Hey guys, sorry for the long first post!
I've been lurking here and at e30tech.com for a while and have learned quite a lot. I recently bought my first E30 about 3 weeks ago. It's a 1986 325 2dr. One of the first things I learned when acquiring a "new" E30 was to change out, at the very least, the timing belt, tensioner, and water pump. I recently finished this job a couple of days ago, but have run into a mysterious problem. I used the search function extensively, and found some leads, but no one with the same exact symptoms I'm having.
When doing the t-belt work, I drained the coolant out of both block and radiator then replaced with new coolant after the job was done. Pulling the block drain plug, it created the obvious mess of coolant all over the exhaust manifold. The engine runs just fine now that everything's back together, but there's a good amount of white smoke (smells like coolant) coming from around the exhaust manifold area once the car gets up to temp. I thought this was normal from the coolant burning off the exhaust/block from the block drain, but it wont stop. It's not thick white plumes of smoke, but enough to be concerned/visible. Another thing that confuses me is that the smoke never exits the tail pipe, the engine doesn't overheat (even checked with a non-contact thermometer to make sure the gauge wasn't lying), and the coolant level doesn't seem to drop a drastic amount. The exhaust from the tail is nice and clear and smells just fine with the usual drips of clear water. The coolant is making the full cycle through the engine and radiator as all the hoses got warm and the coolant was making it back to the reservoir. I checked the oil, which had no bubbles or milkyness. I have not driven the car for fear of furthering the problem, but I let the car idle at temp for about 30 minutes last night, all the while the smoke kept coming.
Another thing that worried me was that when I undid the bleed screw, nothing came out. And I mean nothing, I took the bleed screw completely out of the housing and no air, steam or steady flow of coolant. At one point, there appeared to be a small dribble of coolant from the t-stat housing, but it had stopped before I noticed it, maybe a tsp-tbsp of coolant it seems. I'm assuming this is a blocked bleed hole, and that will be remedied shortly. If it were excess air in the system shouldn't the engine be running hot?
I will be trying to diagnose the problem over the weekend, and if the problem persists, I will get a video and post it up. Thanks in advance for any help!
I've been lurking here and at e30tech.com for a while and have learned quite a lot. I recently bought my first E30 about 3 weeks ago. It's a 1986 325 2dr. One of the first things I learned when acquiring a "new" E30 was to change out, at the very least, the timing belt, tensioner, and water pump. I recently finished this job a couple of days ago, but have run into a mysterious problem. I used the search function extensively, and found some leads, but no one with the same exact symptoms I'm having.
When doing the t-belt work, I drained the coolant out of both block and radiator then replaced with new coolant after the job was done. Pulling the block drain plug, it created the obvious mess of coolant all over the exhaust manifold. The engine runs just fine now that everything's back together, but there's a good amount of white smoke (smells like coolant) coming from around the exhaust manifold area once the car gets up to temp. I thought this was normal from the coolant burning off the exhaust/block from the block drain, but it wont stop. It's not thick white plumes of smoke, but enough to be concerned/visible. Another thing that confuses me is that the smoke never exits the tail pipe, the engine doesn't overheat (even checked with a non-contact thermometer to make sure the gauge wasn't lying), and the coolant level doesn't seem to drop a drastic amount. The exhaust from the tail is nice and clear and smells just fine with the usual drips of clear water. The coolant is making the full cycle through the engine and radiator as all the hoses got warm and the coolant was making it back to the reservoir. I checked the oil, which had no bubbles or milkyness. I have not driven the car for fear of furthering the problem, but I let the car idle at temp for about 30 minutes last night, all the while the smoke kept coming.
Another thing that worried me was that when I undid the bleed screw, nothing came out. And I mean nothing, I took the bleed screw completely out of the housing and no air, steam or steady flow of coolant. At one point, there appeared to be a small dribble of coolant from the t-stat housing, but it had stopped before I noticed it, maybe a tsp-tbsp of coolant it seems. I'm assuming this is a blocked bleed hole, and that will be remedied shortly. If it were excess air in the system shouldn't the engine be running hot?
I will be trying to diagnose the problem over the weekend, and if the problem persists, I will get a video and post it up. Thanks in advance for any help!
Comment