Bleeding/Thermostat woes. DERP

[TimKninja]

SO I just put in the 176 (80C) Degree thermostat in my Car.

Didnt drill a hole.

Let the car run for 10 minutes, its up to 3/4 On the gauge. (Using Black one pronged sensor from an 86 325E)

E36 Radiator, COLD
Top hose, Cold
Air coming out of vents. COLD

Seems as tho the thermostat isint opening.

None of the coolant was bubbling out of the reservoir. FLuid level never changed.

WAT DO. Kind of afraid to let car run longer with it about to overheat.

[Wishno87]

Lift the front end of your car.

[pandaboo911]

Lift the front end of your car.

I would drill the hole too, makes bleeding way easier.

[TimKninja]

Ill do that next and give it another shot. Would the front end on the ground stop the thermostat from opening?

[Ryann]

Stan (twistednut) showed me this method (drain your coolant out first):

Pull the upper radiator hose off of the thermostat housing and pour coolant into it until the reservoir is at the cold fill mark and put the hose back on. Then pull the upper radiator hose off at the radiator side and pour the rest of your coolant through the hose and into the engine. Done. Zero bleeding issues.

This has worked perfectly for me with mine and my in-laws' m42s and once on an m54.

[Adrian_Visser]

You can also kind of pump coolant into the engine by squeezing the upper rad hose a couple times while blocking the hole in the reservoir for the radiator return hose. I dunno it works for me.

[lolcantturn]

sticky thermostat


What i usually do in these cases is put the heat on blast, drive in 1st gear like a mad-man at high RPMs (6000 ish) for probably 10-20 seconds and the thermostat eventually opens on me and the entire system hiccups and my shit gets bled. dunno works for me

[TimKninja]

After putting the front up in the air, and squeeing the upper and lower hoses . Its bled. Couldnt get the fan to turn on by itself, gonna use the snowflake method for now.

Thank you for dealing with my retardation.