys.
About 6 weeks ago the car developed a coolant leak around the water pump [6 year old water pump was shot and the short elbow hose that goes from the thermostat housing to the water pump had a pinhole].
A few weeks go by and she develops another leak: this time from the radiator vent return line [the pisser line; which flows nicely as it should] where it connects to the expansion tank. We replace that and everything appears to be okay for about a week or so. Then I notice a leak from the short elbow hose [new] along the hose clamp. I figure that it probably needs to seat itself and I proceed to tighten the clamp some more and everything appears to be okay. I take the car on a road trip and about 300 miles from home the upper rad hose blows [I was able to get the car to the side of the road and shutdown before the temp even got a chance to get more than a needle width past the ¾ mark].
The upper rad hose gets replaced along with the one that goes from the water pump to the expansion tank. Now all hoses [except the lower rad hose] are new. A few hours of driving and I’ve got more leaks; all of the leaks are coming from the hose clamp areas [where the upper rad hose connects to the rad, where the return hose goes into the bottom of the expansion tank, and the elbow hose connection into the water pump is leaking again].
I noticed that the cooling system holds pressure overnight. When I open the expansion tank cap I hear a hiss and the coolant level rises. Oil is nice and clean [no milkshake], and the coolant looks nice and clean. I just replaced the expansion tank cap [200] w/ a 140. We’ll see what gives.
The temp needle always sits about a needle width to the right of dead-center [w/ a brand new fan clutch]; I know many of the guys here are adamant that it must sit dead center…
Any ideas? Could this be a HG or cracked head issue? Should I get the cooling system checked for exhaust gases? Thanks guys.