F-ing plastic flanges...

[madfronter]

So my car started spewing antifreeze from some unseen location near the firewall. Luckily I noticed it before my engine started to overheat, and I was able to pull off onto the shoulder. I was looking under the hood of my car when a guy in a black E36 M3 passed by (he was going pretty damn slow due the fact it was morning rush hour on I76 E going into center city Philadelphia) and stopped to see if he could give me a hand. That was a nice surprise. We both came to the conclusion that it was a leak coming from a hose leading to the heatercore, or at least that was our best guess. So I called AAA and had them tow me 65 mile to my friends shop. So we took a look at the situation and determined the intake manifold or the transmision needed to be removed to get to the flange. arg!!! So the plan is to replace all the hoses and flanges to the cooling system. Once this is completeed everything should be good as new. Wish me luck.

[DustenT]

Search the forum for this. This is a VERY VERY VERY common problem (it happens to every 318ti). There are two parts that could have broken, one under the intake manny, towards the front of the motor, and one on the back of the block. Either way, don't remover the tranny, jeeeeez....

[cooljess76]

Dusten's right. I have personally posted several times on this same issue. The two plastic coolant lines will run you about $25 for both. One is shaped like a "y" and is located on the back of the engine under the intake. To access it you will have to remove the upper and lower intake manifolds and the cabin air filter duct at the base of your windshield. While you have the intake manifold removed you can also access the other plastic coolant line which is located on the top of the engine block on the driver's side. These two parts are notorious for breaking. It happens to EVERY ti. It's best to replace them at about 100k, but in your case you're very lucky to have caught it before you melted your engine. Best of luck to you. The "Y" shaped one in the back is a MoFo. The good news is that it only costs $17.00 and the other one only costs $7. While you're at it, if you have the cash, change your water pump, thermostat and radiator. Radiators only cost about $130 on ebay. Also, it is EXTREMELY IMPORTANT to burp you cooling system after the repairs have been made. Park your car so the engine is elevated such as on a hill or driveway, turn the heater on full blast, remove the small vent plug next to the radiator fill cap, fill your system slowly until all of the air bubbles escape through the vent hole and a solid steam of coolant/water flows out. Replace plug and top off radiator. Drive the car a little bit and repeat this process as it may take a couple of tries to remove all of the air in the system. It helps a little if you massage thoe radiator hoses while you're doing this, just watch your hands around the belt and the fan. Be sure to clean up the coolant that goes onto the ground so nobody's pets get poisoned.

[cooljess76]

Here they are. Part #9 in the first diagram shows the "Y" shaped coolant line:
http://i135.photobucket.com/albums/q122/cooljess76/af50ca39.png
Part #1 in the second diagram shows the other plastic coolant line on the driver's side of the engine block under the intake manifold:
http://i135.photobucket.com/albums/q122/cooljess76/af50ca39-1.png
Here's another view of that same part to give a better perspective of it's location. It's not numbered in this diagram, but it's below #7:
http://i135.photobucket.com/albums/q122/cooljess76/df2067ce.png
Hope this is helpful, the diagrams and part#'s can be found using the links below. Just click on the appropriate diagram for a list of the OEM part #'s:
http://www.realoem.com/bmw/partgrp.do?model=CG73&mospid=47506&hg=11&fg=10
http://www.realoem.com/bmw/partgrp.do?model=CG73&mospid=47506&hg=11&fg=15

[pnosker]

$17.50 at Pelican Parts, what else should I get for preventative maintenance on my 1998 318ti with 96800 miles on it? I already replaced the water pump.

[CirrusSR22]

Does anyone know if these nozzles at the heater core are plastic? I'm guessing part #6 is the actual part that passes through the firewall. I've never looked at this specifically when I've been under the car, so I can't visualize this at all.

It looks like the "double-pipes" (#2) are all aluminum, but I wonder about the connector (#6)

http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f23/vasa58/heater1.jpg
http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f23/vasa58/heater2.jpg

[th30d0r3]

I've got the very same problem, and it sucks because I can smell the coolant when the Radiator is on. my car has only done 62k.

How long does it take to replace this part? and is it a complicated job?

[pnosker]

Ditto on that one, I just got a cooling replacement kit from Bimmerclinic.com (radiator, expansion tank, etc... everything except the WP since I just replaced that and got the 2 flanges too). I want to know how long it will take me to get those flanges replaced.

[cooljess76]

Hey Patrick, not sure about the heater core flanges, but the other two will take a couple hours if you're good. I heard that it's easier if you remove the cabin air filter and ducting t the base of the windshield for better access. Be ready though, I'm sure it's going to dump coolant if you don't drain the system first.

[pnosker]

I was planning on doing it while doing my whole cooling system overhaul. It looks like my thermostat isn't working properly... my car isn't warming up fast at all. When I replaced my cabin filters, I sneaked my hands through without actually moving it so I'm not sure of that process.

So basically I have to:
Remove the Intake Manifold
Remove Cabin Filter + Ducting

AFTER draining the system?

[cooljess76]

in a nutshell