erniep
02-16-2007, 11:42 PM
Wouldn't you know it, the daughter came over today in the '96 ti for a new brake light switch, and with the hood open to check the fluids and generally snoop around I noticed a bit of dried antifreeze on the thermostat housing. It's been losing a little freeze lately, but I had not noticed a leak until today. Thank goodness that the BMW freeze dries in a way you can see it.
Oh, yeah, I'm in Northern Virginia and it's cccooolllddd/icy/windy, and I hate working on cars when it's cold. Fortunately I have a warm garage to work in. But I still had to go out in the weather for the parts. I went to the dealer (BMW of Fairfax) for the switch and stat, and some extra antifreeze just in case. If you haven't seen their new facility it's awesome. Yeah, I buy from the dealer, it costs a little more than OEM supplier/aftermarket parts (even with my discount) but I like the quality. But I digress.
Once it thawed out in the garage I drained the freeze, removed the old stat housing, and took a gander at why it was leaking. There were a couple of slight pits in the gasket (aftermarket, Behr stat, on the car when I bought it) and slight corrosion on the housing it bolts to. After a quick clean up of the mounting surface with a scotchbrite, the new stat went in. Tightened it up, added the freeze I had drained, plus a little more new stuff to replace the freeze that found its way to the floor, burped it, test drove it, and topped off the radiator for the last time. Good as new.
Oh yeah, the brake light switch was a breeze. Hardest part was working around the winter debris on the rubber floor mats. The funny thing about the switch is it worked when I pulled it out and tested it. But no matter what I did to it while it was in the car it would not work. Just wore out, I guess (130,000 miles).
Great therapy on a cold Friday afternoon.
Oh, yeah, I'm in Northern Virginia and it's cccooolllddd/icy/windy, and I hate working on cars when it's cold. Fortunately I have a warm garage to work in. But I still had to go out in the weather for the parts. I went to the dealer (BMW of Fairfax) for the switch and stat, and some extra antifreeze just in case. If you haven't seen their new facility it's awesome. Yeah, I buy from the dealer, it costs a little more than OEM supplier/aftermarket parts (even with my discount) but I like the quality. But I digress.
Once it thawed out in the garage I drained the freeze, removed the old stat housing, and took a gander at why it was leaking. There were a couple of slight pits in the gasket (aftermarket, Behr stat, on the car when I bought it) and slight corrosion on the housing it bolts to. After a quick clean up of the mounting surface with a scotchbrite, the new stat went in. Tightened it up, added the freeze I had drained, plus a little more new stuff to replace the freeze that found its way to the floor, burped it, test drove it, and topped off the radiator for the last time. Good as new.
Oh yeah, the brake light switch was a breeze. Hardest part was working around the winter debris on the rubber floor mats. The funny thing about the switch is it worked when I pulled it out and tested it. But no matter what I did to it while it was in the car it would not work. Just wore out, I guess (130,000 miles).
Great therapy on a cold Friday afternoon.