Engine overheat, then oil light? Help

[Strongtrust]

Hi Gents...the other day I was driving my 93 318is, everything was fine and then I noticed it started to have a bit of steam, pulled over and it looked to be a hose...no biggie. Well I decided after a talk with the dealership to change the thermostat while in there. Changed it and it drove fine for about 5 miles......temp started climbing so I pulled over. After getting the car home, I figured it started to get hot because of not bleeding it yet since I changed the thermostat away from home, it literally broke down next door to Carquest, man GOD is Good! I plan on doing a compression test to see if the headgasket went. The car is home now and when I tried to start it, it acted like it didnt want to start and sputtered and then turned over. The oil light flickered and then came on steady(like 3 seconds total) I shut the car off, checked the freshly changed oil.......plenty of oil in the pan. As a matter of fact, when I turned over the engine, the oil on the dipstick looked un-disturbed. I did notice a hissing noise for the brief time the engine was on......
Product date: 3/93, 5 speed, 202k miles on it and ran well before all of this happened.
I've been slow to mess with the car since I just had surgery 4 days ago.
Please help.

1)I was thinking maybe the oil intake pickup finally came loose and dropped into the oil pan, but would it trigger the oil light?
2)Overheating because of not bleeding, bad waterpump, or headgasket?

[RED IS 91]

DID YOU SAY DEALERSHIP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! These cars are so old that I doubt anyone there would remember how to work on them .
1) Did it ever get into the red zone of you temp guage? Warped Head or Headgasket blown
2) How long did the car run for when the oil light came on ? Strange how this could be related to what happened.
3) When did you change your oil ?Did the dealer change it ?
4) what were your compression numbers?

PS ,When you say broke down next to Carquest , do you mean overheated or engine quit or both.

You'll find plenty of help here. Keep the info coming.

[Strongtrust]

I just called the dealership since parts are hard to find at the llocal auto parts stores.
Never hit red got close but never touched it or lit up the overheat light.
The car ran for less than 3 seconds when oil light came on.
I changed the oil about 2 weeks ago, I did it and am a very proficient do-it yourselfer.
I havent checked the compression numbers yet, but will do it when I recover.
I was thinking the oil light came on due to the oil pump pick-up falling into the oilpan. I heard that the m42 had issues with this, I will drain the oil which is clean and then get a flashlight and look through the oil drain hole to see it the oilpump pick came apart.
When the temperature started to rise(did not overheat ever) < i pulled over to the 7-11 and the car sat for a day, then I moved it 100 feet to Carquest. The car still runs and has not died, it just got hot. if I let it run it would overheat so the highest it got was a round the 3/4 mark.
Any other ideas?

DID YOU SAY DEALERSHIP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! These cars are so old that I doubt anyone there would remember how to work on them .
1) Did it ever get into the red zone of you temp guage? Warped Head or Headgasket blown
2) How long did the car run for when the oil light came on ? Strange how this could be related to what happened.
3) When did you change your oil ?Did the dealer change it ?
4) what were your compression numbers?

PS ,When you say broke down next to Carquest , do you mean overheated or engine quit or both.

You'll find plenty of help here. Keep the info coming.

[nicknikolovski]

The oil light could just be a failed pressure switch, but these E30 M42's had oil pan bolts come loose and block the pick-up. I would pull the oil pan off.

As far the overheating issue, check your cooling system. Although the oil does lubricate and cool internal engine components, the coolant is what keeps the engine temperature steady.

[RED IS 91]

The oil light could just be a failed pressure switch, but these E30 M42's had oil pan bolts come loose and block the pick-up. I would pull the oil pan off.

As far the overheating issue, check your cooling system. Although the oil does lubricate and cool internal engine components, the coolant is what keeps the engine temperature steady.

+1
I suspect that the dealership didn't bleed the system correctly .Plenty of post here abouts dealing with that .Sounds like you took all the precautions not to harm the engine.The aluminum head doesn't like overheating.
As far as oil pressure ,if you suspect the oil pump ,disconnect the oil pressure sensor and connect an oil pressure gauge to check.

Here's the link that Nick was alluding to about oil pump bolts:
http://m42club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=594&highlight=oil+pump+bolts

[Strongtrust]

Mine is an e36 with the m42. Does the e36 318's have the same issue with the gasket slipping?
When you start a motor it changes the amout of  oil on the dipstick, so when I started the car the oil stayed on the same levle on the dipstick un-disturbed. What are your thoughts about that?

The oil light could just be a failed pressure switch, but these E30 M42's had oil pan bolts come loose and block the pick-up. I would pull the oil pan off.

As far the overheating issue, check your cooling system. Although the oil does lubricate and cool internal engine components, the coolant is what keeps the engine temperature steady.

[Strongtrust]

Ok, I will try the oil pressure gauge idea. Yeah as soon as the temp gauge started to move to 3/4, I pulled over. I really do like my e36 is, it's such a cool car.

+1
I suspect that the dealership didn't bleed the system correctly .Plenty of post here abouts dealing with that .Sounds like you took all the precautions not to harm the engine.The aluminum head doesn't like overheating.
As far as oil pressure ,if you suspect the oil pump ,disconnect the oil pressure sensor and connect an oil pressure gauge to check.

Here's the link that Nick was alluding to about oil pump bolts:
http://m42club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=594&highlight=oil+pump+bolts

[nicknikolovski]

Ok, the E36, like mine, uses a single oil pan and didn't have the bolt loose issue. Is the oil light on all the time now or does it only come up every now and then?
I would do the following:
1. Check for oil leaks
2. Check oil pressure and determine if switch is faulty.
3. Drop oil pan and check oil pick-up and oil pump passage for blockages.

[roundel318]

I have a 91 E30 M42 with 267k on the ticker, it has been overheated twice (buried red needle) without warping the head or other damage. That said, I am lucky I pulled over and allowed the block to cool.
Both times were broken belts. This happened over the course of 8 years of owning the car, not like twice in one week or anything

[Jtuner]

I have a 91 E30 M42 with 267k on the ticker, it has been overheated twice (buried red needle) without warping the head or other damage. That said, I am lucky I pulled over and allowed the block to cool.
Both times were broken belts. This happened over the course of 8 years of owning the car, not like twice in one week or anything

woot, 267k on the clock makes me happy mine just ticked 204k, so I'm hoping to get at least that many more!