Author Topic: headgasket blown? (Read 4137 times)

sKunk · « **on:** April 05, 2010, 05:14:34 PM »

So, Im pretty sure my headgasket is blown, but before I do that big of a job, I wanted to see if it could be anything else.

Basically, I had to drive the car about 20 miles home. I filled the coolant all the way to the top hoping it would be enough to get it home. It pretty much drained the resivor on that 20 miles or so. Definitely plenty of "milkshake" on the dipstick and oil cap, so clearly coolant is getting into the oil.

I just went and ran a compression test, had 181-182-181-182, so compression is good. Also didnt notice any smoke, and seems to run just fine.

Its a 91 318i, about 170k on it, BTW. So my question is, is there anything else I should look for that it might be, or maybe any way to confirm its the headgasket?

Its ran hot a few times here and there, but its never gotten hot enough to warp the head, or I would think anyway.

Thanks for any help.

1991 E30 M42 · « **Reply #1 on:** April 05, 2010, 05:26:47 PM »

it could be the profile gasket

sKunk · « **Reply #2 on:** April 05, 2010, 05:43:25 PM »

could you explain that more?

1991 E30 M42 · « **Reply #3 on:** April 05, 2010, 06:29:12 PM »

Its a gasket between the timing case and the head with a coolant passage going through the middle of it. It is known for failure and when it goes bad you end up with coolant in your oil.

bmwconnect · « **Reply #4 on:** April 05, 2010, 06:32:45 PM »

Cracked head, Cracked Block, Cracked Gasket . It's one of the three

sKunk · « **Reply #5 on:** April 05, 2010, 07:05:19 PM »

So Im not going to get out of it, heads just ganna have to come out huh? lol.

1991 E30 M42 · « **Reply #6 on:** April 05, 2010, 08:07:20 PM »

Quote from: bmwconnect;90503

Cracked head, Cracked Block, Cracked Gasket . It's one of the three

If its not smoking I doubt its a cracked head or block

Ryann · « **Reply #7 on:** April 05, 2010, 10:54:44 PM »

As 1991E30M42 said it is probably the profile gasket, in which case your head will need to come off for repairs. There is a lot of good info on this procedure on this forum.

B318M42W · « **Reply #8 on:** April 10, 2010, 06:42:25 AM »

+1 on profile gasket

I read somewhere that it is possible to replace it without taking off the head. you'd have to do a little bit of research...

Phreon · « **Reply #9 on:** April 11, 2010, 03:34:21 PM »

It was the Profile Gasket on mine. I replaced it and posted a how to.

http://www.m42club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=11162

Hope it is helpful.
P

bmwman91 · « **Reply #10 on:** April 11, 2010, 07:06:39 PM »

If it is the profile gasket, you don't necessarily have to pull the head to replace it. I replaced the entire timing case with the head still on (different problem though).

However, you will probably need to have everything cleaned thoroughly to get the gunk out, so you might be pulling the motor apart anyway.

Good luck.