I was driving the BMW 318i after I installed my new (used) engine temp sender for the temperature gauage and noticed it was working sometimes but not all the time. It did work this afternoon on my way home from Corvallis when I noticed that the gauge was in the red. It did this on one other occassion probably 3 or 4 days ago but once it hit red it quickly went back to normal. I figured there was something wrong with the gauge and did pay much attention. Well on my way home today it stayed on the red and it was at this time I noticed I was not gettting any heat inside the car. I could have used some heat because it was pretty cold out side and all I was getting was cold air even though I had the heat turned on high and the blower on high. I noticed that the blower, even though it was blowing cold air, had less force when blowing on heat side of dial than when I turned it to cold. Anyways, I pulled into a gas station and lifted the hood and saw some steam blow out from underneath and I could also hear hissing coming from the main hose on top which hooks radiator to the block. It was dark so I could not see any coolant coming out or any signs that it had been leaking. I waited for engine to cool before I removed the radiator cap and then proceeded to add a half gallon of water to it. Once I had filled radiator I go back into the car and saw that the temperature had dropped down to normal. I also noticed that the heater was now blowing hot air, as though nothing had ever happened. I find it odd that because the coolant/water level was low in the radiator that it could have an effect on the heater from working. Could this be related to the coolant level, and could the heat sensor to the temperature gauge cause any of this?
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Originally posted by Gruelius -
if your coolant level got low and some how it managed to fill it self with air, you may have had an air pocket in your heater core which would cause the heater to not blow hot air. and it would also cause the engine to overheat becuase a thermostat will not open properlyt untill the air behind the thermostat is heated to the operating temp....which takes longer then coolant thus at the same time the coolant will be hotter then it should normally be causing the gauge to peak.
my advice is to let the car completely cool down, open the coolant bleeder valve and fill up with coolant unitll it comes out of the valve. this way it will discharge any air in the system. and elimate any/all of those problems.
hope that helps -
That would make sense. Some work was just done on one one the heater valves (or something like that).... it was something to do with the cooling system.Originally posted by GrueliusComment
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well the heater valve is something else that controls coolant flow to the heater core, you may want to make sure that it is all connected properly too.Comment
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Yeah, that sounds exactly like what was done. Are there two of them? One was leaking or something; it was just replaced.Originally posted by GrueliusComment
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there is just on e as far as i know its on the inside of your car just down from where the coolant lines eneter the car. take out the knee bolster and you will see it.
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