The Glade 4.0

SO I got to work and was all happy happy... then moose went to leave and called me with him, because he saw a problem with my car... I figured with my luck someone smashed in a window since I got in for the day... no such luck.

I follow him outside and see that apparently my car decided it had dealt with my crap long enough and I had completely missed dumping ALL of my antifreeze out of the car. Not just a little bit... but all of it.

Luckily; working with one of my best friends... he knows german vehicles. So he looked at it and told me exactly where we needed to start looking. So we did. The VP of Engineering at my company came outside and helped us as well. Luckily he is very adept with automobiles... so in 3 minutes he had removed my air intake unit and narrows down the leak.

So we decide to pour water into the thing and see if we can figure out the leak... we used tapwater poured from a large Smartwater bottle... half the bottle right in and right out. The coolant reservoir has a crack along the wall of the unit. This is the housing that goes directly to the radiator and out to all of the other systems requiring coolant.

I initially panicked thinking the entire radiator needed to be replaced. But this is not the case. The reservoir can be removed with a torque wrench and replaced. Beyond my capabilities, but not beyond others.

Here I assumed the replacement would run me close to $1,000. Not including towing fees to get the car to BMW. But the VP offered to fix the vehicle if I got him the part and left him my keys. Still worried I figured the part alone would be $400-$500 (I figured for BMW jacking the price up because it is a BMW). Called them and got the pricew quote... new part; in stock... $125.00 after tax will run me about $136.

I mentioned to someone about owing the VP lunch a few times for this; the only response I got was "He is mormon, do not insult him."

_________________
Darksiege
Traveller, Calé, Whisperer
Lead me not into temptation; for I know a shortcut

Just be glad someone saw it before you started it up and tried to drive it.

Might as well sell it for scrap after that.

_________________
Raell Kromwell

I was worried that I had 20k left to pay on a pile of scrap until the diagnosis was made.

_________________
Darksiege
Traveller, Calé, Whisperer
Lead me not into temptation; for I know a shortcut

You should ask if this is a normal problem. Honestly, those things should outlast the car by a long shot.

_________________
Raell Kromwell

doing research on the net... not any complaints of this that I could find. But the VP who helped me said it was more common than you'd think because of the temp here in Vegas..

And on a side note... so I opened a fortune cookie from a few days ago, and my fortune read:

"You will have many friends when you need them."

And based on the way things just seem to be going for this car issue... it appears I SHOULD have opened it a few days ago.

_________________
Darksiege
Traveller, Calé, Whisperer
Lead me not into temptation; for I know a shortcut

What color is the car?

_________________
Raell Kromwell

it is a dark gray

_________________
Darksiege
Traveller, Calé, Whisperer
Lead me not into temptation; for I know a shortcut

That just doesn't jive with me man. You have a plastic tank, filled with coolant and it cracks from the heat? I never saw anything like that in Panama. Still, I could be wrong. Just be glad it wasn't worse.

_________________
Raell Kromwell

1) Its *really* dry here.
2) Its Darksiege.

That's all you need to know.

_________________

Holy shitsnacks!

Seen that happen down here in Tucson. Luckily every cooling system problem I've ever had has been under $200 to fix.The radiator probably woulda been a crap-ton because of how much stuff you have to remove, but I got that done on my own.

Congrats on your repair. Keep fixing your vehicles. You save tonsa cash that way.

_________________
The Dude abides.

Cool that you got help.

I'm puzzled by the don't insult him thing tho? Is there something in the Mormon code of Ethics and Polygamy Guidebook that prevents people from showing appreciation for your help?

Well, Christians usually help out with the idea of wanting to bless somebody. Whereas he appreciates the gratitude of paying somebody back or buying them lunch, it kinda takes away from what the Christian was trying to do (show a little grace).

Mormons might be emulating that.

_________________
The Dude abides.

I have no clue about the not insulting part, I just report what I was told.

_________________
Darksiege
Traveller, Calé, Whisperer
Lead me not into temptation; for I know a shortcut

Mainstream modern Mormons don't practice or advocate polygamy anymore, either.

_________________
"Hysterical children shrieking about right-wing anything need to go sit in the corner and be quiet while the adults are talking."

That was kind of a cheap shot.

I intended to help the person who fixed it; but he told me "do not worry about it, I will fix it around mid day."

He dug into it and found it was not only the reservoir, it ended up being a little part the size of a shotgun shell that is supposed to open and close to release coolant into the thermostat.

It fell apart, and it looks like this part being broken caused a bit of a pressure build up as the coolant could not flow as needed.

This in turn caused the coolant reservoir to crack along one of the corners. so $250 later, I am fixed.. but paranoid as hell.

After we got the parts on, we put some coolant in (it appeared to be full) and ran the engine for a few minutes. After we felt that it had time to get coolant to the potential leak producers... there was no more leak.

So then we opened the 'air bleeder' screw and wooosh, out came a good amount of air. And there went the coolant. Not leaking, but filling in the appropriate areas.

so I left the bleeder off for a while while I went to pick up SWMBO and some more anti freeze.

Filled the anti freeze to the "max" mark and let it run for a few more minutes. Still no leak.

Closed up the cap, and reinstalled the bleeder screw. Drove it down the road to pick up a few drinks to get me through the night at work... still no leak.

Since getting back to the office.. I have been down to look for leaks 3 times. Everything seems fine. And at 3am PST, when I go to leave work.. I will check the coolant one last time before heading home, to make sure it is still full.

_________________
Darksiege
Traveller, Calé, Whisperer
Lead me not into temptation; for I know a shortcut

Very cool. Glad that worked out. Was that part actually part of the thermostat? I'm having trouble visualizing what that was.

When I had to replace the thermostat on my car, I got pretty nervous because after putting everything back together and filling up the coolant, it was still overheating. Turns out my new thermostat was just stuck for a bit and it took getting really hot the first time to get it to reliably open and let coolant flow in.

_________________
The Dude abides.

Don't talk to me about car trouble. My transmission died on our way to NJ to an SCA event this morning. My daughter and I were stuck on an off-ramp in central Philly for 2 hours before a tow truck arrived. And the State Police never showed as promised. (I called 911 first because I couldn't get it fully in the shoulder and it was a high traffic area.) Thank goodness my daughter was pretty good through all of it.

A transmission should not die in a 4-yr-old car with under 80K miles that's had all of its scheduled maintenance. That's just not right.

This after my roof developed a small leak two weeks ago and damaged some of the drywall in my computer room. F*** you, universe!

_________________
When he's underwater does he get wet? Or does the water get him instead?

Welcome back Serienya

_________________
The U. S. Constitution doesn't guarantee happiness, only the pursuit of it. You have to catch up with it yourself. B. Franklin

"A mind needs books like a sword needs a whetstone." -- Tyrion Lannister, A Game of Thrones

Thanks. Had to find the breadcrumbs...

_________________
When he's underwater does he get wet? Or does the water get him instead?

Car still not fixed. I hope this gets resolved or I will be highly irritated.

_________________
Darksiege
Traveller, Calé, Whisperer
Lead me not into temptation; for I know a shortcut

I'm looking at a week without my car and $2000-3000 to fix it.

*sigh*

Universe: **** off. Love, me.

_________________
When he's underwater does he get wet? Or does the water get him instead?