blearg still overheating...

[mkcman17]

when moving the car runs about 1/3 temp, but in traffic or at idle it quickly gets hot. if i run through a drive thru it will be over 3/4 by the time i get my food. i replaced the radiator with an aluminum one tonight and went to bleed the system and nothing happened. i ran the car hot with the heat on and cap on, unscrewed the bleeder and waited. and waited. squeezed the hose from the radiator, and nothing. fan clutch tests good, water pump is 10mos old. i need to drive this piece to school through LA traffic heppp me!

[Dj Buttchug]

fan clutch hard to move?? the problem is air. its not getting enough flow through the radiator

[mkcman17]

what about the bleeding problem though? it's possible the fan clutch is no bueno..

[MR 325]

An E30 does NOT need to be running to bleed the cooling system. I prefer to do my bleeding with the engine cold. Takes about 2 minutes. I should make an instructional video I think.

[e30trooper]

when moving the car runs about 1/3 temp, but in traffic or at idle it quickly gets hot. if i run through a drive thru it will be over 3/4 by the time i get my food. i replaced the radiator with an aluminum one tonight and went to bleed the system and nothing happened. i ran the car hot with the heat on and cap on, unscrewed the bleeder and waited. and waited. squeezed the hose from the radiator, and nothing. fan clutch tests good, water pump is 10mos old. i need to drive this piece to school through LA traffic heppp me!

Did you change the thermostat? have you been needing to add coolant? Does it cool down when you get on the gas when driving?

[jlevie]

This could be, air in the cooling system, a bad fan clutch, or a bad thermostat. I'd include a partially plugged radiator, but that's not likely in this case.

To properly bleed the radiator do:

1) Using ramps or a jack get the front of the car 1' or more higher than
the rear. That will make the radiator and bleed screw the highest point
on the engine and facilitate removal of air.

2) With the bleed screw open, add coolant until no more air comes out of
the bleed.

3) Leave the filler cap off, or at least loose, and set the heat for max
temp and fan speed. Leaving the cap loose will prevent air that's still
in the system from causing a "coolant fountain" once the engine heats
up. Start the engine and allow it to warm up to operating temp. As it
warms up occasionally crack the bleed screw to release any air and top
up the coolant as necessary.

4) Once the engine is at temp bring it up to 2000-2500rpm for a few seconds
several times. Then crack the bleed until no more air is released. At
this point the heater should be throwing lots of hot air, which
indicates that the heater core is filled with coolant. You may have to
repeat this a few times to get all the air out.

5) Drive the car a bit, allow it to cool back down, and recheck the
bleed for air. Over the next few days you may get very small amounts (a
few bubbles) of air out of the bleed screw.

[mkcman17]

Alright, update! Discovered that the bleeder was clogged and properly bleed the system, but the lower central hose still wasn't getting warm. Could my tstat be stuck closed?

[Republic]

I may be off here, but the stat should fail open, not closed. Pull it out and boil some water. Toss her in and she if she opens up.

[matt0300]

Dude if u think its the Tstat just pull it out run it up to temp and if its still over heating check for milkshake.

[mkcman17]

New thermostat today, and after cleaning the old corroded housing the heat blew considerably hotter. Corrosion had clogged the bleeder but after cleaning I was able to bleed it properly. Unfortunately, car still gets hotter when idling. Idfk.

[e30trooper]

is your fan clutch good? What temp thermostat did you install. Hows the water pump. replace both coolant temp sensors? How hot is it getting when idling??
Mine gets allmost to half at idle( if sitting for 15mins or so ) then soon as i give it gas it drops to 1/4 (71* TS)

[mkcman17]

Water pump is one year old, 75° thermostat, and it gets about 3/4 temp before I do something about it.

[dreamchasin]

it's been asked several times (and i have yet to see you answer to it), did you check your fan clutch?

[mkcman17]

I've done a cardboard resistance test, but thats about it. i've swapped 3 fan clutches (although none were new) and the problem is the same.