Coolant keeps leaking, any help?

**brian325i** · 01-16-2003, 06:05 PM

I've replaced my water pump 3 times recently, once because one of the pumps was defective, but of the 2 new pumps that worked, my coolant continues to leak. When it began leaking thats what the dealership said. Any ideas what it could be? My guess is a leak in the lines somewhere, either that or my engine has a serious problem that causes ridiculously fast consumption of water pumps. Any help!?

**babybluem3** · 01-17-2003, 01:40 PM

brian325i, i sent you a PM

**eglee13** · 01-17-2003, 04:25 PM

hope you dont have problems like me ... get it checked. if its leaking its going somewhere. out of the head is a guess, but for your sake... i hope not.

**joe325i** · 01-17-2003, 04:31 PM

i think most e36's like to leak coolant..
my car (94 325) and my friends car (98 m3) leak coolant out of god knows where.. i replaced most of the hoses and have the clamps down tight and it still likes to leak coolant but only when its cold out...
in the summer spring and early to mid fall i never loose any coolant..
when thanks giving rolls around i start to beed and she bleeds most in janurary.
im a month ive lost almost a gallon of coolant (not all at once)
my pump looks fine.. i replaced the t-stat housing too!
and no dice..
nothing over heats so i think everythings cool.. im not burning any... so i dnt have a head leak..

its just really annoying and embarrsing when i drive out of school theres a freggn small puddle in my parking spot
hehe
and it stains too

**eglee13** · 01-17-2003, 06:43 PM

well, i found my leak, and it was coming from the head. =(

**joe325i** · 01-17-2003, 07:47 PM

arg im sorry to hear that!

**littleblue** · 01-17-2003, 10:05 PM

how did u find out it was from the head?

My dads 93 525i does some weird stuff too...first it was leaking and then it over heated, figured out the head was cracked. Fixed it, now it still leaks a bit. Every once in a while we have to fill it. it's really weird.

And I just got a 97 M3. About a week and after I got it i looked at the coolent level. The light was not on but it was a hair low. My dad filled it, but over the cold line by a bit. Today my check coolent light went on, I added just a bit of water and it went off. We'll see in the next week or two if I need to fill it again I guess.

**eglee13** · 01-18-2003, 02:53 AM

i was leaking and couldnt find a puddle, what happen was i was leaking from the head and it was landing on the exhaust manifold so it would just evaporate. my mechanic showed me where the leak was.

**littleblue** · 01-18-2003, 02:54 AM

what was the fix for that? New head?

**brian325i** · 01-18-2003, 02:58 AM

aww man now i'm really worried. would there be any other symptoms of a leaky head? i'm takin it in tomorrow to get it looked at, its still under my dealer warranty thing I purchased with the car i believe. how much did the head fix cost you? any other advice is appreciated, i'll let you know what happens when i take it in.

thanks as always

- brian

**joe325i** · 01-18-2003, 10:33 AM

im gussing you could do a compression test

**eglee13** · 01-18-2003, 02:09 PM

my advice is locate the leak. the coolant has to go somewhere.

**eglee13** · 01-18-2003, 02:10 PM

hope you don't have anything worse, as i did .

**joe325i** · 01-18-2003, 05:53 PM

wow brian i just realized
we have the SAME EXACT car hehe
i have the same color sedan too!
its a small world isnt it hehe
i still have the bottle cap rims though

you def gotta get clears if you dont already.. they made my car look MUCH newer.. and put 2 coats of a good quality wax on your car and keep the paint in good shape... people think my car is a 98..
one kid even though i got a new hood or paint job becuase my paint was like a mirror!
WOO!!

**Deutscher Konnt** · 01-18-2003, 07:06 PM

That sounds pretty serious, I'd have someone check it out if I were you to make sure that its not a larger problem than it seems.

**KraZy007** · 01-18-2003, 08:39 PM

My car was eating coolant a while back. Turned out the head was leaking coolant to cylinder 5.

**QuestMCoupe** · 01-19-2003, 12:07 PM

Another thing that may be causing you to lose coolant is a bad heater core which is what I have. I noticed that if I use my heater a lot and check my coolant every few days, it will be kind of low. During the summer or when I dont use the heater I dont lose any coolant. Unless you've mishifter or driven your car hard while its cold, there shouldnt be any reason for it to be leaking from your head. Another sign of it leaking from you head is if you drive your car for a while, then park it and turn it off, coolant will begin to leak onto the ground from underneath your car...if your car does this then you're in trouble...ask me how I know.

**joe325i** · 01-19-2003, 12:16 PM

wow quest i NEVER would have though of the heater core

**brian325i** · 01-19-2003, 05:56 PM

Originally posted by joe325i
wow brian i just realized
we have the SAME EXACT car hehe
i have the same color sedan too!
its a small world isnt it hehe
i still have the bottle cap rims though

you def gotta get clears if you dont already.. they made my car look MUCH newer.. and put 2 coats of a good quality wax on your car and keep the paint in good shape... people think my car is a 98..
one kid even though i got a new hood or paint job becuase my paint was like a mirror!
WOO!!

haha 4 door 325's are pimp-mobiles! ... ok maybe not as pimp as others but its a good start

yah i'm gonna get some clears soon...but my money is going towards a different area and if the head is leaking coolant...that might just propel me into my plans a little early. i'll give u a hint...it displaces 3.0 liters

don't worry about the bottle cap rims...theyre....classic

what else do u have done to your car? i'm interested in hearing since not many other people have this car/color combo.

**joe325i** · 01-19-2003, 06:03 PM

thats true its a very rare color!
i havnt done much except replacing everything that needed to be hehe
i got an m3 exhaust and am saving lots of money and i made a list!
wathca got?

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