I have a standard mitivac pressure tester with all of the adaptors. The kit specifies that it even fits the r53 but no such luck.

I emailed mitivac and the adaptor costs more than the kit. My kit works fine for all of my other vehicles but not this one.

What do you all do? Spend the 50-70 bucks for a single adaptor?

Thanks.

 

No one knows? I have seen previous posts about pressure testing the radiator. Any ideas?

Thanks.

 

Could you find a spare cap, drill a hole in it to take a Schrader tire valve stem & pump it up?
Does the Mityvac do pressure? I thought it was a vacuum pump.

 

Good idea, but I have yet to find a cheapo aftermarket cap from an auto parts store. I tried Autozone and their caps didn't fit.

The Mityvac actually acts as a pump...check it out


EDIT: I just found a cap but it is the price of the kit and I can't be sure that the plastic hose will fit without hassles. Fitting type is different than the others in that kit.

 

Maybe backwards, but an aluminum Canton reservoir uses standard Stant caps... And gets rid of those dreadful overflow tanks.

 

You can tell I've never used one!

I'd try a junkyard for a cap, your local friendly tire place for an odd bolt-in valve stem they have lying around & warm up the end of the plastic hose to fit the valve.

 

That's ok. I ended up buying the Mityvac specialty cap for this car at around $38 bucks. Cheaper than guessing what is going on. These things are great. I'd definitely invest in one.

The only problem that I found with them is that there are some "grey areas" in how to use them effectively e.g. how many seconds of pressure drop constitutes leakage etc. Since only a certain amount of people use this tool and even fewer for a specific model, you are kind of on your own with it for more advanced questions. There is always youtube, but that is hit or miss too.

Junkyard idea is good. My junkyard seldom has anything I ever need and it's $2 per admission that is non refundable. That has added up over the years where time after time they never had what I needed. :(

 

Great idea actually. I am looking for a cheaper alternative to that Canton reservoir. Seems like most vehicles have good prices on just about everything for DIY folks except for a few line items that cost a lot. This item seems to be one of them.

I have been hunting on ebay for an equivalent, but I don't know enough about these vehicles to make sure that I am getting a replacement in the appropriate form factor. Don't want to get stuck with something that won't fit and then having to go through the hassle of returning it.

 

I think I paid $170 or so for mine, and that's not bad to bulletproof that part. Also went with a Mishimoto radiator, which also wasn't too bad at ~$225.

For what it's worth, BMW cooling systems are notorious for failure, so adding a little cash to the mix up front makes for an easier long-term experience.

 

The cap on the coolant overflow reservoir and the cap on the brake fluid reservoir have the same threads. If you have a MOTIVE pump for brake bleeding, you can also use it as a coolant system tester. Just pump it up to 15 or 20 lb. and, after 15 minutes or so, see if it held pressure.
p.s. for veedubpat: GL with that Mishimoto radiator...I'm on my third one. Even with their "Lifetime Warranty", changing them out is getting old!

 

I'm also on my third Mishimoto. Never again.

 

Awesome pointers. I have a speed daddy aluminum radiator or something like that on mine for $90. Not sure what I was thinking at the time, but it hasn't cracked yet lol.

 

Interesting. If it fails, I'll replace it with a CSF aluminum radiator. I had one from them on a factory-turbo Miata (a few bolt-ons) after separating the tanks on a factory one, and never had a problem beating it up and down mountains in SoCal.

 

It was actually a G-plus radiator. I just pressure tested it with the items listed and everything worked out perfect. Good to go. The cap has a metal nipple, but it worked with the kit just the same. Surprised to see that the reservoir was not the leak.