mzarifkar
07-18-2011, 12:38 PM
Hey all,
Its been a while since I've been on. Good to see some familiar names around still.
I recently replaced my radiator on my 95/525 at 170k miles. The radiator had a crack in the plastic part, and all winter i had to add water like it was a steam train. Lacking a garage a was unable to replace the radiator until (it was too late) recently.
Since the radiator leak kept the coolant system pressure pretty low, fixing it, identified a new problem. A thermostat housing leak. I opened that up, to find the gasket heat damaged and leaking, the thermostat seal was beginning to fail, and the housing was in need of replacement as well. I put a new gasket in, and before going back in to order a new housing and thermostat, i decided to run the engine a bit.
Quite a bit of steam came out of the tail, despite it being 90+ degrees outside. I cautiously checked the oil and found my oil cap covered in a milky mess :( for a car that drives 50 miles on the highway every day, i wouldn't expect there to be any condensation, and at the last oil change (~2500miles ago) there were no such indications.
I suspect the radiator fix, increased system pressure, causing head gastket to fail.
Indy shop asking for $3000 to have gasket replaced and have the head dissassembled, checked by a machine shop, and reassembled.
Question: do the heads on these engines warp readily (probably have had 4 coolant temp in red episodes last year, only one time was i unable to stop right away.) Or could i get away with just adding a new gasket set?
Right now I can't put $3000 in this car, being that the transmission has been bad for years (although stable) and there is some issue with the driveshaft (center bearing i think) as well as a decent list of suspension/alignment issues. I imagine monetary value of this car is low, I may buy an interim car, and slowly work on this dear old friend, or give up altogether and let you guys benefit from its remains (namely the radiator with less than 500miles on it, and naturally a full tank of gas)
I enclosed pics of the thermostat housing mess
74597460
Its been a while since I've been on. Good to see some familiar names around still.
I recently replaced my radiator on my 95/525 at 170k miles. The radiator had a crack in the plastic part, and all winter i had to add water like it was a steam train. Lacking a garage a was unable to replace the radiator until (it was too late) recently.
Since the radiator leak kept the coolant system pressure pretty low, fixing it, identified a new problem. A thermostat housing leak. I opened that up, to find the gasket heat damaged and leaking, the thermostat seal was beginning to fail, and the housing was in need of replacement as well. I put a new gasket in, and before going back in to order a new housing and thermostat, i decided to run the engine a bit.
Quite a bit of steam came out of the tail, despite it being 90+ degrees outside. I cautiously checked the oil and found my oil cap covered in a milky mess :( for a car that drives 50 miles on the highway every day, i wouldn't expect there to be any condensation, and at the last oil change (~2500miles ago) there were no such indications.
I suspect the radiator fix, increased system pressure, causing head gastket to fail.
Indy shop asking for $3000 to have gasket replaced and have the head dissassembled, checked by a machine shop, and reassembled.
Question: do the heads on these engines warp readily (probably have had 4 coolant temp in red episodes last year, only one time was i unable to stop right away.) Or could i get away with just adding a new gasket set?
Right now I can't put $3000 in this car, being that the transmission has been bad for years (although stable) and there is some issue with the driveshaft (center bearing i think) as well as a decent list of suspension/alignment issues. I imagine monetary value of this car is low, I may buy an interim car, and slowly work on this dear old friend, or give up altogether and let you guys benefit from its remains (namely the radiator with less than 500miles on it, and naturally a full tank of gas)
I enclosed pics of the thermostat housing mess
74597460