Vemon

I've had a prolific problem going on with my 05 V for a little over a year now. What started out as a very small coolant leak coming from hairline cracks in the plastic radiator reservoir has now come full circle with an all out cooling system replacement. Thats my only option as of now, because I can't get the ******* thing to stop leaking. I'm going on my 3rd radiator now (2 replacements busted along bottom seam) and have a new water pump and thermostat on the way now. What a disappointment to have a "premium" car with a failed cooling system less than 100k miles into the life of the vehicle. I can't express enough the frustration I've been through with this ****. I'm sure some of you will say "just buy an alradco and be done with it" I would if I had 1/2 a G sitting around to dump into my daily driver that already has a huge monthly payment to start with, but I don't. Instead, I'll put 3 shitty replacement radiators on and replace all the other cooling components while I'm at it. Sorry for the rant, just really disappointed with my V right now.

DACTARI

iTrader: (1)

Do you have aftermarket motor mounts or are you still on the stockers? Busted stock mounts can cause the motor to rock, pulling on the radiator via the stiff hoses.

heavymetals

iTrader: (3)

You have an 8 year old car with 100k mi.

You have one of the most expensive cars to repair besides an exotic.

Get used to it.

V1's are money pits.

DarkCharisma

You have spent WAY more than $430 bucks (how much my Alradco cost) trying to use three shitty radiators to replace two shitty radiators.

So... buy an Alradco and be done with it. Sorry chief, seems like you're making this way harder than it needs to be. Not a whole lot of sympathy for someone who is knowingly using faulty parts to replace a well-documented problem.


The CTS-V is cheaper than my damned Toyota to fix ... Mod hell can cost a lot of money, sure, but regular maint? Hell no. This car's drivetrain shares a huge % of components with basically everything else GM made--and the cost of aftermarket parts are cheaaaaaaaaaap compared to, for example, my diesel pickup.

DougNuts

iTrader: (1)

If the OP thinks this is a cooling issue on a premium car, he's never owned a BMW.

I hope you get it figured out Vemon, I'm in the same area as you (live in Georgetown, work in Lex).

Vemon

[QUOTE=DarkCharisma;17497181]You have spent WAY more than $430 bucks (how much my Alradco cost) trying to use three shitty radiators to replace two shitty radiators.

Actually I've only spent $175 for one radiator, they have all been replaced or refunded under warranty. And props to you for doing everything right to your car the first time.

Interesting theory on the motor mounts pulling the radiator apart via the bottom hose. I really don't think my bottom radiator hose is THAT stiff though. I think the two failures I've had can be attributed to the thermostat not opening properly and causing too much back pressure on the system.

I will say though, if this radiator ends up leaking I will get my money back and spring for the all aluminum.

Vemon

And to further emphasize the point of this thread, a $60k vehicle off the showroom should have a MUCH better design and quality cooling system for it's pride and joy V8 engine. I work in the automotive design industry everyday and it's obvious to see that corners were cut on the cooling system of these cars.

Fuzzy_Wuzzy

iTrader: (8)

the challenge is for low volume special edition cars you have to limit the r&d time as it can be hard to pay it back. you figure they only sold 10000 v's. I am sure their engineers time is values in the $100-200 an hour. it is not hard to see how you could loose money on a car if everything is made perfect.

the radiator issue is shared with many cars. almost everyone uses plastic tanks and most all of them suck as well.

It sucks spending money on cars when stuff breaks (I'm in the middle of replacing the harmonic balancer right now). but if you can't afford the repair cost, you can't afford to have the car...

DarkCharisma

You've clearly never spent any time with a BMW.

The only corner that was cut was using a shitty radiator. And, that being said, the factory designed radiator cools the vehicle *just* fine during what 99% of drivers will subject their car to... seems it's a parts manufacturing issue, which Denso or whomever bears the lion's share of responsibility.


I've heard all the issues on the V1 were solved on the V2. Spring for one of those and you'll probably not have silly differential and cooling problems anymore.

ColeGraham

iTrader: (8)

They were...but the V2 has its own issues, every car has little quirks that are somewhat unique to that platform. Granted, the V2 faults are 10 fold easier to fix then the V1.

barrok69

[QUOTE=Vemon;17497845]If your thermostat wasn't opening your engine would be overheating very quickly. And your headgaskets would be blown before any damage to your radiator would happen. Thermostats are pretty simple by design, they either work or fail one of three ways, stuck open, stuck closed, or stuck partially. Open and partial won't have too much effect other than cold morning cabin heater warm up performance. stuck closed... bad things will happen. and you'll see warning lights on your dash.

The radiator wasn't designed to be pulled in certain directions and with the common motor mount failures these cars experience it puts undue stress on the end tanks and causes failures over time. The radiator was designed properly with no "short cuts" because it shouldn't have to expect a motor to be flopping around like a dead fish. This is the same reason why manufacturers don't use all aluminum. It isn't necessary, it weighs more, costs more and provides NO additional cooling benefits.

moral of the story, replace your motor mounts and you can probably keep your $175 rad in there. unless it's just a pos quality rad.

Forcfed93

iTrader: (10)

This. The entire cooling system on an E46 is pretty much considered a maintenance item at 75k miles. That includes water pump, thermostat, hoses and radiator.

V1's aren't anywhere close to that bad. I will say this, if you've had multiple failures of the same part, it's probably not the part but some other failure manifesting itself by destroying your radiator.

Vemon

I just don't see how excessive harmonic vibrations from the motor due to failed motor mounts would be pulling the bottom tank off the radiator. They are decoupled from one another by 1. the radiator hose itself and 2. the rubber mounting pads that the radiator reside on.

I do agree with Forcfed the failure is being manifested from somewhere else. The scenario described above of a partially open or fully closed thermostat is accurate to the symptoms I'm experiencing now (severe overheating of coolant/warning lights on dash)...and of course excessive leaking from the bottom of the radiator. Luckily I only have a .5 mile commute to and from work.

I should have new parts in tomorrow (radiator, thermostat, water pump). I'll update with the results after the install.

Vemon

I never said I couldn't afford the cost of the repairs. I'm frustrated that I have to repair basic parts that you wouldn't normally expect to replace on a vehicle of this "quality" at relatively lower miles (under 100k). Just the hassle and time and money spent on what I would have considered a reliable car otherwise is what pisses me off.

barrok69

It's not harmonics that is the issue, it's the motor actually physically rocking when you push the throttle. When the motor mounts are shot the motor can lift and rotate a significant amount, in turn pulling on the radiator via the hose which is clamped at both ends acting as link. (due to the stiffness of the hose). Generally hoses are soft to a degree and can squish slightly, but they don't really stretch/shrink much lenghtwise due the nature of the internal corded layers. And depending on how much pressure the system is rated to they have to be pretty squish resistant also because you don't want them to collapse under negative pressure when the t-stat is closed.

The radiator is mounted on rubber to isolate it from harmonics/vibrations. It doesn't do much if something is actually physically pulling it, in which case the weakest point of the radiator will weaken/fracture over time, in our cases the plastic tanks, or the bond of the plastic tank to the aluminum HEX.

If your car is throwing the ECT light that fast you should replace your T-stat, sounds like it's stuck closed (and it's a common thing to replace on any vehicle with high mileage)...and having a leak also doesn't help because you're probably not holding any pressure in the system at which point the boiling point of the coolant becomes much lower and will lead to overheating even faster as the air gets super heated and basically turns to steam inside the engine offering no cooling whatsoever.

So here is your list of things to replace.
1- Motor Mounts (because you most likely have stock mounts that are destroyed) - Revshift and Creative Steel make nice replacements that will last longer than the OE mounts will.
2- T-stat (because it isn't operational anymore)
3- Radiator (because it's broken) - keep same brand/replacement or get a better quality brand (OEM/Alradco) while you are at it.

DACTARI

iTrader: (1)

^ this

Skidmarcx

After seeing what bad motor mounts are like in a V I can actually believe them stressing the radiator... My intake tube got completely uncoupled with bad mounts... Thank god for the strut bar keeping the motor from hitting the hood... You didn't think it was there for handling did you? Lol

I agree the multiple failures is ridiculous... Some reasons I can think of are improper coolant mixture, bad cap, obscenely extreme temp variance (weather)... I'm surprised I never lost a radiator here in AZ... Going from 117 in summer down to mid 20's at times in the winter

Revshift

I fixed this for you ^

RADEoN

iTrader: (12)

Am I the only one laughing at him bitching about his 8 year old car needing a radiator, regardless of miles?

heavymetals

iTrader: (3)

I didn't say they were money pits to maintain.

They are money pits to fix.

Buy one OEM rim for example.

The Alradco is a work of art.