engine running hot

[RondoAcapriccio]

So.. My temp gauge reads normal for a while then jumps to the 3/4th line then jumps back and forth between the middle and the next line.

Today I was driving and my gauge went to red pulled over and turned car off soon as possible. heater was running at the time, heat was blowing cool, opened hood felt head was warm, felt the block super hot, all 3 radiator hoses were burning, let car sit for 40 mins ran it to my house , popped hood car still running top radiator hose hot, bottom cold. Radiator hot aswell.

92 325ic , I think it can be a bad radiator? I dunno help.

[5Toes]

Bleed the cooling system

Make sure you turn heater to all the way hot when you are bleeding

[RondoAcapriccio]

Bleed the cooling system

Make sure you turn heater to all the way hot when you are bleeding

Engine has been off for 2 hours and its still hot.

Ill try and do it this weekend, don't have time or place to do it on the weekdays. Good thing work is 7 mins away.

[5Toes]

Well it doesnt need to be cold to bleed it...

Go do it right now. Takes 30 minutes tops

[RondoAcapriccio]

Well it doesnt need to be cold to bleed it...

Go do it right now. Takes 30 minutes tops

Cant do it in the base parking lot :/ big fine. Would not risk it as im short on cash atm

[5Toes]

Drive off base

lol all you need is a 10mm screwdriver or socket or whatever, some distilled water to add back in, and some rags

[jlevie]

If the gauge needle is jumping, there is a good chance that the engine is okay and the problem is in the gauge. Using and IR or contact thermometer, check the temperature of the thermostat housing when the gauge is showing an abnormal reading.

[dnguyen1963]

if the gauge needle is jumping, upper rad hose is hot, lower rad hose is cool then check your SI board. You most likely see lots of corrosion from dead NiCd batteries.

[amcink]

good references - save for later

[RondoAcapriccio]

If the gauge needle is jumping, there is a good chance that the engine is okay and the problem is in the gauge. Using and IR or contact thermometer, check the temperature of the thermostat housing when the gauge is showing an abnormal reading.

Bleed the cooling system

Make sure you turn heater to all the way hot when you are bleeding

Will do it this sat at the base shop,
Bought a new thermostat yesterday,


Yesterday it did the same thing, but today it took forever to reach the middle, then it stayed in the middle with little bouncing to a cooler temp and the middle. I did slightly squeze all 3 hoses don't see what that would change though.

[shaferbm]

Any news? My eta is doing the same exact thing.

[ELIXIR]

same happened to the new 325is i just bought last weekend. I found that the coolant was clogged pretty good. after draining coolant off the side of the block keep pouring water into the reservoir and put pressure on the upper hose to add pressure flow within the block aswell with a pocket screw driver scrap the inside of the block plug located under the cyl 5/6 manifold area.

Vehicle has some crappy aftermarket radiator/thermostat (I dont trust - replacing when I do the motor swap next week)

But I pulled my thermostat out and found there to be silicon from the past dumbass who worked on the car that I bought it from. My guess is the radiator is plugged. although the vehicle has not overheated but the needle jumps from half to right before 3/4 heater works sometimes lol.

but start with flushing coolant and use coolant atleast have a 50/50 ratio mix with water to prevent the boiling over (water heats up faster than coolant)

[stamar]

when I lived on camp pendleton they had free garages for the marines to use.

definitely the heater running cold is air in the system like 5 toes said.

Ive bled my car of air 3 times in the past year so im getting used to it.

It is a bad design the problem is that the top radiator hose is above the bleeder screw.

ive let it bleed for 20 minutes with the heater on and that worked. But Ive found the best way is this.

bleed the system with the screw til the bubbles stop and only coolant is going, then close it

( theres still air in the top hose, squeeze it you can feel it. but the bleeder screw, is BELOW that hose.the air is not going from there to the bleeder screw. Its a retarded bleeder screw you will learn to live with it)


shut the car off let it cool. unscrew the temperature thing in the coolant overflow tank just barely to see if some air will squeak out but close it up again if coolant comes out.

open the overflow filler when its cold and fill it up.


Do it a few times, always filling it up after its cold, and the air will finally work into the overflow tank, being forced there by the coolant boiling over.


You know you got it all when the heater is hot again. I would say that last bit of air takes 2 or three warm up and cool factors.



Ive read other ways that includ raising the car to liek 45 degrees, and actually sucking the air out. While those work They are more work than necessary.

But the moral of the story is, the bleeder screw does not work so dont expect it to. It bleeds some of the air out. the rest of hte air literally has to boil out, so drive it carefully until it does, refill it several times.

I would say that after the bleeder screw has stopped pumping out air theres still a half gallon in there.

you can let it literally boil over from the bleeder screw just leave it open for a long time and let it overheat a little

[shaferbm]

I know there is definitely air in the system, when I squeeze the hose when the car is cool, I can hear coolant and air squish around. I'll give bleeding a go. I may also replace my thermostat, for piece of mind, since my PO was a bit of a jackwagon.

Also is the coolant temp sensor on the top of the coolant overflow tank the only one? I might consider replacing that since my temp gauge is all over the place.

[stamar]

no thats the coolant pressure sensor.

for the overhead display.

the temperature sensor is on the block.