Is this thing fried?

[trudriv3r]

Good Evening,

My car was recently getting some body work done and finally brought it back home today after many months. Battery was pretty weak so when I brought it back I just left it running for a little while in the garage. All of a sudden the car shuts off and there is a lot of smoke. Fresh coolant all over the floor as well and the engine felt hot. The radiator was recently replaced since it was cracked. Hoses and everything else remained the same. Not sure exactly if the system was bled correctly or not. I honestly did not know what to do after that so I just took the key out and went back inside.

I am not sure what to expect and to be honest not sure if I am prepared for the worst. Just got this thing back and don't even want to think about having to replace the engine for something so careless. I guess I should have been out there monitoring this thing.

What can I do to test the car out? Should I replace the entire cooling system? Drain all the anti-freeze on the block? if there is any. Drain the oil to check how it is? By the way, the car was sitting for 3 years if not a little more. I have not driven it in the street and I have not changed anything in the engine really.

Thank you in advance and I am ready for the bad news

[erickhoyos]

First and foremost let the car cool down so that you can do a visual inspection of everything that got touched on the car. How recent was the radiator replaced? There must have been a ton of air in the system and it never got bled right. Check your coolant lines and coolant reservoir cap if it was loose or if there’s coolant around it. Check oil if it got mixed with coolant. Could mean that there’s a hole within the block. If everything checks out, maybe try cranking your engine to see if it’s not completely toast? Probably would advise otherwise if damage is internal. Best case is that the car overheated and shut off out of emergency. Worst case is that you gotta start looking for a used S54 or perhaps different engine swap? *winky face*

[heinzboehmer]

If everything checks out, maybe try cranking your engine to see if it’s not completely toast?

I would turn it over by hand instead of cranking it. 32mm socket on the crank pulley.

[trudriv3r]

So just went out to do a visual inspection and the expansion tank is cracked. The top half of the tank I can literally
open it like a cookie jar. I checked the bottom of the car and of course there was coolant everywhere since the coolant was running from the top. I took a video if anyone would like to see it.

if I crank, what signs should I be looking for exactly? Just making sure it turns over? And can I do a compression test with out turning the car on? Not sure exactly how the compression test works.

[sapote]

I could be as simple as air bleeding was not done properly, and it had a lot of air pockets in the engine, leading to coolant not flowing properly, then localized boiling spots in the engine, then too much steam and gas formed. This increased coolant pressure too fast and the tank ruptured.

So get new tank, fill just water for test, and make sure all air bleeded out - not much to do except make sure the front car is not pointing down, close tank cap and run again.

The other reason for ruptured tank is that there is combustion gas leaked to the coolant. Which means somehow the head gasket leaks or cracked head. I hope this is not the case.

when you turned off the key, did you see the coolant temp gauge?

[trudriv3r]

I will order a new tank and any other of the cooling system components. They are old and I guess it makes sense to replace them all. I will drain the oil today as well just to get a visual of what it looks like. I did not look at the temp gauge when I turned it off. My daily is an e90 and it never came with a temp gauge. Not even sure why bow did that lol. When I replace the tank and add the water and bleed it, should I be looking for anything when I start it?

If I am cranking this manually, where exactly do I have to crank it?

[eacmen]

I will order a new tank and any other of the cooling system components. They are old and I guess it makes sense to replace them all. I will drain the oil today as well just to get a visual of what it looks like. I did not look at the temp gauge when I turned it off. My daily is an e90 and it never came with a temp gauge. Not even sure why bow did that lol. When I replace the tank and add the water and bleed it, should I be looking for anything when I start it?

If I am cranking this manually, where exactly do I have to crank it?

Shouldnt need to drain the oil to inspect it. Just use the dip stick and see if the oil looks milky.

If you want to crank the engine manually you need to remove the fan shroud and mechanical fan then put a 32mm socket on the crank pulley with a breaker bar. Make sure the car is in neutral. Its going to be hard to turn as the spark plugs are still installed and you'll be fighting the compression stroke. The goal of cranking it by hand is just to determine if the engine is seized or not. Honestly though if the engine is toast and you already bought the expansion tank then might as well just install the tank and see if it turns over. If its toast you're not going to hurt it any more at this point.

As long as its not freezing yet where you are located I would just run it with distilled water and don't waste money on the BMW coolant yet.

If you get the engine started can use this to check to see if you have combustion gasses entering the cooling system: https://www.amazon.com/Block-Tester-...dp/B01N1NA22J/

[trudriv3r]

Not super cold where I am right now. I will do that though. I am currently trying to dry out the garage from all the coolant that is on the floor. Remembered that the mechanical fan blade was cracked so it was removed while I figured out what route I was going. Honestly forgot about the blade not being on there. Not sure if that was the culprit or not..

I will check the oil better with the dipstick later on today. I checked yesterday and it was just dark, not milky but I would double check it again.

[eacmen]

Not super cold where I am right now. I will do that though. I am currently trying to dry out the garage from all the coolant that is on the floor. Remembered that the mechanical fan blade was cracked so it was removed while I figured out what route I was going. Honestly forgot about the blade not being on there. Not sure if that was the culprit or not..

I will check the oil better with the dipstick later on today. I checked yesterday and it was just dark, not milky but I would double check it again.

You need to replace that fan if it has a missing blade.

Missing one blade means the fan is out of balance and likely destrying the water pump pulley and causing the engine to vibrate.

Remove the fan and inspect the water pump pulley, might be a good time to do water pump itself and thermostat.


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[trudriv3r]

I figured I should be swapping out the water pump and thermostat.

I will update once I get the parts on. If anyone has anything additional, please feel free to add. Thank you!

[trudriv3r]

Shouldnt need to drain the oil to inspect it. Just use the dip stick and see if the oil looks milky.

If you want to crank the engine manually you need to remove the fan shroud and mechanical fan then put a 32mm socket on the crank pulley with a breaker bar. Make sure the car is in neutral. Its going to be hard to turn as the spark plugs are still installed and you'll be fighting the compression stroke. The goal of cranking it by hand is just to determine if the engine is seized or not. Honestly though if the engine is toast and you already bought the expansion tank then might as well just install the tank and see if it turns over. If its toast you're not going to hurt it any more at this point.

As long as its not freezing yet where you are located I would just run it with distilled water and don't waste money on the BMW coolant yet.

If you get the engine started can use this to check to see if you have combustion gasses entering the cooling system: https://www.amazon.com/Block-Tester-...dp/B01N1NA22J/

Is this thing the crank pulley? Please see pic below. Also I attached a pic of the oil. Oil doesn’t look milky. Smells a bit of fuel.

[eacmen]

I believe you have that wrench on the water pump pulley. The clutch fan needs to be removed to access the crank below.


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[trudriv3r]

I believe you have that wrench on the water pump pulley. The clutch fan needs to be removed to access the crank below.


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noted. I was able to remove the clutch from the mechanical fan and access the crank pulley easily. Cranked it and it was turning over with ease. Hopefully this means I am in the clear. Still waiting on the parts to come in. Here’s the pic of where I had the socket on. Hopefully it’s clear enough.

[eacmen]

noted. I was able to remove the clutch from the mechanical fan and access the crank pulley easily. Cranked it and it was turning over with ease. Hopefully this means I am in the clear. Still waiting on the parts to come in. Here’s the pic of where I had the socket on. Hopefully it’s clear enough.

Cool, replace with new expansion tank, replace with new fan, fill it back up with oil and water and see if it starts!

How did the water pump pulley feel? Any issues? The missing fan blade put extra strain on that pulley.


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[trudriv3r]

Cool, replace with new expansion tank, replace with new fan, fill it back up with oil and water and see if it starts!

How did the water pump pulley feel? Any issues? The missing fan blade put extra strain on that pulley.


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When turning the water pump pulley it did not feel very smooth. was making a noise almost like if it was rusty in there. I already ordered a new pulley and water pump. I figured it had to be changed.