E36 328i

[anniesdad]

I've got a slight coolant leak and i'm having to put a 1/2 litre of water in every couple of days, when the engine's cold bringing it up to the water level. Weird thing is I drove 500 miles Tuesday/Wednesday and it used very little water. Seems pottering about excacerbates the leak. Anybody experienced similar as I can't quite see where the leaks coming from?

[mrflibbles]

Have you checked the oil filler cap for the dreaded mayo?

Could be a HGF!

[AC79xxx]

I had a similar problem on my e30.

The expansion bottle needed topping up weekly although I couldn't find the source of the leak.

A new filler cap seemed to fix the problem.

It's always worth trying the £5 fix before the £500 one.

[BlackStuff]

There was a recall on the E36 for faulty header tank caps. Worth checking up that this is done, and even if it has it may still be a good indication of the first weakness to investigate...

[anniesdad]

Don't think it's the cap....had a new cap fitted when I had the radiator re-cored recently. I had to get a specialist to bleed the system properly at extra cost. I think its one of the hoses....

[cazzo]

Probably a bit late for it now but my (old) 323 had a recall for a head gasket fault which was making it lose water - but this was when a few months old. Once fixed however it never happened again.

[chibbard]

Check the head gasket (rear, usually drips off of the cat sensor). I used to work for BMW and had to do loads of these. Also, like the V8's they had their fair share of engine problems (possibly head/block warped etc.

[anniesdad]

chibbard said:

Check the head gasket (rear, usually drips off of the cat sensor). I used to work for BMW and had to do loads of these. Also, like the V8's they had their fair share of engine problems (possibly head/block warped etc.

If it was HGF would I notice anything other than water loss? I remember HGF on a Vaux Astra 1.8 GTE I had and the engine warning light came on, car wouldn't go etc.

By all intents and purposes, all I've got is fluid loss and the drip is visible from the front of the car. the drip is coming from i'd say half way inbetween the front number plate and the nearside headlamp. Make sense?