Just purchased a 85 318i e30 with the m10 engine. Beautiful candy apple red with the chrome bumper. In amazing shape and only 90,000km. Few things I plan on doing but for the most part it's all good.
Unfortunately after having it for a week I noticed something odd. It was slightly overheating. Original owner said he replaced the water pump and fan before selling. And he never noticed it overheating. The thing is it only slightly overheats in very specific circumstances.
Driving on city roads stop and go for over 20 minutes, doesn't overheat. On the motorway it doesn't overheat, in fact stays just slightly cold. But when I get off the motorway after driving for about 10 minutes it starts to creep up to the 3/4 mark. Then as I get going it goes back down. And then just jumps between 1/2 and 3/4 until I get home. However if the heat is on (always hot, never cold) it will always stay dead center.
Thought maybe just some maintenance would fix it. Changed the oil and had the radiator flushed. the guy who flushed it said it all looked good. Yet didn't make a difference.
Thought the thermostat was bad so I replaced that, topped up my coolant and bled the system by running it with the cap off for about half an hour. Yet still the same thing was happening.
Finally thought I'd bring it to a BMW specialist and he ran some tests and looked it over. He did a CO test to check for cracks in the gasket, came back fine. He replaced the fan clutch as he said it was sticking, and replaced the thermostat as well. After that he ran some tests and said it was all good and stopped overheating. Took it home and on the way home did the same thing, overheating! Still getting up to that 3/4 mark.
I am at a loss, any ideas? Spent too much money already and nothing makes sense. Could it be the temperature sensor? Or the gauge? Or is this normal for this car? The only other thing I've done so far was change the stereo. I feel like I'm going crazy, sorry about the long post, just in need of some help. Thanks.
Unfortunately after having it for a week I noticed something odd. It was slightly overheating. Original owner said he replaced the water pump and fan before selling. And he never noticed it overheating. The thing is it only slightly overheats in very specific circumstances.
Driving on city roads stop and go for over 20 minutes, doesn't overheat. On the motorway it doesn't overheat, in fact stays just slightly cold. But when I get off the motorway after driving for about 10 minutes it starts to creep up to the 3/4 mark. Then as I get going it goes back down. And then just jumps between 1/2 and 3/4 until I get home. However if the heat is on (always hot, never cold) it will always stay dead center.
Thought maybe just some maintenance would fix it. Changed the oil and had the radiator flushed. the guy who flushed it said it all looked good. Yet didn't make a difference.
Thought the thermostat was bad so I replaced that, topped up my coolant and bled the system by running it with the cap off for about half an hour. Yet still the same thing was happening.
Finally thought I'd bring it to a BMW specialist and he ran some tests and looked it over. He did a CO test to check for cracks in the gasket, came back fine. He replaced the fan clutch as he said it was sticking, and replaced the thermostat as well. After that he ran some tests and said it was all good and stopped overheating. Took it home and on the way home did the same thing, overheating! Still getting up to that 3/4 mark.
I am at a loss, any ideas? Spent too much money already and nothing makes sense. Could it be the temperature sensor? Or the gauge? Or is this normal for this car? The only other thing I've done so far was change the stereo. I feel like I'm going crazy, sorry about the long post, just in need of some help. Thanks.
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