Overheating 318ic.

[Lair]

I have a lead on a decent '91 318ic that has an overheating problem. How likely is that it just needs a head gasket?

I remember that the later 318 engines had some sort of head gasket/overheating issue, but don't remember what the deal was.

[b*saint]

The head gasket blows if you overheat the engine. A bad (not totally blown) headgasket would also cause coolant consumption. Check if there is oil residue in the coolant fill.

[Lair]

The guy who owns it is clueless. He had a shop replace the thermostat, but the car keeps overheating.

I'm going to leave him my number and wait for him to figure it out.

I see a lowball offer in his future.

[DEV0 E30]

You are devious.

[mattdk318i]

theres a bleeder screw on the top of the radiator near the fill. Pop that open and realease some air.

[b*saint]

If there is even air to release.

[ZinRot325i]

Actually some BMWs are VERY sensitive to air in the coolant. The air vaporlocks the whole system and causes coolant to blow out of the overflow and the car to overheat.

I've seen people ready to ditch cars before because they thought they had a blown HG only to find that everything was fine after it was bled properly.

O'course, they were IDIOTS, but generally easy to tell if there's water in your oil or oil in your water or steam coming from your tailpipe.
And a head gasket really isn't that big of a deal anywho.

318s had problems with the 'Timing Case Profile Gasket'....it failed, making the coolant go bye bye. Linky:

http://www.mesaperformance.com/faqs/318tcpg.html

[Lair]

That's the issue I was thinking about.

Thanks for the link. I called the guy with the ic earlier today, but he hasn't returned my call.