View Single Post
Old 07-03-2012, 09:14 PM   #3
bazar01
Senior Member
 
bazar01's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Georgia
Posts: 595
iTrader: (0)
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by nc318tigurl View Post
Hey guys, I have a leak that I discovered after my acquisition of a 96 318ti manual. Based on the weeping ring an coolant residue around the bottom of the expansion tank, I have reason to believe that either the o-ring is damaged or something is causing the tank to leak. When I turn the car on an put the a.c.on, the coolant pours out from that area/side of that tank. I have not tried starting w/o the a.c on, I'll post that next, but it seemed as my tank was very low upon inspection an I know there was more. I will post again when I can, nut any help would be greatly appreciated it. I'm scared to drive under these conditions an do not want the car to overheat.
Congratulations on acquring a 318TI. Very dependable and nimble car.

If you want to enjoy driving this car for a long time, you need to address the cooling system overdue maintenance soonest possible esspecially on high mileage ones with over 140k miles. I bought mine for my daughter with 175k miles and a blown engine due to overheat. The previous owner practically just gave me the car since the shop quoted him $4500 to replace the engine. I guess the cooling system on these cars only last about 150k miles or 170k miles at most. How many miles on your car?

The most notorious cooling system parts that give up are the plastic tubes and hoses in the rear, under the intake manifold and in the engine front, and the plastic expansion tank integral to the radiator.

When I replaced my engine, I found out the plastic expansion tank in the radiator was also leaking like yours. I tried to reseal it with RTV to no avail. I ended up buying a new radiator. Too much of a risk to overheat the $1000 engine swap.

Good luck.
__________________
1996 Ti 280k miles and still going....
1993 964 - holding on to this one
2001 Burban, 240k miles
2018 Suburban Z71
bazar01 is offline   Reply With Quote