Cooling system issues, need suggestions quick.

[Jordan]

I'm working on a friends car, with some cooling issues.

I put a new thermostat in it, and just replaced the completely dead fan clutch with a new unit.

Car still overheats at idle.

Its a 89 325i.

Upper radiator hose gets very hot.

Lower radiator hose is very mildly warm at best.

Where the lower radiator hose meets the thermostat housing is hot, but as it goes through the pipe it cools off where its cold at the lower radiator junction.

Drivers side of the radiator gets very hot
Middle of it is warm
Passenger side is cold. Not warm, not kinda warm... cold to the touch.

I'm thinking maybe the radiator is clogged, and only flowing through part of it? I'm really not sure here.

Its a fairly new looking Nissins radiator.

[e30sd]

all i can think of is you might have an air pocket. is it bled? if not, replace the radiator. i got a clean one for 40 bucks.

[Jordan]

I bled it several times, to no avail.

Talk to ClavinZero about the radiator, he needs one for his car.

I can't recommend radiator replacement on this car ATM.

[gstuning]

Sounds like a clogged radiator to me,
flush it good,

I´m not sure what chemical you should use but you need some sort of a chemical reaction on the clogged part

[kowalski]

either a clogged radiator or a clogged cooling port... if you'v tried everything else those 2 are probably the culprits. or it could be the water pump. hows the flow?

[surebimmer]

Does the aux fan come on? I replaced my aux fan with a used unit and found that the resistor on the aux fan that changes the two speed settings was cracked. Aux fan was not coming on in slow setting causing my car to run a little warm in stop and go traffic.