Just bought new to TI

[eldel08]

Hey, Guys you mentioned not to have a TI overheat, i guess i'm a little late to ask why its so bad? sorry for the ? i just bought my ti, so wanna know how bad it can be. i just bought one 98 318ti sport with a blown head gasket, interior is mint it just had that problem. So right when i bought it last week i changed the following new... complete $230 head gasket kit, water pump with new housing, thermostat, flushed radiator, engine oil changed with filter, fuel filter changed, and i personally washed the valve cover till it looked like i just bought it new. Can everyone tell me what they think please!!! I will be changing the following next week. Air filter, cabin air filter, and rear blown hatch shocks.

[jca]

Good start at preventive maintenance. There are two plastic coolant pipes on the ti, one on the back of the block behind the valve cover and the other underneath the intake manifold. I would change those out as soon as possible. I've heard experts say that you can ruin a BMW engine in 10 to 15 seconds if you lose a bunch of coolant rapidly while at speed. If the temp needle ever goes past 12 o'clock shut down immediately and find the source of the problem. I get a lot of peace of mind from my Engine Watchdog temp monitor (with sound alarm) from Australian Signals. Check 'em out on the Net. Cheers, John

PS...My two son's live in Somerville...small world!

[ti cali ed]

The issue with an engine overheating is metal can warp when it gets hot or worse as it heats up it exspands. If the metal of the block exspands and the pistons exspand the engine locks up and most times is junk. Good news is the heat gasket is almost always the first to go. Whenever I do a headgasket I take a straight edge and check the block and the head for warpage. Sometimes an alm head will need to be taken into a machine shop milled down to make the surface that mates to the block flat again. If it's not flat the head gasket won't hold and you're back to square one. Jca is correct there are two coolant connectors on the block that are know to break over time without warning. one at the rear of the block one under the intake. The two parts are about $40 through the bmw dealer. If you replaced the headgasket and it runs fine chances are it didn't get to hot and you're fine. Other things to check is make sure the cooling fan works, it appears to be a common issue with the 318. The bushings for the rear suspention seems to give out over time as well. Cheap to fix well worth taking a look at.

[eldel08]

Thanks alot guys! I havent been losing coolant but i found out that my radiator fan stopped working i believe that might have been the main reason why they blow the head gasket. Im thinking about changing the radiator fan switch located on the top right hand side of the radiator, hopfully that solve that problem unless i need to buy a fan. I also found out im getting this code p1140 that means MAF sensor, ill try a couple of things before i changed that becuase in this forum ive read that you either clean the MAF sensor , change air filter, change vaccum lines, change injector seal or as a finally result change sensor it self which that would be the priciest end result. Hope i find out this problem and not have to change that sensor. If you guys know what im talking about send me some comments ill appreciate this very much!!!

[ti cali ed]

Do you have a/c on the car? If you turn the a/c on the fan should come on no matter what. If you have a scan tool that reads data in the data screen there should be a line that reads fan on/off. Temp switches can go bad but not real often. I've read on here the high speed fan relay is a more likely the problem to a non working fan. As for vaccum leaks I check with a can of carb or brake cleaner. When you spray the leak the rpm's should go up. I noted on mine the ccv or pvc - hose coming off valve cover was pretty rotten and the hoses going from to the injector was cracked. I put vasoline on the injector seals when I install them and most times if they leak they leak fuel onto the intake. Make sure you have the clamps tight and no damage between the maf sensor and the intake. Good luck

[eldel08]

thanks for the reply cali Fan didnt turn on with the a/c on, swaped the relay fan didnt turn on, and snooping around the car i found an old fan switch so it has a new one, so that leaves the fan to be replaced i think? Im diffenately trying to eliminate the vacuum leak so im currently removing the intake and throttle body so i can replace all vacuum lines and ive clean out the MAF sensor just in case. My next plan if i still hear a vacuum leak after doing all this work is to replace it's $60 pcv valve. And if i still have a check engine light after cleaning the sensor ,replacing it's air filter and clearing engine code then i'd have to buy a $400 MAF. What do you guy think of these three issues? Am i handling these the right way? Ive read lots of threads that only give half explinations so far ive been placing alot of info together trying to get my first ti running like it should and passing all inspection in mass.