please help before i kill my car

[infinity5]

i'm trying to drain the god-forsaken coolant out of my m60. welll the radiator drain plug is easy as pie to get off, but bently says theres an engine block plug under cyclinder 6. (thats the drivers side right?) and i assume becuase the thermostat is closed just draining the radiator won't get it all out, correct? soo how the fdsasdlkh do i get the engine block drain plug off? its impossible. i can't fit a rachet, with any number of u-joints or extensions in there, i can't turn any type of tool in the small space, and the exhaust is so close i actually can't even fit the rachet over the bolt. maybe if i drive all the way back *across* town to sears i can find some $60 contraption i'll never use again to do this. if anyone has photos so i can check that i'm actually doing the right screw it'd be awesome. to get anyhting normal over the bolt i'd have to drop the front x-member, unbolt the exhaust manifolds, jack up the engine and remove the engine mounts (i think they're in the way too) and take off both AT cooler lines (they're in the way to) and while i'm here, would anyone trade their 6cyl for my 8? grrr

[632 Regal]

i just drained the passanger side and refilled with water, ran it and re drained the pass side. WHen it was clean I added straight antifreeze before i finished with distilled water. Forget that drivers side nightmare, as soon as I looked I knew that wasnt going to happen!

[infinity5]

thanks a lot. yeah i didn't know there were two until after i posted and started researching the subject.. hmm.. although i'm not entirely sure the passager side looked like a piece of cake either ;) we'll see! wish me luck


i just drained the passanger side and refilled with water, ran it and re drained the pass side. WHen it was clean I added straight antifreeze before i finished with distilled water. Forget that drivers side nightmare, as soon as I looked I knew that wasnt going to happen!

[tim]

You could just forget about the block drains imho. It's so easy to do the rad drain and bleed, just do it a little more often, and you should be covered.

[632 Regal]

and drained the pass side and refilled and ran it, i was getting a pretty stiff green for 3 flushes. If you dont drain the block id say you would have to fil, run and flush probably at least half a dozen times and then not have enough room to get enough antifreeze in there to stop it from freezing. I could only get about a gallon out with the radiator only.

[tim]

I have it on my list of things to do when I'm doing something else anyway. I've done it, but wouldn't on a routine flush, which I do about twice a year. The last time I did the drivers, I was replacing the power steering hoses. On the passenger side I'll do it if the car's up and I've already disconnected the battery. BTW, if you do do it, watch yourself around that live elec post. Bentleys only calls for the right plug when doing a drain, and doesn't even acknowledge the left one.

[632 Regal]

I have it on my list of things to do when I'm doing something else anyway. I've done it, but wouldn't on a routine flush, which I do about twice a year. The last time I did the drivers, I was replacing the power steering hoses. On the passenger side I'll do it if the car's up and I've already disconnected the battery. BTW, if you do do it, watch yourself around that live elec post. Bentleys only calls for the right plug when doing a drain, and doesn't even acknowledge the left one.

[tim]

barely.

[632 Regal]

barely.

[infinity5]

well i might not have cared so much except the previous owners had filled the car up with the green stuff, probably walmart brand superduper coolant and i wanted to get every drop out. i also had no idea when the system had last been flushed, and the previous owners weren't exactly big on maintainence. i used a hose and i flushed the system about 3 times maybe 4. i even drove it around the block completly empty (or as empty as i could get it) to make sure the thermostat opened and to pump out as much as i could. i've still got about half a gallon of of my mixed coolant i can't fit. so theres half a gallon of coolant i couldn't flush because i couldn't get the drivers side plug out. not too bad. the green stuff can mix with the blue stuff and.. what color does that make? oh well.



You could just forget about the block drains imho. It's so easy to do the rad drain and bleed, just do it a little more often, and you should be covered.

[wengenstein]

I just flushed and filled the coolant on my M60 a couple weeks ago and it turned out that the bently manual was of little use. Here's what I found (for what its worth)...

First, to get at the block drain plugs I just got a 10" (or it could have been 12") ratchet extension. It was pretty easy to get off and get back on, provided you have enough light. I also had the car on ramps so I had plenty of elbow room.

After I took off the drain plugs (and snaked out some snot from my radiator) I stuck a garden hose in the expansion tank and let it run till clean water ran from the various drain plugs. When everything was clean and drained I refilled with pre-mixed coolant and distilled water. And I added a bottle of water wetter. Then the bleeding...

What I did find difficult was the bleeding stage. It was a pain because there's no bleeder screw. I had to just let it run with the heat cranked and as the coolant level dropped in the expansion tank I slowly refilled it. Once the level seemed to normalize, and I had used up the appripriate amount of my coolant/water mix, I let the engine cool and checked the level again.

Aside from making sure the little hose comming off the expansion tank was clog-free, that was about it.


Dennis

[DueyT]

Dennis, that's the nice thing about the M60's coolant system...relatively problem free flushing and filling. Apparently the M30's can be a bit of an nightmare and result in much overheating if not done right.

Cheers,
Duey

[Mike 'n AZ]

...of my '94 540i. I think it would look great. BTW, over 120,000 miles and still runs strong. -- Mike

[infinity5]

I've been squeezing the return/supply hoses to the radiator with the expansion tank cap off to bleed it. every time i squeeze one a good handful of bubble bubble out and the coolant levels lowers, i pour more in, squeeze, it bubbles, pour more in. it takes a while but i keep fitting more and more and more coolant :)

[DueyT]

Infinity, I don't think you're doing any harm...the M60 coolant flow is not critically dependant on a complete bleed as far as I know to ensure proper coolant flow. In fact, I just topped up my coolant (well...replaced half is more accurate ;) ) after the plastic impeller housing on the heater auxiliary pump cracked and the beast spewed out about $20-worth of the good blue stuff out of the recently 'disconnected' water pump heating circuit outlet hose.

I gave a few cycles of fill the expansion tank, rev the engine a bit...and so on until I got the coolant level up to the proper line on the expansion tank.

Bad news is, I think completely independant of the failed pump housing, is a remaining smell of hot coolant coming out of my heater vents. This was happening before the pump impeller housing failed and I think it is indicative of a failing heater core.

Not sure if my Sherlock Holmes thing is valid but using the differential zone climate settings, I tried to run driver's side hot / pax cold, then vice versa to see if maybe a potential leak was happening in one half of the core or the other...no diff...smell of coolant is just a strong either way. The only other thing I can think of aside from a failing core is the plastic pipe (damn plastic again :( ) leading from the firewall feed point beneath the water vale to the actual heater core assembly. I heard someone mention once that the old version of the pipe was a two-piece assembly that was prone to leaking.

anyone replaced the heater supply pipes in their car recently, the old two-piece with an apparently one-piece assembly?

Cheers,
Duey

[charlie]

so all you have to do is run the car (up on ramps probably helps) to get the air out on a 540? no bleeder screw? what tools do you need for the engine block plug?
thanks

Dennis, that's the nice thing about the M60's coolant system...relatively problem free flushing and filling. Apparently the M30's can be a bit of an nightmare and result in much overheating if not done right.

Cheers,
Duey

[wengenstein]

I don't know that that's ALL you can do but it worked for me. Just make sure you have the heater controls maxed while your at it.

For the passenger side I used a 12" ratchet extension to remove the 13mm block drain plug. I didnt remove the driver's side plug. When you see it you'll know why. :) I don't remember the tightening torques off the top of my head though.


so all you have to do is run the car (up on ramps probably helps) to get the air out on a 540? no bleeder screw? what tools do you need for the engine block plug?
thanks

[632 Regal]

so you went with the passanger side drain only huh?
LOL
thought you would opt for that one.

[wengenstein]

Yep :)

I figured as long as I didn't quit flushing the system till the water was clear it'd be ok.


so you went with the passanger side drain only huh?
LOL
thought you would opt for that one.

[western99]

It was a little messy but the engine plug can be taken off. It was not that bad. What you need is a crank wrench and get under the car. Need to angle the wrist a bit, but not too difficult a challenge. The screw itself is not that long, so once you get it loose, you can just use your fingers. Putting it back on was even easier.

Brian
95 525ia

[632 Regal]

when I finally tightened the nut behind the wheel. What I saw was 3 (THREE!) little plastic tubey looking things goin through the firewall right about where the heater valves are. No visable leakage there but I get that cool blue scent at times too and the windshield has a VERY hard time staying clear on rainey days. I dont understand 3 deals cause I replaced all the hoses and there was 2 by the wall...maybe one just vents into the heating system like a humidifier in the winter?

no clue.

Duey im free for thanksgiving and have a Turkey ready to go if you are still interested in coming by to change mine out.

Let me know.

[JoshsE34-M50]

Wondering whether I need to replace the crush washer for the engine block plug. Changing out the coolant soon and I'm trying to round up the parts. Also, anyone here ever had heater hose failure? Already have both rad. hoses, and I'm wondering whether to replace all of the heater hoses :(
Thanks!

[JoshsE34-M50]

Dennis-
Nice car! A black 95 540 with low miles is one of my dream cars. Nice paint.

[wengenstein]

Thanks :)


Dennis-
Nice car! A black 95 540 with low miles is one of my dream cars. Nice paint.

[DueyT]

when I finally tightened the nut behind the wheel. What I saw was 3 (THREE!) little plastic tubey looking things goin through the firewall right about where the heater valves are. No visable leakage there but I get that cool blue scent at times too and the windshield has a VERY hard time staying clear on rainey days. I dont understand 3 deals cause I replaced all the hoses and there was 2 by the wall...maybe one just vents into the heating system like a humidifier in the winter?

no clue.

Duey im free for thanksgiving and have a Turkey ready to go if you are still interested in coming by to change mine out.

Let me know.

Jeff = funny!:p

Sure, buddy...no problem!

In fact, I'll bring my air chisel...do you have a compressor?

Actually Jeff, I'm just waiting for the snow...then I'll do the work in the middle of my driveway! *LOL*

Cheers
Duey

[632 Regal]

Turkeys thawed and ready to go, ill be expecting you about noon. Knock on the door and someone will get me up and well tap the easter keg ... uhh... i mean turkey keg...or whatever this is. I heard you can do a heater core exchange in less than half an hour! Thats awesome mann. See you Thursday.