Ok i was driving and suddenly i see this huuuuge cloud of smoke coming from my engine bay. I stick my head out the window and i smell anti freeze. I quickly pull over and pop the hood. I see smoke emerging from under the car. Nothing on the valve covers....nothing even remotely near the radiator. All the smoke is coming from near the firewall.
I call a tow truck and take it home. I park it in my garage and i jack the car up. I poured some water into the radiator to find that it starts leaking whenever i fill it up. I narrowed the leak down to somewhere above the oil pan.
Any ideas? Any comments? Any suggestions? Please any of you bimmerphiles give me your input.
Thanks
BTW....the car is an e36 m3.
This story sounds all to familiar, same thing happened to me last Nov. At least now you have nice weather to do the maintenance, I had to wait until spring. If you pour water in the radiator, does it come out just about as fast as you are pouring it in, towards the rear of the engine block (near the firewall as you mentioned)?
If so, it is probably a 10 - 12" in length, 3/4" rubber hose that connects to the rear of your engine block from a cellunoid.
Good news: $15 part
Bad news: You need to remove your intake manifold in order to access the hose.
It's about a 2 - 3 hour job for someone who is mechanically inclined.
Hopefully you got the car home before your engine temp got too high.
Let us know how it works out.
Jeff
I replaced mine without removing the manifold. It was a PITA but it can be done. Expect some scraped knuckles and forearms.
Thanks.
You guys have been a HUGE help.
Well so far my intake manifold is ALMOST off. I just need to remove the hoses connected to the bottom of it. Without the right tools this has been a pain.
While i have the manifold off i decided to change my starter. So far my progress doesnt look good.
Any idea what the name of that hose is?
Thanks
It called the heater hose(Cyl. Head to Heater Valve) part#64211394293
It fits these models
121 075 BMW 323is (E36) 1997 - 1999 Heater Hose Cyl. Head to Heater Valve
121 075 BMW 323iC (E36) 1997 - 1999 Heater Hose Cyl. Head to Heater Valve
121 075 BMW 325i (E36) 1991 - 1995 Heater Hose Cyl. Head to Heater Valve
121 075 BMW 325is (E36) 1991 - 1995 Heater Hose Cyl. Head to Heater Valve
121 075 BMW 325iC (E36) 1992 - 1995 Heater Hose Cyl. Head to Heater Valve
121 075 BMW 328is (E36) 1996 - 1999 Heater Hose Cyl. Head to Heater Valve
121 075 BMW 328i (E36) 1996 - 1998 Heater Hose Cyl. Head to Heater Valve
121 075 BMW 328iC (E36) 1996 - 1999 Heater Hose Cyl. Head to Heater Valve
121 075 BMW M3 3.0L (E36) Coupe 1994 - 1996 Heater Hose Cyl. Head to Heater Valve
121 075 BMW M3 3.2L (E36) Coupe 1996 - 1999 Heater Hose Cyl. Head to Heater Valve
121 075 BMW M3 3.2L (E36) Sedan 1996 - 1998 Heater Hose Cyl. Head to Heater Valve
121 075 BMW M3 Conv. (E36) 1997 - 1999 Heater Hose Cyl. Head to Heater Valve
http://catalog.eautopartscatalog.com/zygmunt/quote.jsp?header=header.jsp&footer=footer.jsp&product=64211394293&partner=zygmunt&baseurl=http://www.bimmerparts.com/&clientid=bimmerparts.com&cookieid=18X05L1AI
Thanks.
You guys have been a HUGE help.
Well so far my intake manifold is ALMOST off. I just need to remove the hoses connected to the bottom of it. Without the right tools this has been a pain.
While i have the manifold off i decided to change my starter. So far my progress doesnt look good.
Any idea what the name of that hose is?
Thanks
Wow that was quick, is your car a daily driver? Let us know how the rest of the install goes...good luck.
