A few coolant leaks - Opinions?

[Keithy P38]

Hey forummers!

I've got a few coolant dribbles here or there, was wondering on opinons as to how I should approach them!

First one is at the throttle housing. According to RAVE its designed to heat up the housing to prevent Icing - Something we always see in Townsville (when there's not a Cyclone)! I was thinking about simply removing these little hoses altogether and just blanking off each end. Any other suggestions? It's leaking about 100ml in a few weeks, but my rocker cover is now red!

Second one I can see drips of red coolant on the carpet on the drivers side of the transmission tunnel. For this I fear that my heater core o-rings may be shagged post-coolant-change or I may have dislodged some crud in the cooling system when flushing it. In my opinion this is a BIG job having seen all the trouble some other lucky P38 owners are having! I see that I have two options here:

1 - Bypass the heater core, flush it out and plug both ends. In winter we're lucky to see single digit days so no biggie!

2 - Fix it up! Lots of $$ or a massive headache and lots of beer consumed.

What does everyone think about this?

Would bypassing the throttle housing cause any issues with the cooling circuit? Ditto for the heater system?

Cheers
Keithy

[Junosi]

I've experienced no problems at all with blocking off the throttle body hose in my 18 months of ownership and I'm in Melbourne. As an aside it also allows you to install the BMW coolant expansion tank much more simply - which is almost identical to the standard P38 one except it has no hose for throttle body but does come with low coolant alarm as standard - very valuable in my book.

As for the heater leak. It's up to you. Mine started leaking 6 months ago or so and I spent a frustrating day fixing those damnable o-rings :mad: - it's a pretty annoying job and much skin was lost wrestling with the tight spaces... But as I'm in Melbourne I wanted my heater :D

My only other advice would be to buy a hose kit and replace all your hoses. Chances are if a couple are leaking that others aren't far off leaking too, rubber only lasts so long and for the $100 or so that a hose kit costs plus a few hours it's good insurance I reckon.

[Keithy P38]

Got a part number or model/year of the BMW coolant expansion tank by chance!!??

Mine isn't very see-through right now and i'd love to have one that i can see without taking the cap off!

[bee utey]

I don't think disconnecting the throttle body heater will give you any grief. Just connect direct from the manifold to the bypass hose. As for the heater, you are using that **** red coolant everyone recommends, aren't you.;). Just loop the heater hoses for now, revisit the heater when its going to be cool enough to need it.

[Keithy P38]

Yeah I'm going by RAVE standards (glycol based with phosophorous free blah blah)... I used it in my Green P38 with no issues (other than killing my water pump the next day). Is there a specific reason the red stuff ain't good? Does it accelerate wear on our precious o-rings or make leaks more visible?

It's only started dripping since the coolant change! It had zero leaks on the green stuff! I completely flushed the cooling system prior to the change if that helps! No green left anywhere!

[Junosi]

I don't have the BMW tank model number but it was fitted to a lot of different beemers during late 80's and 90's and is quite common - had a quick look on UK eBay a can only see one used one for sale at the moment and it's an ugly one (BMW 320i, 320, 3 series, WATER EXPANSION TANK on eBay (end time 10-Feb-11 21:41:15 GMT) (http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/BMW-320i-320-3-series-WATER-EXPANSION-TANK-/160531038035?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item2560653f53)) You can see the low coolant alarm in their photo at least. Or I could post a photo of mine installed :)

Last time I looked there were 4 or 5 for sale, all pretty cheap - searched on 'bmw expansion tank' or 'bmw coolant tank'

Here's a link for the hose kit:
HOSE KIT (http://www.britishparts.co.uk/.sc/ms/dd/Range%20Rover%20P38A--Cooling-Heating/3036/HOSE%20KIT)

ps I'm using the red stuff too, meant to be better for alloy engines/systems (like our rad)

[daljames]

O rings not that hard. Just need a long screwdriver keithy. Cut out the bit of plastic as per rrnet instructions Ron wrote up...

[Keithy P38]

I'll review the instructions. If I do it, I really hope it's no drama like what Paul had :)

Might bypass it today and flush it out as i'm off to work on Wed and probably won't get o-rings before then, and the car's getting a roadworthy tomorrow so I'd like to have it all looking mickey mouse for that!

I don't think that bypassing the throttle body anti-icing lines is hard, so i'll knock that one over now seeing as the mowing's done!

Cheers
Keithy

[wayneg]

Got a part number or model/year of the BMW coolant expansion tank by chance!!??



This will give you an Idea of what model BMW uses the similar tank. They come up all the time on e-bay for around A$25. The sender is 15 alone so not bad if you can find one at that price.
BMW E30 Late Coolant Expansion Tank 325is 325e 325i 88+ - eBay (item 220645882854 end time Feb-25-11 09:02:30 PST) (http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/BMW-E30-Late-Coolant-Expansion-Tank-325is-325e-325i-88-_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQhashZitem335f84fbe6QQitemZ22064 5882854QQptZMotorsQ5fCarQ5fTruckQ5fPartsQ5fAccesso ries)


http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/BMW-E30-325i-HEADER-TANK-/260730135078?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item3cb4ba2226

[PaulP38a]

I'll review the instructions. If I do it, I really hope it's no drama like what Paul had :)


My drama was only due to someone having a go at the screw previously and destroying the head. Would have been much simpler if the screw-head was ok.
Even if you do have to rip out the dash, as long as you've got a mate handy to help lift the dash top out you could do it in a day... not that I want to have a go at it again.

Cheers, Paul.

[p38arover]

Got a part number or model/year of the BMW coolant expansion tank by chance!!??

Mine isn't very see-through right now and i'd love to have one that i can see without taking the cap off!

This one? See RangeRovers.net • View topic - BMW E10 Expansion tank + Coolant level sensor? (http://rangerovers.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=28521)

[Keithy P38]

I won't connect it up to my fuel pump relay :-)

I managed to find a U shaped pipe in Repco yesterday and also two blanks, so what I did was redirect the heater flow back to itself - no worries! And I put a bolt with washer into the little hoses at the throttle body & silicone gasket maker all over them, then put the blanks over the end and hose clamped it all up!

I feel so dodgy - I haven't blanked off coolant hoses since my holden red motor days! I might do something more permanent when I have more time for the throttle body ones. And once i've done the o-rings in the heater core i'll re-connect the heater hoses!

It doesn't leak.... For now!

Cheers
Keithy

[Hoges]

For a neater appearance on the throttle body, remove the small pipes and apply a pea-sized dollop of black silicone RTV over each opening , smooth it off and let it set...