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The radiator on my e91 3series sprung a leak yesterday on the way back to camp from my marshal point at the Reiver. I kept topping it up on the way home, and we got here with no great issues. (thanks BMW for not fitting a temp gauge. SO helpful of you...)
Sticking a new rad is in well within my capability - especially as access is easy, but its how quickly I can get hold of one. I need to have the car usable for work on Weds night and then will be almost living in it until Sunday.
I can keep topping it up, obviously - or I could chuck a can of Radweld in ...but I don't want to bollocks up the rest of the cooling system by doing so. I'll be replacing the radiator anyway as soon as I can, so it would be in for a week or so max.
(The leak is just vapour at tickover, but a thin jet at 2k rpm = ~70mph in 6th)
Thanks!
I’ll be replacing the radiator anyway
Just fix it properly.
I hate radweld as it tends to block everything a bit rather than just the leak.
Can you see the leak and cover with epoxy as a short term fix until the new rad arrives?
Can you live with the leak and just top up before each journey with water - it is leaking away and about to be totally replaced so doesn't need to be anything special?
I wouldn't do it. I think they're quite sensitive to what you put in. Also, the cooling systems are a weak point in BMWs. I'm not sure about the e91 specifically, but certainly in some models it would be advisable to replace the whole system if its of a certain age. I speak from experience where every part of it has failed on separate occasions.
Ive used Radweld twice in my life on my old Escort Rs Turbo's
Both times it failed to do its job, just replace the rad now and save yourself the hassle of trying to flush out the rad weld in a week's time
Ive always wondered if the egg trick actually works, fancy trying it and letting us know?
https://parksidemotors.ca/fix-a-leak-with-a-raw-egg-fact-or-myth/
Is there anyone local to you that could recore your rad?
Fibrefix the hole until you stick the new rad in.
We got back from Weymouth to Bristol about 30 years ago after doing that in a mates Mk4 Cortina
It was Sunday evening, way way before mobile phones and late night shop openings.
We had been away camping and had eggs left over, so we banged 2 in and drove the 70 odd miles home. Can't vouch for the longevity of the repair as he managed to rear end a Mk2 escort on the main roundabout outside Bristol Fashion that very night and wrote it off 🤣
I'd epoxy over the hole before I put radweld in.
I'd probably hire a car for work if I couldn't fix it in time
Well it looks like I can get a new rad for Tuesday, so hopefully I can bang it in Tuesday night.
I get the idea that Radweld is to be avoided. Cool. Question answered thank you (and roughly what I thought it would be too!).
Temp gauge is on info cluster between the clocks. Menu No 7 I think from memory. As others have said new rad and any hard to reach perished hoses should be replaced.
It worked well enough on my old Hyundai, but that was probably a bit less fussy than a BMW. I would happily run a car with it but probably wouldn't buy one with signs of it in there.
Worked perfectly in our old Panda 100Hp.
Used a small amount on a slowly leaking cooling system and it stopped it within a week and the car was still functioning perfectly 3 years later when we sold it.