Beemagirl 0 Report post Posted October 24, 2017 I'm after mechanics support please Bmw 318ti 99 At the end of may , during a service at my regular mechanic Mechanic called me with some bad news to please come a look at car whilst on hoist He's pointed out to me , the few drips of green radiator fluid at the bottom right hand side of engine , and has suggested it's a blown head gasket , Daniel suggest finding a suitable repairer I've called my Janssen break down insurance They have suggested an auto electrical out west service manager has noted down on my original receipt-customer thinks head gasket -checked elsewhere He has then called me a week later and to my surprise I was told it's the radiator that needs replacing. ( I nor my mechanic ever thought there was an issue with the radiator-eg no over heating , no large filling of resoivoir The only test performed was a TK test-results performed well I've ok the repair , and car returned to me 9 June Janssen has paid for that .I paid the excess 3 months later the car has broken down , been towed back to auto repair , then diagnosed with a cracked head . The k's that were done in 3 months were 1900 This car is surplus to use , we have a main car And I work from home The trips the car did was two small trips per week for 3 months , North Shore 60 km return and west auck 40 km return my original mechanic although he did not officially diagnose the car as having head gasket problems , he did suggest I get it repaired. He also says the two tests usually done to diagnose head gaskets , would not have picked this up , due to its placement and minor leak . He wishes the car had been put on hoist And a visual test done . He's disappointed it was missed. In short , the repairer refuses to take any responsibility And I'm in for a 2.5-3k repair What tests would you have performed , especially if the car was bought to you with the knowledge it had a head gasket issue ??? Any suggestions what to do now ?? Thank you thank you Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
qube 3568 Report post Posted October 24, 2017 the original repairer wont just easily say "oh yep our fault we will give you a replacement engine" just like that. you might have to hassle them or take them to small claims court. alternatively, can you not just claim mechanical warranty again? 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Beemagirl 0 Report post Posted October 24, 2017 There's is only aprox $1k left on my warranty , so I'm still out of pocket 2k Either way it hurts Thanks for you're reply Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hotwire 352 Report post Posted October 24, 2017 From your description it could be one of many things causing the original coolant leak. Radiators, hoses etc all fail & one of them would have been the likely culprit. Why did you original mechanic not pressure test the system to diagnose it? Did he confirm the head gasket? Did the repairers pressure test the system? Presumably they did & confirmed the radiator at fault? A slightly leaking/seeping radiator is not going to cause the engine to overheat, nor consume large amounts of coolant. That said, any loss needs to be identified. If the repairer did infact confirm the radiator as the fault & repaired/replaced accordingly & fixed the leak then I don;t blame them for not accepting responsibility. They fixed the problem on hand. 1900km is plenty of distance for a fault to develop. Why was the car required to be towed to recover - did it run out of coolant/ overheat? Did the car stop on you/ did you stop it, if so why? If it had overheated then - i would suspect that was when the head cracked. Also - had it still been using coolant after the radiator repair? 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kiwi535 538 Report post Posted October 24, 2017 Head gasket not always a major issue.I had my 535 for many years .In that time it always had a very slow coolant leak,pretty sure it was the heater.Towards the end of my time with it it developed a misfire at start up.would misfire occasioanly,then it slowly became more and more frequent,and coolant use increased slightly.I asked twice at a reputable Wellington workshop to check head gasket.Both times they said they could not identify a head gasket leak.In the end i told them to pulll it to bits anyway,and there was a leak between 5 and 6.Apart from a very slow coolant use and the instantaneous misfire at start up,there were no other symptoms Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
