BIG news - my engine overheated
05-19-2011, 02:33 PM
#1
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So it happened - my "big kahuna", that one BMW repair that I will definitely be limping after. Today, I took my brother in law to lunch and on the way back the dash lit up and said "car overheating". After another minute, it said "overheatED".
I pulled into the nearest shop and had a guy look at it. He started trying to tell me "thermostat, water pump, radiator" story, and it's all nice and dandy and all, but I'm interested in getting the car fixed - not the bill
... long story short, flat-bedded to a specialist, took a sample of oil to send in to the lab. If there's antifreeze in it, the head gasket is definitely needed. Maybe the whole engine. I can't help but think that the design of the lifters has something to do with it - 99% of the time, this car is driven grandpa style. I haven't had the chance to find that SIB on the lifters yet, but I swear that this is one of the symptoms I remember reading about - antifreeze in the engine. Funny, a guy was just asking me about "how hard would it be to fit an M5 V10 into the Xi"... yeah, 
lol, that's baller haha
anyway, sorry no pics
I pulled into the nearest shop and had a guy look at it. He started trying to tell me "thermostat, water pump, radiator" story, and it's all nice and dandy and all, but I'm interested in getting the car fixed - not the bill
... long story short, flat-bedded to a specialist, took a sample of oil to send in to the lab. If there's antifreeze in it, the head gasket is definitely needed. Maybe the whole engine. I can't help but think that the design of the lifters has something to do with it - 99% of the time, this car is driven grandpa style. I haven't had the chance to find that SIB on the lifters yet, but I swear that this is one of the symptoms I remember reading about - antifreeze in the engine. Funny, a guy was just asking me about "how hard would it be to fit an M5 V10 into the Xi"... yeah, lol, that's baller hahaanyway, sorry no pics
05-19-2011, 06:36 PM
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Thanks Amigos! I'm gonna take it one step at a time and not sweat too much. I'm sending the oil for a lab test to see if there is any coolant in it. If none, consider the bullet dodged.
Appreciate any and all help too
Appreciate any and all help too
05-19-2011, 07:49 PM
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sorry to hear vlad....glad it didn't happen during your recent road trip to florida tho, hope the fix doesn't break your wallet...
05-19-2011, 07:49 PM
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The reason I want to get the oil tested first is because when I let it cool down and re-start it, the overheat message comes on within a matter of 2-3 minutes. That combined with oil found in the coolant tank - I want to know for sure whether the gasket is leaking from the lifters issue.