car overheating

[justin93]

hey,
when i start my car and i let it sit for about 5-10 min it heats up to normal temp, but after that it starts going up to the red real quick.....can anyone help? Can it be the waterpump?
Thanks

[Kevin325i]

Could be the water pump. Check to make sure you don't have any air bubbles in the hoses. Also replace the thermostat (they're cheap) and see if that fixes it.

Kevin

[Looky]

hmm.... waterpump is unusual. Check the thermostat. It's often a defective or leaky thermostat-sleeve.

[justin93]

thanks, ill see what happens

[thekid]

Originally posted by Kevin325i@Jun 28 2004, 04:03 PM
Could be the water pump. Check to make sure you don't have any air bubbles in the hoses. Also replace the thermostat (they're cheap) and see if that fixes it.

Kevin

go ahead and replace thermostat first its the cheapest thing that can be wrong. Then have some one sit in the car with it on to watch the temp gauge. If the gauge goes up past middle towards red and the fans don't come on then there is some other problem, but if the fans come on to cool the car and it still overheats then its your waterpump.

[BlantonG13]

definitely check the thermostat, but don't overlook the Radiator...I had blown one of those and I couldn't visibly find any leakage. Had someone check it out and he pointed out the radiator problem to me. But usually with a radiator, the thermostat has to be replaced as well.

[bitcore]

Originally posted by Looky@Jun 28 2004, 05:08 PM
hmm.... waterpump is unusual. Check the thermostat. It's often a defective or leaky thermostat-sleeve.

Not if you have the kind with a plastic impellor like in all of the early E36's. Impellor breaks\shatters into pieces and renders the pump completely useless.

[justin93]

someone told me how to check to see if the thermostat is the problem so ill do that, and btw i dont have a aux fan

[wozza]

Check all the points already mentioned but before you go replacing everything check/displace any air locks. Just unscrew the plastic valve next to the radiator cap and keep filling the rad with water until it starts overflowing from the valve. Start the engine and check that you can get hot air through to the cabin. Temp should now be restored. In failing that then you may have fried your thermostat which will then need replacing. Furthering that, you may need to replace the water pump and viscous fan coupling.

[justin93]

awesome thanks

[wozza]

Hope it works out for you. My old 320 was prone to overheating and I had all the relevant parts replaced several times before I recognised this to be a 'characteristic' of the car. No mechanic could find a reason for my constant airlock problem.

Good trick to keep the overheating faairies at bay. Keep a constant check to make sure you have hot air available to you in the cabin. If it wont let you have plenty of hot air (easier to notice on a cool day) then it wont be too long before you'll need to repeat this procedure.

I'll shut up now.

[justin93]

haha thanks

[wozza]

You have to excuse me Im British. Let us know how you get on justin.