Subject: Update Author: lweaver : member since November, 2008 : 17 posts Posted on: 2008-11-24 13:18:43

I had a chance to take a better look this weekend and here's what I found...

- Your spark plugs may have a clue too. Every time we have seen a head come off, it is obvious which pistons got the water because they are shiny clean. The spark plugs in such cylinders may look different to the other ones - from kfister's post

The first thing I did was pull all of the spark plugs to look for difference among thing. All of the plugs appeared to have the same amount of wear.

- A good test would be to pull all of the spark plugs. Use the remote crank, or have a friend turn the key, while you watch. If you get a splash of coolant from a cylinder, then you have a HG issue - from cloudnine's post

After pulling all of the plugs, I had my gf crank the car while I kept a close watch on the cylinder. No coolant splashes from any of the cylinders during the crank.

- How cold is cold? Below 50 degrees? If you are getting a lot of white smoke above 50 degrees, it would tend to indicate HG - from cloudnine's post

Sunday was low to mid 50's here, the warmest it had been in a little over a week, so I tried to get the car to produce the same white exhaust as it had when cold. Much to my happiness, no white exhaust.

I did notice this morning on the way to work, weather was in the 30's, that I did have the white exhaust, but not anymore than most of the other cars on the roads.

After using all these to tests, I came to the happy conclusion that I do not have a headgasket leak. However, I still have coolant disappearing every couple of months. I replaced a few hose clamps yesterday and tightened all of them down. No leaks were found while doing this. Last weekend I replaced the fan clutch on my car.

Following Shayne's advice, I will replace that expansion tank cap next, and hopefully the coolant will stop disappearing.

Thanks to everyone for the help. I will post an update in a month or so, updating on the status.

Law
91' 535i 5spd 242k

• Head Gasket in a bottle... - lweaver 2008-11-19 12:31:26 (316 views)
  • Look at the heater valve on the drivers side - bimmer5michael 2008-11-25 12:00:17 (189 views)
  • Re: Head Gasket in a bottle... - Shayne 2008-11-21 00:10:14 (219 views)
    • Re: Answers to Head Gasket in a bottle... - lweaver 2008-11-21 09:43:38 (221 views)
      • Re: Answers to Head Gasket in a bottle... - cloudnine 2008-11-21 10:23:29 (164 views)
        • Re: Answers to Head Gasket in a bottle cont'd... - lweaver 2008-11-21 13:57:41 (165 views)
          • Re: Answers to Head Gasket in a bottle cont'd... - cloudnine 2008-11-21 16:37:51 (165 views)
            • Update - lweaver 2008-11-24 13:18:43 (174 views)
              • Re: Update - jneer750 2008-12-29 14:10:21 (97 views)
                • Re: Update Response - lweaver 2009-01-03 16:52:28 (96 views)
              • Re: Update - cloudnine 2008-11-24 18:09:38 (132 views)
          • engine/cat warm up - kfister 2008-11-21 14:41:44 (166 views)
            • OOOooman! Excellent tips Ken! - e34jef 2008-11-21 15:51:24 (137 views)
  • Re: Head Gasket in a bottle... - yaofeng 2008-11-20 06:57:27 (154 views)
    • Re: Head Gasket in a bottle... - cloudnine 2008-11-20 18:21:29 (158 views)
      • Good point C9 - e34jef 2008-11-20 23:24:48 (151 views)
  • Re: Head Gasket in a bottle... - e34jef 2008-11-19 15:50:44 (172 views)
    • Re: Head Gasket in a bottle... - roguepidgeon 2008-12-26 11:30:55 (104 views)