Blown Head Gasket?

[firstE30]

I recently purchased a 1991 318i off craigslist. Drove the car 200 miles home. ran ok. last night was looking at the coolant and it looks like chocolate milk, brown and milky, and smells strange not sweet. Many have been saying blown head gasket but is there any hope its less serious? i only paid $1100 for the car and an engine rebuild would cost at least that. Help!

[jntar]

Flush the system and check it again after a few days. Don't beat on it. Should give you a difinitive answer.

[Gerta]

OP - If it is, you can often get a good running M42 for around 200 - 500 depending on the seller. I have seen many times where they are given away free. Good luck and report back!

[FLG]

Flush it and go from there, could be some seriously old coolant, sometimes topped off different color coolant leads to weird looking stuff.

[firstE30]

PO told me he changed all fluids in november but i'm not sure i trust that.

[FLG]

Never trust PO, unless he is reliable or has receipts. Though some owners will not flush coolant as part of the "changed fluids" as they dont really see it as a wear item or something that should be serviced.

[mitchlevy7]

You can bring it to a shop and have them do a hydrocarbon test in a radiator, will tell you if thats actually oil in your coolant. If your still skeptical you can flush it and see if it happens again. Put some radiator flush in it to get all the crap out and fill with fresh coolant.



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[firstE30]

UPDATE: Just tried to start the car and it cranked but wouldnt turn over. I am in over my head.

[kwill22]

How mechanically inclined are you? Judging by your "I'm in over my head comment" not much experience? If you think you can do it,

Do a compression check. If it's a head gasket it's really not that bad. Pull the head and get it checked to make sure there are no cracks. Get the head resurfaced and slap it back on. With a new gasket. That's the cost effective way of you're tight on cash.where I live resurface is about $40. Can be done under $200. Otherwise you should check your timing components and change those if needed. And get the M42 manual if you don't have one.

Is there anyone local to you that could possibly help, (check the regional forum)

[jntar]

UPDATE: Just tried to start the car and it cranked but wouldnt turn over. I am in over my head.

Sucks dude. :(

Go to the region subforum and see if there is a group in your area. Maybe one of them can stop by and lend you a hand.

[jalopi]

You never mentioned if this was an automatic or not - reason I ask is that if it was an auto, it could be trans fluid mixed in with the coolant (do these bmw's have an integral auto trans cooler/warmer in the radiator?)

In any case, something's up, but I'm not convinced it's the HG - if it was running fine on your 200 mile trip home I don't think the HG would go boom once you got home. Check for fuel and spark, go from there.

[firstE30]

It is a manual. I checked the oil and it looks fine. The contamination is limited to the coolant. However today the car would not start and stomp test revealed code 1222. any ideas?

[roguetoaster]

It is a manual. I checked the oil and it looks fine. The contamination is limited to the coolant. However today the car would not start and stomp test revealed code 1222. any ideas?

While I do not believe your no start and weird coolant are related you should do a couple of quick things. First, drain the coolant (drain plug is on the passenger side of block below the exhaust manifold) and refill/bleed the system. Second, remove your oil fill cap an check for any sort of white residue under the cap or on the top of the chain guide. If you see any residue you should pull plugs 2 & 3, shine a light down the plug wells and have a look for water in the cylinder, but I doubt you will see residue.

Code 1222 could be a number of things, none of which should prevent the car from starting unless there is a massive vacuum leak.

Keep working on it, rule out/solve issues one by one and don't worry, the M42 is not as fragile or as maintenance heavy as some would believe.

[bmwm42]

You never mentioned if this was an automatic or not - reason I ask is that if it was an auto, it could be trans fluid mixed in with the coolant (do these bmw's have an integral auto trans cooler/warmer in the radiator?)

In any case, something's up, but I'm not convinced it's the HG - if it was running fine on your 200 mile trip home I don't think the HG would go boom once you got home. Check for fuel and spark, go from there.

lol you obviously dont know the m42 as there was never such a thing as an automatic m42

[jalopi]

lol you obviously dont know the m42 as there was never such a thing as an automatic m42