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Level of coollant on my BMW 518 1976

Posted: Sat Feb 20, 2016 6:55 am
by dapalmovic
How mouch of coolant must be in the radiator to the cap (fully filled) or below?
Beacuse if it is not to the top of the radiator then upper hoses are empty.

Posted: Sat Feb 20, 2016 12:14 pm
by RonDwyer
I don't think many of us have ever seen a 518 under the hood. Is there no overflow tank? My CS Coupe had one and it was older. Must be common to the 6 cyl post a few pictures.

Looking at RealOEM it looks like all the hoses should sit below the neck, your hoses should all be correct for the car to limit the air entrapped at the top.

518 is like an overgrown 2002

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/showpar ... Id=11_0651

Posted: Sat Feb 20, 2016 1:33 pm
by RandyM
Upper hose is the return line. As long as the water level in radiator is above the water pump you will have some cooling provided there's no air in the system. Fill radiator to top of core, get the car warm with the cap off until thermostat opens, i.e. you see circulation in radiator, then fill coolant until core of radiator is covered.

Level of colant on my BMW 518 1976

Posted: Sun Feb 21, 2016 4:24 am
by dapalmovic
The core of radiator is covered, heating works and the cars temperature gauge is showing temperature just under the first white line (a bit to low). Replaced temperature gauge switch, the radiator is new and the thermostat. [/img]

Posted: Sun Feb 21, 2016 4:38 am
by dapalmovic
The uper hose is not under the coolant

Re: Level of coollant on my BMW 518 1976

Posted: Mon May 02, 2016 4:59 am
by tlake
dapalmovic wrote:How mouch of coolant must be in the radiator to the cap (fully filled) or below?
Beacuse if it is not to the top of the radiator then upper hoses are empty.
Although there is no overflow tank on the small engined e12s (below the 525), the owner's handbook says top it off until the level is 2 cm under the filler cap.