Burst heater core?

[Bimmerfanatik]

Ok, this is bad. I was driving on the highway, and I hear this pop sound, like someone popped a balloon, and then hissing, and soon the car was filled with steam and my feet were soaked and hot.

Let me add a disclaimer - no, I was not driving around with the temp gauge in the red. My temp gauge has stopped working, a project that was, of course, set for this weekend. Great timing.

Is this the heater core? The car seems to run ok, except after a few minutes the car fills with steam again, and when I tried to add coolant to the overflow tank, the upper radiator hose collapsed and the car started steaming again.

How bad is this, how much is it to fix, how hard, is this that recall I've read about?

Thanks.

[M-technik-3]

Sounds as though we have a new project. Yes that's a flavor for the obvious.

[Ryan Stewart]

if the temp dial is on full cold and it does this its most likely the heater valve or one of the hoses that crosses the firewall.

And yes, I believe there was a recall associated to it.

[Bimmerfanatik]

Sounds as though we have a new project. Yes that's a flavor for the obvious.

Haha, to say the least. What should I do? This seems like something we can do, correct? What parts will I need, etc?

My friend's dad over here said that I can possibly reroute the cooling system around the heater core for now...which makes sense. Thoughts?

[Bimmerfanatik]

http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=224547&highlight=heater

Looks like the stealer is getting a call in the AM...unless you think we should just fix it Greg.

[Bimmerfanatik]

There is also the issue of the aluminum head. Again my friend's dad warned that older BMW heads are notorious for warping when they get that hot and cool off.

Anyone on this point?

[Ryan Stewart]

all aluminum heads warp if they overhead. The trick is to not let them overheat.

[parkerbink]

What years does the recall apply to? If 90 I need it looked at when I am in Laredo, to see if mine was done. Years ago I had a 300ZX, Nissan had a recall for the injectors (burning engines BAD) I got my injectors, fuel rail & filter repalced free!!!!

[Bimmerfanatik]

all aluminum heads warp if they overhead. The trick is to not let them overheat.

Thanks Ryan :roll: it's hard to tell if your engine is overheating on the highway with a broken temp gauge ;) It drove fine for another 4 miles at highway speeds, but it hadn't cooled yet, of course.

[Ryan Stewart]

Then let me in on a big secret: fix the needle! 8)

[Bimmerfanatik]

Ah Ryan, you're on a roll tonight huh :) Gotta kick a man while he's down eh...oh well, I can roll with the punches.

It's not the gauge as far as I know. It's the temp sending unit, and I had one set aside at the Euro Depot to pick up tomorrow. A bit late, just like last week when my alt belt went the day before I was planning on replacing it.

[808BMW]

Same thing happened to me, but it didn't leak until I turned the heater on.

Once I did it burnt the hell out of my feet though.
It was my heater core.

[Bimmerfanatik]

Same thing happened to me, but it didn't leak until I turned the heater on.

Once I did it burnt the hell out of my feet though.
It was my heater core.

Sucks man...what'd you do? Was it an easy and/or inexpensive fix?

[808BMW]

Grabbed a spare core from from my mechanic and changed it.

Make sure you clean the carpets good, the small stays in there for quite a while.

You have to take apart the center of the dash, make sure you don't drop anything important down the air vents... I still got a socket down there :P

[Bimmerfanatik]

Ok, this sounds like a fairly straightforward task. I have a parts car, so you're saying just yank the heater core and put it in my car, end of story? How does the heater core come out? Go in?

Also, I was JUST ABOUT to replace the carpet (thank god i didnt yet) so once im sure the core is set, I'll put the new one in.