Jayzzle

Sorry for not reply till now, I've had a lot going on. Reading back through the thread, I see where I left off. To update everyone, the dead bolt is still in the engine, I haven't found anyone willing or able to get it out, I was thinking of just JB welding that top hose housing onto the engine but I'm not sure if it will work? I did get the new vsicous and fit it, but it still overheats at idle/stop-go. I seem to be able to control its heat by turning the heating on full whack, but that's annoying because I have to be seriously hot everytime theres even a hint of traffic lol. It isn't losing any water at all now, it's been full every week I have checked it so I'm guessing the viscous is still the problem. Instead of shelling out for a new one and getting the same problem everytime it dies, is it worth converting to an electric fan? And if so is it also worth hooking it up to a switch so that I control it from the dash? The coolant temp sensor I haven't looked at, where would that be located? Thanks for all your help guys I really do appreciate it, and once again apologies for not updating for so long. Cheers. Jay

So the new (second hand) viscous is fitted. I'm not so sure it's working tbh, when sat in traffic it still gets quite hot, still just to 3/4 cos I haven't sat in traffic for that long, but probably it will go higher if I leave it. I don't know what else to try. I'm certain (and a local garage is certain) that it's not a head gasket problem. That water leak from the engine side of the top hose is still there, so maybe that's the problem? No garage seems to be able to get the bolt out. I'm at a loss lol. Any thoughts of what to try next?

New Viscous ordered, waiting for delivery. Will update as soon as it's fitted and tested. :)

Daz, it turns out that the waterfall was caused by water pouring out from a dead bolt (which has since sheared off, now I have to try and get it out >.<) in the top hose housing on the engine side, it just looked like it was coming from behind the crank pulley because it leaked down inside the engine and poured from the bottom. As for the viscous unit, I tend to agree, however since taking it off to mess with the waterpump the screech it had stopped, but I will change it anyway just to be sure. When I put the thermostat and the water pump back in i sealed both with liberal amounts of liquid gasket, neither are leaking. The car still overheats when stuck in traffic, but so far only up to 3/4. I'm unsure of how to progress from here, maybe if I can stop that leak it will stop overheating, and then again, that would point to the viscous also as when driving the cold air slamming against the radiator would cool the water anyway. Thanks for your input. I will update as soon as it has stopped to let you everyone know what fixed it. Thanks again for all your help and input guys. John

Well. Turns out that the waterfall is not coming from the thermostat or waterpump. I can see it pouring from behind the crank pulley but unsure of where it's coming from. I'm just going to assume that the there is a crack in the block somewhere. Anyone know of any quick fixes for this new issue? Thanks.

Yeah, I took the waterpump out today, no signs of damage and it spins like it should. I'm pretty sure that the overheating and water not circulating was down to an air lock, originally caused by overheating at a traffic jam in a hot day. New problem is the waterfall coming out of the thermostat housing lol. I just bought some liquid gasket and applied, just waiting for it to dry. It was idling yesterday, and I just kept filling it up with water when it got too low, the air lock dissapeared, my heater started blowing out hot air again, and it never went above just under halfway on the temp guage, I'm pretty cinfident that the problem is now solved, just have to stop that waterfall... Thanks again.

Dabsy, the water loss turned out to be a crack in my radiator, once I replaced that I haven't lost a drop of water. The thermostat isn't what's causing the problem, as I have since taken that out and driven it without it in just to check, there is either an air lock somewhere, or the waterpump is dead. I took it to a garage and they agreed that the head has not yet blown on it. but without further testing could not point me in the direction of the culprit. I will change the water pump as soon as i can figure out how to, or even where it is. Thanks again for your help :)

I'll do a post soon

Well the top hose is about as solid when the engine is warm as the bottom hose, but I just discovered there is a leak at the tiny hose that is at the bottom of the rad under the top hose, every time I put water in I can see it leaking from there. The oil seems ok, none of that gunky white stuff at the filler cap or any sign of it inside there. I actually don't know where the water pump is lol. But that must be working as the heater blows hot air? I went to a scrap yard yesterday to see if they had a jubilee clip (cos I snapped the top hose clip) and described the problem to him, he also thought it was the viscous unit. I was unsure about wether to change the thermostat or not. Thans for your help Dabsy.

When it overheated the first time it was leaking from the drain plug at the bottom of the radiator I think, when it's running, I can see water leaking from the engine end of the top hose, the viscous unit screeches a lot, I just snapped the top hose jubilee clip so I can't confirm this atm, but tomorrow I will be getting a new one. I hope it isn't a head gasket problem, I've not changed one for a long time, and never really done much work on bmw's. Is it hard to change a head gasket on an M40? Thanks.

About 2L from an empty drinks bottle, and then today I filled it right to the top of the rad and it just seemed to drain it almost straight away. It drained to about half I think.

Hi all, My e30 318i touring has developed an annoying problem. As I was stuck in traffic one day it overheated, lost a little bit of water out of the rad. I left it to cool down for about half an hour, and then put some more water in it, now it seems that whenever I'm not moving, the car overheats. I have had the thermostat out and in a pan of hot water, it started to open at about 93-94 degrees C, the heater still chucks out hot air, the fan still spins, when I'm driving along its fine, sits about halfway in the normal range, but when I'm stopped at traffic lights or in traffic, it heats up to just over 3/4 (it might go further I have only been stuck in traffic long enough for it to get to that temperature before moving off again). I've googled it and the general concensus is the thermostat, second in line as a culprit is the viscous fan unit (which has started screeching a little?). But it does seem to lose water a lot. I really don't know what to do about it or things I can try to rectify the problem. Any suggestions? Thanks guys. John.

Hey everyone, so on my BMW 318i Touring (E30) the drivers door wont unlock, it will lock, but not unlock. the passenger dooe won't lock or unlock the car either, and currently I have to unlock the car from the boot. It's not so much of a problem to be honest but it's just annoying to have to unlock the car from the boot every time. Has anyone else had this problem? If so have you found a solution? I've had the doorcard off to look at the locking mechanism but I don't really know anything about central locking lol. There is a connector that has nothing plugged into it but I couldn't find anything to plug into it. I'm assuming the lock barrel has been changed before because the key is different to the one which starts the car and unlocks the boot. Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance :)

Thanks mate, it will need a little love, interior tidying up, fading paint here and there but I'm confident I can make it look like new again :)

Thanks mate, I bought it. It's a nice car, good to drive. A bit tatty on the inside but nothing a good clean won't fix :) an excellent purchase IMO :) I'll throw some pictures up if I can figure out how to :P

Hey guys thanks :)

Hey everyone, I just joined today, my names John and I actually live in birmingham but theres no option to put that in the area section of the registration so I put Leicestershire lol.

I'm looking at buying a BMW 318i Touring E30 1990 as my second owned bmw, it's a nice looking car and it would suit my needs perfectly.

I just thought I'd drop by and say hey to everyone :)

So Hey!!

John.