Anyone has a d.i.y for changing the thermostat?

[grays]

car has no heat and the car goes towards the red.

[jlevie]

No heat and the gauge heading towards the red sounds like air in the cooling system. Try a bleed using what is below. Then drive the car for a bit and re-bleed. If that or a subsequent bleed results in the release of a significant amount of air, there is a heagasket leak or a cracked cylinder head.


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.

[dnguyen1963]

It depends on the model year. The procedure for earlier model cars is fairly simple. Drain the coolant, disconnect the coolant hose to the t-stat housing, remove a few screws and the housing pops out, remove the t-stat, and put in a new one. Bleed the system according to the above procedure. For procedure on late model year, there is a diy on Pelican website.

http://www.pelicanparts.com/bmw/techarticles/E36-Thermostat/E36-Thermostat.htm

This article is for E36, but it should give you some guidelines.

[grays]

its a 89 325i.. so the fan and belts has to come off

[jlevie]

its a 89 325i.. so the fan and belts has to come off

Not to change the thermostat. Three bolts hold the thermostat cover on and there is nothing in the way of those.

[grays]

thanks guys i have some heat just have to finish bleeding the system since i didnt have my jack stands.

gas sprayed on my face/eye since i didnt have the right wrench for the bleeder screw so i had to un loose the black thing which i think is the gas regulator 10mm screws that sits right on top of the bleeder screw.