Expert: Don Berlan - 2/4/2010

Question
Hi Don I just bought a 1983 528E BMW it has 270k miles on it and well i drove it before and it wasn't having heating problems well I was driving it today and the hose busted off I put that back on and well my temp gauge is reading it is getting hot the coolant light is on and it is blowing white smoke...do you know what the problem would be?

Answer
Well lets hope for the best here.After replacing the hose you needed to bleed the system of air.That is done by loosening the screw on the thermostat housing. Loosen the screw and add coolant until it comes out of the screw area.The white smoke is a bad thing,it maybe a head gasket.If the coolant is continuously low or always redline hot,further diagnosis is needed.These are the signs of a headgasket leaking coolant into the cylinders.Being as old as it is it probably is time to replace the gasket,make sure you have the head machined flat, since it got hot it may have warped the head.