bugger (suspected blown head gasket)

[sal_park]

on the way into work this morning I noticed if I accelerate quickly I get a large amount of steam out of the exhaust. I replace the water pump ~ 3 months ago (no serious overheating though). I've had to top the coolant up a little bit now and then for as long as I can remember (2 years+), so this may not be a new issue. I think the first thing I should do is a cylinder compression test to check the rings are ok.

Any other suspects other than the head gasket ?


sal

[ArnZ!]

Did the steam go away. If so then its just condensation built up within the exhaust system.

[sal_park]

Did the steam go away. If so then its just condensation built up within the exhaust system.

Hi,

No, it didn't - this was after 15 minutes of driving and it's 100% tied into acceleration / large throttle openings.

sal

[Luftpost]

Any white milky substance in the oil?

My 525 produces a lot of steam as well, long into the drive. Can't remember where I read it (here or another board), but other folks say it is typical. Lots of condensation collects in the exhaust system. Do search under "steam" and you should find some good info.

L

[philbyil]

Have someone rev the motor for you...put a paper towel over the outlets, let it soak in for a while, then smell it. If it smells sweet....it aint sweet :( as it is a sure sign of coolant !


on the way into work this morning I noticed if I accelerate quickly I get a large amount of steam out of the exhaust. I replace the water pump ~ 3 months ago (no serious overheating though). I've had to top the coolant up a little bit now and then for as long as I can remember (2 years+), so this may not be a new issue. I think the first thing I should do is a cylinder compression test to check the rings are ok.

Any other suspects other than the head gasket ?


sal

[sal_park]

hummm,

just drove home and and absolulty no smoke/steam at all for the first 3-4 minutes :) then back to smoke/steam on larger throttle opens & blipping the throttle for the rest of the journey :(

Lost about 2 inches of coolant, although I can't remember the last time I checked that.

The oil filler cap has some white/yellow oil/water gunk on it, but I only really do short jounerys (5 miles) so this could be normal. Dip stick is good with just oil on it.

After I got home, blipped the throttle a few times to produce some steam and smelling the exhaust it was quite sweet.

I'm getting a pressure tester and will test the cylinders next week & inspect the spark plugs for a steam cleaned one.

sal

[BMW4LIFE]

hummm,

just drove home and and absolulty no smoke/steam at all for the first 3-4 minutes :) then back to smoke/steam on larger throttle opens & blipping the throttle for the rest of the journey :(

Lost about 2 inches of coolant, although I can't remember the last time I checked that.

The oil filler cap has some white/yellow oil/water gunk on it, but I only really do short jounerys (5 miles) so this could be normal. Dip stick is good with just oil on it.

After I got home, blipped the throttle a few times to produce some steam and smelling the exhaust it was quite sweet.

I'm getting a pressure tester and will test the cylinders next week & inspect the spark plugs for a steam cleaned one.

sal

sal i hate to tell you bud

but you are getting coolant in your oil and that its a bad thing...

the sure signs are the sweet smell and the gunk you found...

maybe its time for a head gasket change?!

[philbyil]

New head gasket (at the least)....sorry mate :(



hummm,

just drove home and and absolulty no smoke/steam at all for the first 3-4 minutes :) then back to smoke/steam on larger throttle opens & blipping the throttle for the rest of the journey :(

Lost about 2 inches of coolant, although I can't remember the last time I checked that.

The oil filler cap has some white/yellow oil/water gunk on it, but I only really do short jounerys (5 miles) so this could be normal. Dip stick is good with just oil on it.

After I got home, blipped the throttle a few times to produce some steam and smelling the exhaust it was quite sweet.

I'm getting a pressure tester and will test the cylinders next week & inspect the spark plugs for a steam cleaned one.

sal

[Tiger]

I am surprised... no one mentioned the coil pack boots. Qiote a few of us had this problem... lots of white smokes for super long time. Remember, lean unburned fuel also emit white smokes by the cat converter.

So change all your coil pack spark plug boots and the smoke will go away.

You do need to check for leaking coolant hoses with pressure tester.

[BennyM]

Now that the temp is down to 0 F, I've been noticing the same thing. Tons of steam when I gun the car from a stand still, or even under moderately hard acceleration. But otherwise, just normal amount of tail pipe smoke/steam that every car exhales in the winter. I do have a phantom coolant leak, but I'm pretty sure that's thanks to my leaky heater core. Haven't seen any oil contamination. (fingers crossed).

[edward]

My car is also using coolant at an alarming rate, and now my check engine light is on. I am suspecting a head gasket leak as well. How hard of a job is that, Bentleys says I need some special torx sockets?

Thanks,

Edward

[whiskychaser]

My car is also using coolant at an alarming rate, and now my check engine light is on. I am suspecting a head gasket leak as well. How hard of a job is that, Bentleys says I need some special torx sockets?

Thanks,

Edward

You can probably do it in a day. I'd suggest investing in a small torque wrench with a certificate of accuracy. IIRC the first torque of the head bolts is only about 30nm, then 90 degrees then 90 degrees. But do make sure its the HG first!:)

[bsell]

While you are looking at the coil pack boots, pull your combustion chamber spies, I mean, the spark plugs.

If you have coolant getting into a cylinder or two, those spark plugs will look very clean (like steam cleaned!) when compared to the others. Cheap and easy check, especially for those without the proper leak checking tools.

[Tiger]

Do a coolant pressure check first. It is more likely you got a leaking hose than head gasket problem.

[632 Regal]

steam at 0 degrees... this is normal. The coolant loss is not. My car will steam clouds until spring, I can smog out drivers behind me to the point they disappear in my rearview.

[sal_park]

Well I did a compression test today and it all seems ok, which is good news, so I guess I've got a coolant leak somewhere and some knackered spark plug boots :)

There was no sign of any steam cleaning in any cylinder and using a torch I could see the piston heads were nicely carbonised. The compression test gave results between 16.5 bar and 18 bar which is slightly out of spec according to the Bentley (min 11 bar, max difference between cylinders 0.5 bar) but no where near enough to do anything about it atm.

Plugs also look ok to me:
http://www.bimmernut.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=7033&d=1263136541
http://www.bimmernut.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=7034&stc=1&d=1263137077

Thanks for everyone's input on this, I'm just going to keep any eye on the cooling system and might change the boots in the summer (snow outside here now).

[bsell]

Well I did a compression test today and it all seems ok, which is good news, so I guess I've got a coolant leak somewhere and some knackered spark plug boots :)

There was no sign of any steam cleaning in any cylinder and using a torch I could see the piston heads were nicely carbonised. The compression test gave results between 16.5 bar and 18 bar which is slightly out of spec according to the Bentley (min 11 bar, max difference between cylinders 0.5 bar) but no where near enough to do anything about it atm.

Plugs also look ok to me:
http://www.bimmernut.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=7033&d=1263136541
http://www.bimmernut.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=7034&stc=1&d=1263137077



Thanks for everyone's input on this, I'm just going to keep any eye on the cooling system and might change the boots in the summer (snow outside here now).

Plugs look normal for some mileage being on them...

Could the differences in compression test results be due to excessive carbon build up? You said the piston heads "were nicely carbonized." Does that mean things look normal, as in, not heavy carbon build up? I could see some differences in compression test figures due to uneven carbon build up...

I take it you did a warm compression test? That helps ensure the rings are freed up from sitting.

[whiskychaser]

Plug tips look a good colour but that brown ring on the insulator isnt great. There's a thread about it somewhere. If it wont clean off with petrol or something I'd be thinking about swapping them some time soon. The comp pressures do look a bit out but you havent got any low ones so thats good. You havent got any obvious leaks but one thing I would have a look at is the water pump - put your hand behind the pulley and see if its wet. I had a leak on the pump gland and it had me scratching my head for ages. It was only later that I realised what the white spray deposit on the filter box was all about! Good luck sorting this out in the snow:)

[Tiger]

Brown Ring of Death is positive sign for bad coil spark plug boots. Just like I said.