Time for radiator #4...sigh

[billb]

Original lasted 80k (replaced at home, on my own terms, in '01). Original BMW.
Second lasted 59k (replaced at 139k unexpectedly in Asheville while there visiting friends in '06). Behr from BMA.
Third lasted until this week (only 36k miles), when I noticed it spewing along the left seam, just below the upper hose. This was the one I bought from the BMW dealer.
New Behr on order from Pelican for $191.
Not a good trend: 80k, 60k, ~40k :(

Doing all hoses, water pump, thermostat, belts, and radiator simultaneously.

[ScottyWM]

Yeah, feel your pain. I'm on my third radiator now. But it must be my 5th or 6th water pump. (Some were changed before failure as a precaution.) Bill - have you changed the return hose under the manifold yet? If not, would be a good time to do it. Not easy to get to, but better to do it now than on the side of the road... Might think about heater hoses too, I skipped these and now I see a little seepage on one.

[BennyM]

Weird. I never replaced the radiator on my 92 525i and I put well over 100k miles on it when I owned it. And I'm pretty sure it was the original radiator. I replaced the water pump once, but only as a precaution, not because the original one had failed. Is it just the later 525is that are more susceptible or is it the hot climates that kill these systems?

[Russell]

Mine is on my third radiator. This one is a nissen(sp). Have about 20,000 miles on it. The previous two were BMW OE first neck broke, second a seam split.

[Bill R.]

I just replaced my third radiator under lifetime warranty from autozone about a month ago.... it was a nissen, didn't crack at the neck this time though. It split on one of the tanks instead. Freebie from azo anyway. I change about 6 radiators a month on average and the quality on all of them has fallen, so i don't bother looking for name brands just go for the lifetime warranty instead. The vast majority of the radiators i see now are made in malaysia, I guess no epa constraints and cheap labor. I'm also seeing a high number of expansion tanks cracking and leaking on e46's whether they are aftermarket or original bmw. Bilstein, cofap, meyle etc all seem to be failing after less than 3 years here in Arizona. Last one i bought was a lemforder, i'll see if they are better quality or not.

[ScottyWM]

Notice how our E34's are in the Archive section on RealOEM.com now? Is that a sign, or can we call them antique now!

[billb]

To Scott-
Replaced that monster 4-way hose way back at 80k miles, so it's probably due, but not doing it right now.
To others-
Funny, this thing isn't ready to give in just yet. I had topped up the coolant to the full mark cold, and it was spewing a little. Yet I cleaned off the tank/hose, and haven't seen evidence that it's spewing again. Maybe it has self-equalized? Still, new radiator will be on my porch this afternoon...rather not tempt fate.

And man, if it's not one thing, it's another...cruise control actuator is reeeeaaaallllyyy slow to engage/disengage today...:(

[billb]

Not entirely sure what to make of this, but...the leak has subsided. Maybe it was just too full, and has found equilbrium? Since my initial post on 5/23, I haven't added any more, and it hasn't dropped any more (no evidence of leaking). Could be the old PV=nRT thing going on, and it finds a P or a T that forces the V out the radiator.

Side note; thought I was having either a coil problem or major vanos issue. Started simple and replaced the 15k-old plugs. Night and day difference. Huh.

[Russell]

Not entirely sure what to make of this, but...the leak has subsided. Maybe it was just too full, and has found equilbrium? Since my initial post on 5/23, I haven't added any more, and it hasn't dropped any more (no evidence of leaking). Could be the old PV=nRT thing going on, and it finds a P or a T that forces the V out the radiator.

Side note; thought I was having either a coil problem or major vanos issue. Started simple and replaced the 15k-old plugs. Night and day difference. Huh.

15 year old plugs!! No wonder. I though they needed to be changed about every 30,000 miles.

[billb]

15 year old plugs!! No wonder. I though they needed to be changed about every 30,000 miles.15k miles, not 15 years! :)

[Russell]

Darn old eyes -Duh!

[billb]

Well, the rate of coolant leak rapidly increased since Saturday. I topped it off Saturday morning, drove 60 miles round-trip to volunteer at a bike tour. Drove it 44 miles roundtrip Monday for work. Checked the level hot yesterday afternoon and it was LOW LOW. So....at 7pm I started dismantling. At 9:58 I was buttoned back up. Some observations along the way:
This is the third time I've been in there. I learn something new each time. By now, we all know how to remove and install a radiator and water pump, but I keep learning how to do it quicker.

I've struggled with the trans cooler reattachment in the past, but this time it was a breeze. I transferred the clips from old radiator to new, and just felt them perfectly when attaching to the new radiator.
Why, oh why, have I ever struggled with reattaching the fan clutch? It clicked last night; pull the shroud towards the rear of the car, and just thread the clutch on. I've struggled with that for years, and my mind finally opened up to do it right.
Make sure you have all the new gaskets you need in-hand. I completely forgot about the radiator housing gasket (thought I had some extras). Wishing and hoping the old one holds.
Check the radiator cap. Mine was a 200, and the bottom lip was broken off. Fortunately AutoZone had one in stock this morning, a 140. Should help prolong the life of the radiator and hoses going forward!

[Tiger]

No wonder... the 200 puts too much pressure in your system... therefore your radiator keeps going bad.

[billb]

No wonder... the 200 puts too much pressure in your system... therefore your radiator keeps going bad.
Yep, believe you're onto something there. That cap is what the local BMW dealer (Performance) sold me in 2001 at 80k miles. Replaced the radiator at 80,200, the cap at 80,800. Next radiator at 139,015, then last night at 175k.

BavAuto lists a 2.0 as standard. RealOEM lists 2.0 bar as standard. We'll see how the 140 works out.

[Tiger]

2.0 bar is 29 PSI... 1.4 bar is 20 PSI... more than enough. Most car runs at 15 PSI... 1.0 bar.

[Ross]

Original lasted 80k (replaced at home, on my own terms, in '01). Original BMW.
Second lasted 59k (replaced at 139k unexpectedly in Asheville while there visiting friends in '06). Behr from BMA.
Third lasted until this week (only 36k miles), when I noticed it spewing along the left seam, just below the upper hose. This was the one I bought from the BMW dealer.
New Behr on order from Pelican for $191.
Not a good trend: 80k, 60k, ~40k :(

Doing all hoses, water pump, thermostat, belts, and radiator simultaneously.

Bill, Do you use distilled water? Mileage shouldn't mean that much, it's mostly age and corrosion that kills them. If you are using ground water you are putting lots of minerals in there, minerals conducive to corrosion. You're getting ~5yrs only.

[billb]

Distilled from a jug, and BMW blue, 2 year flushes. The head was clean as a pin when I took the thermostat out the other night. I think Tiger was onto something with the 2 bar cap (as spec'd by BMW, but just might be too strong). Here in the south, we have lots of 90-100F days, running A/C, high heat loads on the car.

[Tiger]

I don't know if you can test the cap... it might be bad that it let it build up pressure beyond spec.