over heating - BMW Forum

cooldude6900 · 10-15-2008, 12:47 PM

first of all hello ..... ok to start with ive had my bmw e36 316i coupe for a week now been driving it about and today the temp went up near the red turned the engine of straight away .. lucky was at home .. i left it for a while and inspected the water level was very low so toped it back up then started the car and it sat at normal temp took it for a few miles drive was still on normal but i had lost a bit of water also the heater works fine ... so seems im loosing water for the temp to go right up

marti5 · 10-15-2008, 01:29 PM

If your losing fluid, check all hoses and esp rad, the worst case is the head gasket but the tell-tail signs for this are mayo in the rad or on the dip stick, also check the water pump for any leaks.

cooldude6900 · 10-15-2008, 01:33 PM

ok i checked all pipes and all around cant find no signs of water anywhere even when running at normal temp i took the water cap of and rev the engine and seems water is circulating also the rad pipes are getting hot so t stat should be open anything else i can check this is the first time its done this checked oil seems fine and coolant seems normall to car drive lovely run nice also just seems strange for it to disapere also the tstat would have to be stuck closed for it to over heat right ?? if shut the rad would not get hot ??lol cheers

kandi08 · 10-15-2008, 01:37 PM

alright mate
I just brought my 36 Touring on saturday just gone
First drive and the temp gauge spiked red.
Since then it hasnt done it again.
Check out this link:BMW E36 DIY (Do It Yourself)
Ive been reading through the heating section.
Might help
Kandi

cooldude6900 · 10-15-2008, 01:46 PM

gonna take it for a long run see if it happens again lol

kandi08 · 10-15-2008, 01:47 PM

Let us know how it go's
Watch the head gasket mate

marti5 · 10-15-2008, 01:59 PM

Dont take it for a long run leave it tick over it will soon get to top temp, watch how the fan performs could be that, or the temp sensor.

cooldude6900 · 10-15-2008, 02:27 PM

ok booted it hard for half an hour lol temp stayed on normal the heater was working fine to everything seem to be ok but lost water also i didnt think the 316 had an aux fan ???

cooldude6900 · 10-15-2008, 02:37 PM

ok acualy it didnt realy loose much at all and run normal how could it do it just the once and cause the water to go fast could somthing have got stuck ??? also how do i check the main big fan perhaps its not cooling the water enoth but then surely the temp would go up all the time confused lol