When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
Update: I replaced the coolant hose flange with the aluminum Rein part. I didn't end up using the BMW O-ring I ordered because the Rein one seemed to fit great (unlike with some cheaper no-name flange reviews I read).
There doesn't appear to be any coolant or oil leaks at the moment and the car has been driven a few dozen miles and gone through a few hot-cold cycles since it was last worked on. Hope this is the end of it for now. Thanks for the feedback and I will update if anything (pertinent to this thread) changes!
[QUOTE=esixtyone;1603437]Got the car back. The weld and the seal between the housing and cylinder head seems to be holding up fine but I have what appears to be a leak at the coolant hose flange. I have a new aluminum flange and o-ring on order from FCP Euro due to arrive later this week.
Cylinder head after welding and grinding.
All buttoned up. I think the bolt is hitting some of the weld on the back side and thus isn't completely flush. The mechanic also said he was afraid to tighten it down too much.
I know this thread is kind of old... hopefully you're still on here, but... I just recently had the same issue with my car. Bolt was overtightened and it cracked the cylinder head exactly as yours once it heated up. Was yours welded while the head was still on the car? Or did you have to get the head removed? Did you find a local welder to repair it? I am having trouble finding anyone that will do this. They all say the only way is to remove the head and get it repaired or buy a REMAN'd one. Trying not to spend $4k+ on this repair.
I know this thread is kind of old... hopefully you're still on here, but... I just recently had the same issue with my car. Bolt was overtightened and it cracked the cylinder head exactly as yours once it heated up. Was yours welded while the head was still on the car? Or did you have to get the head removed? Did you find a local welder to repair it? I am having trouble finding anyone that will do this. They all say the only way is to remove the head and get it repaired or buy a REMAN'd one. Trying not to spend $4k+ on this repair.
I'm very sorry for your situation but thank you for helping me feel a little less stupid for doing that to my car
It was welded with the cylinder head in place. I can't remember whether they needed to remove the fan assembly and/or radiator. These are the people who did the repair: https://www.facebook.com/HorsepowerTechs/. They are what I would call a "tuner shop". The cost was in the neighborhood of $700, not too bad IMO.
A general update on my situation -- I drove the car for a couple of months after the repair and it's held up great so far. It's been sitting all summer but will be back on the road soon.
Best of luck getting it fixed. Please update us with your result!
I will upload pictures later, I emailed ECS suggesting to remove the listing, I saw the listing and thought it would be a great idea to install it to never have to worry about it again. Well same crack happened to me in the same spot. Evenly torqing each bolt and it cracked when i snugged them up by hand, no where near the 22nm of final torque. The gasket is just so stiff that there is a great amount of stress when the gasket is being crushed. I found a mobile welder that welded it back on with a V groove, and its solid, I used a oem gasket this time and the housing is almost flush with the head, so I am not comfortable with the viton gasket, should be thinner IMO. Ill post pics, but I removed my belt, fan, alternator, intake box scoop, and the weld guy was able to do the job. Skip the viton gasket and just replace the OEM one whenever it fails. This was a nightmare
I will upload pictures later, I emailed ECS suggesting to remove the listing, I saw the listing and thought it would be a great idea to install it to never have to worry about it again. Well same crack happened to me in the same spot. Evenly torqing each bolt and it cracked when i snugged them up by hand, no where near the 22nm of final torque. The gasket is just so stiff that there is a great amount of stress when the gasket is being crushed. I found a mobile welder that welded it back on with a V groove, and its solid, I used a oem gasket this time and the housing is almost flush with the head, so I am not comfortable with the viton gasket, should be thinner IMO. Ill post pics, but I removed my belt, fan, alternator, intake box scoop, and the weld guy was able to do the job. Skip the viton gasket and just replace the OEM one whenever it fails. This was a nightmare
Just joined to let everyone here know that the ECS Viton gasket has claimed one more.
Wish I would have known this beforehand, but had no reason to suspect the Viton gasket would be an issue. In fact, I ordered it specifically because it was a Viton gasket, thinking it would do a great job at preventing leaks (based on experience using Viton seals/gaskets on my 4G63). As I think about this now, the OEM gasket held just fine for 150k miles. There really was no reason to try anything else. Lesson learned. Stick with OEM.
I will also share my results (and this thread) with ECS.
Thank you to others who have shared their experiences (horror stories) here.
Can someone explain to me how could a stiff gasket could cause this problem if all torque specs are followed? In my case I did not follow the torque spec for the bolt near the coolant hose (I was lazy and saw others do this on YouTube), so I assume I over-torqued that bolt.
An update on my situation -- the weld is holding great after 5000 miles and two years without any noticeable leaks of oil or coolant.
About two years after the initial repair the OFHG was leaking oil, primarily down the back if I remember correctly. Took it to an Indy BMW mechanic and he replaced the gasket, but when I got it home noticed a slight coolant leak right around the bolt near the initial repair. He did something to repair the leak, not sure what.
That repair lasted until fairly recently when I noticed oil getting past the gasket both in front and back of the housing.
This time I decided to try my own hand at fixing it, again. When I had it apart, I could tell the surface of the cylinder head where it was repaired was not perfectly flat, so I used some Reinzosil where the gasket meets the cylinder head surface. Unfortunately I ended up with seemingly the same coolant drip that I had after bringing it to a mechanic a couple of years ago.
Upon closer inspection, it seems to be dripping from the weld area on the back side of the bracket. Here’s a picture of the area, reflected by a mirror:
I don't have a clue how coolant could be making its way back there as it seems like it would have to be seeping through the face of the cylinder head where it was welded.
When doing the OFHG job, I did notice and removed some RTV from the area where it’s leaking (I think) and near the bolt hole, so I’m hoping the previous mechanic simply slathered RTV in that area and that fix lasted a couple of years.
Yesterday I applied RTV along the weld where it was dripping and I’m letting it cure now. Fingers crossed.
Update: I sealed up the bolt hole area with Reinzosil RTV, snugged up the bolt, and let the RTV cure for a few days. Got the car fully up to temp and no more leaks at this time. The car is now put away for the summer. Hopefully all goes well when she returns to service later this year.
01-15-2020, 01:18 PM
