overheated m42

[monoblanco]

Just how sensitive is the M42 to overheating?

I noticed my check engine line turn on.
The idling seemed odd.
I looked at the engine bay and noticed coolant on the ground.
Only then It occurred to me to look at the temperature gage which was all the way to the red.
I'm only comforted on the fact that the engine block did not seemed particularly hot to the touch.

I have read that M42s are particularly sensitive to overheating.
I'd like to know your experiences if any.

[KenC]

I'd bet large sums of money that your head is warped/toasted.

[Asbradley21]

Your head is probably fucked.

Probably repairable though. I cracked mine recently.

[monoblanco]

my radiator has a leak.

I waited a while, refilled the radiator and started the car again.
The motor seems to be running without issue.
I waited until the temp gauge reached the middle, but it went past the middle just a tad.
It is just slightly to the right of the middle. It's hard to notice.

Asbradley, how did you know for sure the head was busted?

[Julien]

my radiator has a leak.

I waited a while, refilled the radiator and started the car again.
The motor seems to be running without issue.
I waited until the temp gauge reached the middle, but it went past the middle just a tad.
It is just slightly to the right of the middle. It's hard to notice.

Asbradley, how did you know for sure the head was busted?

did you bleed the coolant system?

[monoblanco]

no, i just added water to the radiator since it was pretty low.
is there a problem with mixing coolant and water?

[1990_325i]

I just had the same problem with my 1990 325i....I was driving on a hot day and out of no where the temp gauge went to red...I pulled over to cool it, then got home and all of the anti freeze leaked out...This one guy is a mechanic and he said its the water pump and the radiator....So he fixed everything for 300

[Asbradley21]

my radiator has a leak.

I waited a while, refilled the radiator and started the car again.
The motor seems to be running without issue.
I waited until the temp gauge reached the middle, but it went past the middle just a tad.
It is just slightly to the right of the middle. It's hard to notice.

Asbradley, how did you know for sure the head was busted?

When I took it off to replace the head gasket, it had a crack.

[E30nate]

no, i just added water to the radiator since it was pretty low.
is there a problem with mixing coolant and water?

youre supposed to mix coolant and water 50/50

[Julien]

no, i just added water to the radiator since it was pretty low.
is there a problem with mixing coolant and water?

when your coolant goes below a certain level air pockets will develop in the system. To let these air pockets out your open the plastic screw on top of your radiator as you are filling up the system (car and heater on).. when coolant comes out from under the screw you know all the air is out of the system.

Julien

[2002maniac]

I had my M42 well into the red a few times (less than a minute each time) with no problems. Coolant on the ground could just be a busted hose if you're lucky.

A CEL and funny idle doesnt sound good though. What is the code?

[monoblanco]

the cell went away as well as the funny idle.
yes, the funny idle part does concern me a lot.
i hope it's easy to figure out if the head needs to be replaced.

thanks for all the help and useful information gentlemen.
ill just wait for my buddy to come check out the car.
fingers crossed i guess.

keep your eyes on the temp Gage, especially if you drive a vert.
far too easy to get distracted that way.

[3bvert]

having a vert is not a good excuse for not watching your gauges, unless you were looking at all the chicks looking at your vert, but you got to watch your gauges
I think you will be very lucky if you did not damage your head if you were dumping coolant, bury your temp gauge and idle funny
and yes you should bleed your system again

[Wh33lhop]

I just had the same problem with my 1990 325i....I was driving on a hot day and out of no where the temp gauge went to red...I pulled over to cool it, then got home and all of the anti freeze leaked out...This one guy is a mechanic and he said its the water pump and the radiator....So he fixed everything for 300

You didn't check the coolant level?

If your car overheats
1) pull the hell over
2) wait for awhile (10+ minutes) and check coolant level (important though is very slowly unscrew the coolant cap, a little at first, if steam starts pouring out then wait longer. DO NOT check the coolant level if it doesn't take at least 2-3 full turns to remove your filler cap as it may fly off and give you serious burns, I'm not responsible for any bodily harm that results from coolant under pressure)
3) do not just pour cold water into the coolant passages if it's low, add it very slowly so as not to thermally shock and crack anything.

Another trick to quickly check if your coolant is gone is to turn on the heater. If it's not hot and your engine has been running for awhile, you have dangerously low coolant and you're probably overheating.

[monoblanco]

i was looking at chicks in bikinis and thinking "thank you Encinitas".
:)