E36 1997 318ti Overheating Problem

[Biggaz]

A mate of mine has a overheating problem on his 1997 318ti.

He's Changed the headgasket and had the head skimmed, Changed the thermostat, Changed the waterpump... But is still overheating... HELP !!!

[marti5]

This is a strange one!!!, either he hasn,t bleed the system properly or the thermostat is a dud one even though its new ( tell him to run it with no stat in and see what happens).

Also maybe he has'nt torque'd the head down correctley and then you have worse case there is a crack in the head which was'nt noticed.

[marti5]

There is another possibility, unplug the ICV,then drive the car with the ICV unplugged, It would have to be a massive air leak to make it run so lean it overheats and it wouldn't overheat at idle with a lean mixture, just run badly. If it drives okay without overheating it may not be an engine issue at all. You'll have to give it a try.
You can even remove the MAF completely and the car will still run and drive.
Do carb cleaner test, you need to spray it around all air in takes and air in take hoses, with the engine idling - you're looking for a noticeable rise in engine speed.

Hope the above helps.

[Biggaz]

Cheers for that mate

[jedza]

I have an 318i E46 that is having overheating problem. I had the head checked everything was said to OK. I changed the water pump which had a damaged impeller, put in new oil housing pump which had corrosion.The pipes swell hard and used to burst pipes and expansion tank. When I drive the temp comes down but when I slow down it goes up. Also fan does not run when engine is switched on. What could be the problem