Head Gasket gone twice in one week? Advice needed!

jazzyk

I have a BMW 318 E46 2000. Recently the radiator light started coming on regularly, Checked the coolant level and it was dropping off.
There was no clear signs that the head gasket was gone i.e. milky oil,white smoke etc.. Any way brought to a few garages and the thermostat was replaced, a couple of hoses replaced etc.
Brought to another garage and told them it was losing coolant.They told me head gasket was gone, so fair enough I paid 800 euro for it to be done. Got the car back after a week, and drove it 20 miles up the road, one of the hoses burst open and lost all coolant.
I was really pissed off, it was Saturday evening so garage was closed. I found the hose and re attached the jubilee clip and coolant was holding.
It was bank holiday weekend so drove the car home 20 miles and left it till Tuesday, brought the car back to garage and told them to fix it, they had it another couple of days and they said the radiator might be blocked, so i didn't trust them after this and took the car, any way was driving it to another garage and the temp went into red. Stopped the car straight away and pulled over. There was a fair bit of steam released, there didn't seem to be any leaks. Topped the coolant up again and made to another garage up the road. His verdict - head gasket gone again ??. Could it be gone already? Did the first garage do it the first time.

Rang the guys that done the head, they say they want nothing to do with it:mad:

Any way i'm at a loss, have I any come back with the other garage, or is it my fault for driving when they said rad might be blocked???

Any advice would be great!:mad::

galwaydude18

If the head was done and it went so quickly again it might b that your main engine block is warped... You can the top of it skimmed straight but it will involve the engine being takin out of your car and bought to a specialist to get it done and you will probably have to buy a new head after getting it done.. Your other option if it actually is the above is to get a second hand engine and put it into the car..

Captain Slow IRL

Unless they pressure checked the cylinders, they wouldn't be able to tell that the head gasket had packed it in (or maybe they did?!)

There's another small plastic pipe (similiar in shape, but smaller to the thermostat housing) at the back of the engine block - these can leak as well, and are hard to spot if you don't know about them.

Hopefully, it's nothing too serious or expensive. But for what it's worth, if you're going getting major work done on a car like that, stick with the same garage/mechanic - it can save a lot of time and money in the long run in regards diagnosing and fixing the problem.

jazzyk

Hi, thanks for the quick replies!

galwaydude18 : The head was sent of to be skimmed, would the garage not know when putting the head back in if the engine block was warped?

Captain Slow IRL: I dont know for sure if they pressure tested it, I had that small housing replaced as well at one stage.
Basically i want to get rid of the car at a this stage cause its turning into a money pit! It's a lovely car but its getting out of hand at athis stage, i have already spend up to 1600+ trying to fix this cooling problem!!:mad
Yeah if i've learned anything, i think i will find myself a good mechanic next time and stick with him, sick of been messed about.

Anybody know approx how much the car would be worth in this state
2000 BMW 318 119000 miles

Captain Slow IRL

The garage that replaced the head gasket - were they bmw specialists or a main dealer?

jazzyk

Neither, think i've learned my lesson though, maybe stick with the specialists the next time!