Hi!
So I've been searching the forum and haven't found a thread with my exact scenario. For starters, I'm broke - so hang in there with me.
I bought my 2002 325i in September 2016, 147k miles and one owner, automatic... $4600 (it was financed, im a younger girl, first time buying a car alone, not as knowledgeable as I thought... so the cringing begins)
Replaced window seals first (apparently Cali sun isn't nice to plastic or rubber or anything else for that matter), tires, brakes, rotors, center lock button, and window motors. Simple, pretty common junk right?
Well, it got ugly.
After my last oil change I noticed I'm burning through some oil, looks to be pretty common. Mpg dropped 0.6 but could be due to crap driving and traffic conditions on new commute route.
Then my coolant light came on the day after my oil change (also topped up fluid, actual BMW coolant etc, no water or filler crap). Looked in under the cap, bobber was still up and it went off. Over the next two weeks the light would come on and off, and I only topped up a bit. SES light came on and was diagnosed with failing thermostat, so I bought that to replace. When buying the thermostat we also found a crack between the aluminum housing and hose on the radiator. On the way home from buying the thermostat - I overheated. Climbed so fast it was red before I could pull over. A bit of smoke was coming out of the top, and all coolant was leaking straight out from the radiator to the ground. Cringe.
Cringe again - couldn't afford tow truck, filled with coolant and cooled off every 2 miles for the 8 miles home. Double cringe, not good, but again - broke and also 2k miles from anyone I know as I relocated for work.
Anyway, replaced radiator yesterday and thermostat with help. Guy didn't completely bleed system, said it was okay. Ran car and bled, idled fine for 10 minutes.
Drove 2 miles, overheated again. (Only got up to 2/3 and pulled off) Got her home, cooled off, bobber was down. So I put about 0.5 litre coolant and bobber stayed up. Bled, idled 10 mins, reved to 5k rpm (per someone's advice "to open everything up") Drove 1 mile, overheated. Got home, let it cool, added same amount of coolant and bled again. Cringe, and exasperated sigh.
No white smoke from exhaust, SES light is on, oil looks fine - not milk or pudding like. Coolant light isn't coming on. No noticable leaks. No smoke under hood. Worried I have a head gasket issue, which = need a new car issue, and still $1.2k in the hole on this one. Could the system just have a lot of water in it which is evaporating from when I pushed it home? Some air in there? Maybe needs bled again? Yeah, an actual mechanic would be great y'all, (I see a lot of flack given over these situations) but... Want in one hand... Well, you know what they say in the other and which will fill up faster. ;)
Any advice, troubleshooting, help... Anything would be so appreciated. Thank you for your time!
So I've been searching the forum and haven't found a thread with my exact scenario. For starters, I'm broke - so hang in there with me.
I bought my 2002 325i in September 2016, 147k miles and one owner, automatic... $4600 (it was financed, im a younger girl, first time buying a car alone, not as knowledgeable as I thought... so the cringing begins)
Replaced window seals first (apparently Cali sun isn't nice to plastic or rubber or anything else for that matter), tires, brakes, rotors, center lock button, and window motors. Simple, pretty common junk right?
Well, it got ugly.
After my last oil change I noticed I'm burning through some oil, looks to be pretty common. Mpg dropped 0.6 but could be due to crap driving and traffic conditions on new commute route.
Then my coolant light came on the day after my oil change (also topped up fluid, actual BMW coolant etc, no water or filler crap). Looked in under the cap, bobber was still up and it went off. Over the next two weeks the light would come on and off, and I only topped up a bit. SES light came on and was diagnosed with failing thermostat, so I bought that to replace. When buying the thermostat we also found a crack between the aluminum housing and hose on the radiator. On the way home from buying the thermostat - I overheated. Climbed so fast it was red before I could pull over. A bit of smoke was coming out of the top, and all coolant was leaking straight out from the radiator to the ground. Cringe.
Cringe again - couldn't afford tow truck, filled with coolant and cooled off every 2 miles for the 8 miles home. Double cringe, not good, but again - broke and also 2k miles from anyone I know as I relocated for work.
Anyway, replaced radiator yesterday and thermostat with help. Guy didn't completely bleed system, said it was okay. Ran car and bled, idled fine for 10 minutes.
Drove 2 miles, overheated again. (Only got up to 2/3 and pulled off) Got her home, cooled off, bobber was down. So I put about 0.5 litre coolant and bobber stayed up. Bled, idled 10 mins, reved to 5k rpm (per someone's advice "to open everything up") Drove 1 mile, overheated. Got home, let it cool, added same amount of coolant and bled again. Cringe, and exasperated sigh.
No white smoke from exhaust, SES light is on, oil looks fine - not milk or pudding like. Coolant light isn't coming on. No noticable leaks. No smoke under hood. Worried I have a head gasket issue, which = need a new car issue, and still $1.2k in the hole on this one. Could the system just have a lot of water in it which is evaporating from when I pushed it home? Some air in there? Maybe needs bled again? Yeah, an actual mechanic would be great y'all, (I see a lot of flack given over these situations) but... Want in one hand... Well, you know what they say in the other and which will fill up faster. ;)
Any advice, troubleshooting, help... Anything would be so appreciated. Thank you for your time!
New to forum, could use some help!
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