Cooling hell after bad overheating

[khiobrien2]

A few days ago I had a huge coolant explosion due to the rad fan slicing through a coolant line. I needed to get home so I attempted to patch the leak partially (flex seal patch+k-seal) and refill with coolant. This however didn’t work, and my temp gauge was stuck to about 1/4 for most of the way home. All of the sudden, I come to a stop after highway driving, start again, and my temp gauge shoots up like an RPM needle. So, I pull off, and try to fill the coolant back up before driving the last few miles home.

Once the new coolant line arrived, I did every bleeding trick on this forum attempting to get it to work. Now, everything seems to be fine, but my temp gauge will not go over 1/4th. My heater works fine. What should I do? Is it possible there is still somehow air? (I have tried jacks, no spill funnels, blowing into the tube, and a pump) Is my temp gauge somehow broken after overheating?

Another thing to mention is that the car also takes a bit longer to start now.

Thank you!

[Digitalwave]

Where would the needle sit prior to this? Do you know what temp thermostat you have in there? Does smacking the dashboard near the coolant gauge make the needle move around?

[khiobrien2]

Where would the needle sit prior to this? Do you know what temp thermostat you have in there? Does smacking the dashboard near the coolant gauge make the needle move around?

The needle sat about center previous to this. I am not sure and i will check with regards to hitting the dashboard when I get home. If it does move when hit, what would that indicate?

[Digitalwave]

The E30 coolant gauge isn't "damped" like it is in newer cars. What that means is that the needle doesn't sit dead center all the time like it does on E36s, for instance. It is said that anywhere between 1/4 and 3/4 on the coolant gauge is "normal operating temp." Now in reality, it would not be normal to run at 3/4, but I digress.

The coolant gauge has a ground nut on the back that tends to loosen. For some people it's as simple as tightening that nut, but I'd say, if your cluster has issues, it needs to be rebuilt ($$$).

With a thermostat on the cooler scale, it might actually run at 1/4 temp in most situations, and that could be okay, if not a little bit on the cold end.

If you have an infrared temp gun, you can warm the car up, and then check various hoses and surfaces of the radiator to get an idea of what the temperature is really like, notwithstanding any issues with the gauge in the cluster.

[Lippy]

Mine usually sits between 1/4 and 1/2 way all the time.