just bought a 92 325ic... and its overheating out of nowhere.. wtf help please

[beanerguitarist]

ok guys so the car has oil... added coolant, i mean car was low on fluids... but still. when i test drove it it wasnt over heating... now that i have it it was a matter of half a day before it started heating up on me... and now... i cant dive as far... i no my fan clutch is going out but would that be the only thing to cause a car to heat up? i know my thermostats ok and my headgasket is find... no water in my oil and no smoke... im just very scared... and i hope my engine isnt shot.... because that would suck... a lot thanks r3v

[Cabriolet]

take it over to Castro's he has great rep here and he'll know whats wrong.

you might have a bad temp sensor, air in the coolant line etc...

i know you say the fan clutch is good, but that may be getting weak.

how did you test the thermostat?

[beanerguitarist]

thanks... im trying to avoid spending money as of now... i dont have any money until friday... and honestly the car wont make it to castros without overheating.... so im trying to diagnose it myself... worst comes to worst ill take it to castros when i have money. i just spent every penny i had on this car.. and i have my return on the way... but id rather by back my 88is so i can have both just in case something like this happens again.

[beanerguitarist]

but thanks cabriolet i appreciate it

[Cabriolet]

^ updated my post.

[MoreMayhem]

I second on testing the thermostat.

When I bought mine I quickly found out the PO had put a 92 degree thermostat in the car. I replaced it with 80 degree. Cured my overheating instantly. Temp gauge now rides between 1/4 and 1/2 depending on ambient temp.


-MM

[MR 325]

I don't understand how you decided the thermostat was good.

Is it leaking coolant anywhere?

Did you try bleeding the system?

A bad fan clutch will only cause problems at idle and low speeds.

[beanerguitarist]

take it over to Castro's he has great rep here and he'll know whats wrong.

you might have a bad temp sensor, air in the coolant line etc...

i know you say the fan clutch is good, but that may be getting weak.

how did you test the thermostat?

well i thought it was... im buying a new one, and i know my fan clutch is going out.... i did the newspaper test so im ordering that as well.

I second on testing the thermostat.

When I bought mine I quickly found out the PO had put a 92 degree thermostat in the car. I replaced it with 80 degree. Cured my overheating instantly. Temp gauge now rides between 1/4 and 1/2 depending on ambient temp.


-MM

im buying an 80 degree thermo... thanks man. i really appreciate it. ill let you guys know how it turns out.

[beanerguitarist]

I don't understand how you decided the thermostat was good.

Is it leaking coolant anywhere?

Did you try bleeding the system?

A bad fan clutch will only cause problems at idle and low speeds.

yea the fan clutch is going so im running the aux fan to help out.

im just changing my thermo... i thought p.o. said he had done it... but i called and asked now that i own the car and he hadnt...

bleeding the system was the first thing i had done. if the thermo and fan clutch dont help... am i running into a serious issue??? :(:(

[Cabriolet]

these engines are VERY simple. try running the car w/o the thermostat. if that fixes it then bad thermo. but a bad fan clutch will for sure cause over heating and if that doesn't help fully, there's always the potability of a clogged radiator. this is all assuming the system was bled correctly.

[beanerguitarist]

these engines are VERY simple. try running the car w/o the thermostat. if that fixes it then bad thermo. but a bad fan clutch will for sure cause over heating and if that doesn't help fully, there's always the potability of a clogged radiator. this is all assuming the system was bled correctly.

your the man. im checking it at work right now. were slow and i have a decent set of tools at my disposle. these are the first cars i have worked on so im learning slowly... sorry i no its a little noobish i did search i swear... It sucks no one in my imeadiate family is really a mecahnic i can trust if you know what i mean, so i turn to you guys for help. thanks again

[jeffnhiscars]

Im reading where "it started heating up" but not seeing why you decided that. Bad fun clutch will only matter at idle as has been said.

Did it boil over, did the gauge just go up, did you put an infrared gun to the radiator ?

Unless I missed something, what exactly are the over heating symptoms ?

[MR 325]

these engines are VERY simple. try running the car w/o the thermostat. if that fixes it then bad thermo. but a bad fan clutch will for sure cause over heating and if that doesn't help fully, there's always the potability of a clogged radiator. this is all assuming the system was bled correctly.

These engines will not cool correctly without a thermostat. It's better to spend the $10 and just change it.

[Cabriolet]

These engines will not cool correctly without a thermostat.

Matt, are you saying that the car just runs too cold? or does it upset the flow path of the water through the engine?

Granted i was only mentioning running w/o as a test, not as permanent solution.

Also most likely the car wont pass CA smog as it wont get to operating temperature and will run too rich.

[theox69]

Thermostat & water pump?