Re: The latest on my odd cooling situation... (archive)

Okay, well, I opened up the bleeder screw, and water and air were coming out, hissing, but blasting coolant in spurts. So I let it stay open. Kept hissing, spitting coolant every now and then... then it just stopped. No more pressure in the system... what the hell? I ran the car, and after a second, coolant started coming out in spurts, then steadily. So, since it was running steadily, I closed the screw. I'm gonna let it cool down a little, and open up the screw again. But this is a really strange problem... The thermostat and water pump are really new... the hoses aren't cracked or anything...
I DID notice that one of the hoses (the big one coming off the engine on the passenger side I think) had some tape on it, I wonder if this was some sort of fix for a vacuum leak? Wierd. I got a oil message driving the car to warm it up... but I noticed my dipstick wasn't all the way in. So basically, I'm still confused. We'll see what happens now...
Tim Collins

Hey Tim, did you happen to check the recovery line from the radiator to the expansion fill tank? If this small line gets plugged it will cause some wierd overheating problems. When you fill your recovery tank after you have drained your system, open the bleeder screw wide open and fill until you see coolant flow from the screw, then tighten the bleeder and fill to mark on side of tank. Then start the car with the heater in full blast mode. When the car starts to reach normal temperature, then crack open the bleeder screw to release any remaining air-steam, or until you get a constant flow of coolant. If you are still building pressure after this...a few tests will tell you about the dreaded head gasket =[ Good luck my friend.
Jr
'89 535iA

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