I recently purchased a 1988 325i that has 155,000 miles. A few months back it was leaking coolant, so i ended up replacing the hoses and the water pump. Now my car is leaking oil, and turns out I've got a blown head gasket. -ike.
My mechanic recommended I do a valve job while i've got the engine apart. so this pushes the cost up, but it seems like it would be a good thing to do since I'm already paying for labor. I'm thinking that when the water pump went out that maybe i had some overheating issues and resulted in the blown head gasket. He seems to think that the head can be resurfaced and put back on. Does anyone know about the lower part of the engine? Basically I'm trying to figure out if I fix the top end, what about the bottom end? I'm thinking I'll get the head resurfaced and the valves ground and worked on. Does anyone know the history or consumer reports on these engines and the track record of the lower end and replacing and fixing head gasket issues? What are the potential pitfalls of this kind of engine issue? any pointers would be much appreciated.
thanks
My mechanic recommended I do a valve job while i've got the engine apart. so this pushes the cost up, but it seems like it would be a good thing to do since I'm already paying for labor. I'm thinking that when the water pump went out that maybe i had some overheating issues and resulted in the blown head gasket. He seems to think that the head can be resurfaced and put back on. Does anyone know about the lower part of the engine? Basically I'm trying to figure out if I fix the top end, what about the bottom end? I'm thinking I'll get the head resurfaced and the valves ground and worked on. Does anyone know the history or consumer reports on these engines and the track record of the lower end and replacing and fixing head gasket issues? What are the potential pitfalls of this kind of engine issue? any pointers would be much appreciated.
thanks