Am I overheating?

[BMWM5LOVER]

Fairly New t-stat, fairly new clutch fan, working electrical fan, not mixing.
Gauge goes past half way towards the red when in city traffic with electrical fan on. Soon as you start driving goes down. Gauge is somewhat erratic at times and banging the dashboard either brings it higher (usually)than it is or lower than it is.

Never overflowed the tank, never sputtered, nothing. Im thinking of replacing the temp sensor that feeds the gauge, it is a single prong, but the plug seems to be a two prong plug. Could that be my problem?

M20. Refreshed with gaskets and such.

[jlevie]

Since the gauge drops back to the normal range when the car is at speed, it would be reasonable to assume that the gauge is correct (or mostly so) and that the engine is running hot when idling. That would imply that something is restricting coolant flow through the radiator, since the fans are apparently working. If not the thermostat, then a partially plugged radiator would be likely.

Even though the thermostat is fairly new, I'd suggest that you pull it and test it. If it works correctly my next suspicion would be the radiator.

[MR 325]

Did you bleed the cooling system correctly?

[Wh33lhop]

Did you bleed the cooling system correctly?

This.

Before you go replacing anything, make sure you don't have any bubbles and shit in there.

[BMWM5LOVER]

I didn't do any of the work, it was done prior to me buying it. Coolant seems to be circulating well with the cap off and car running, should I remove the bleeder screw and see if air comes out?

[stumble_t]

My before I changed my plugs to copper cores and did my valve adjust to spec the car would creep to 3/4 in traffic. After it rarely goes past 1/2

[Disaster Inc]

I didn't do any of the work, it was done prior to me buying it. Coolant seems to be circulating well with the cap off and car running, should I remove the bleeder screw and see if air comes out?

I also would first check for air in the system. Jack the nose up so the radiator and tstat housing are the highest points, turn heater on and on high, let it reach operating temp and then open bleeder screw and rev it up with it open, close it, rinse, repeat.

[BMWM5LOVER]

Ok, so as per some suggestions, before I did anything else, I tightened the nut on the back of the gauge, well the funny thing is, now the car sits at 1/4, and in traffic barely creeped up to 1/2. (did not turn on the electric fan).

So what you peeps think, gauge?

[whiltebeitel]

Looks like it. If you are still worried, get an IR thermometer. Shoot it at the radiator and see what temps you get. Plus, they are fun to see what temperatures other things (like brakes) can be.

But then again, you probably don't need it at all.