1988 325 thermostat ?

[mlava1322]

Hello out there,

I have been a bimmer enthusiast for years and just purchased and 88 325 in pretty good condition with 177K miles on it. I'm new to having a fixer upper as my other transportation is a 2006 X3. I noticed the temp gauge doesn't move even after driving for about 30 minutes. The car didn't overheat but am wondering if I should just throw a new thermostat in?

Thank you!
mlava

[dutchbmw]

Welcome to Bimmerwerkz!!

About your question; what happens when you're in idle for a long time on a hot day (when you stop at a traffic light etc.)??? If the gauge doesn't move then maybe there's an issue with a cable behind the instrument panel. Since the engine doesn't overheat the thermostat is open if you ask me. To make sure if it's open you can cold start your car and feel if there's a flow through the upper hose leading to the radiator.

[I'll move this thread to the e30 forum]

[mlava1322]

thank you! i will try that.

[darkhorse737]

maybe u don't have a thermostat installed. thts usually the case when it takes u (kinda' like...) forever to get the temp guage moving.

or... maybe the brown sensor on the thermostat head has gone bad and isn't sending the temp signals to ur guage

[dkerley03]

Have you given it a tap? I must do this for mine to start moving. Start the car close the door, always works for me. After I get it moving, it works fien. This is on the list to fix in the future!

[ebrisse]

My '91 318i was staying on cold all the time, no matter how long I was driving it for. So for like $15 bucks and some Radiator Fluid I decided to replace it. Huge difference! Now my engine gets up to medium temperature all the time. Kind of a pain to replace it, but turned out the thermostat was just stuck open.