Hello I am new here.... 83 BMW 320I 135k Originally Miles Excellent body shot and o - BMW Forum

hardy · 09-30-2009, 10:50 PM

Hello I am new at this so perhaps you could welcome me and give me some tips on how this works. I am happy to find a site like this...... Well I do have a question perhaps someone could take a stab at. I have a 83 320i 5 speed the problem is it runs hot a lot. The temp gauge will go over the half way mark (3/4) to be exact when sitting at a red light or when its hot. Is this normal for the E21's 81-83 for those years? If not please advise me as to what it might be. I have already gone over many things such as coolant flush, installed new thermostat cooler Tempature (171F versus the factory 180F thought that would help it did a little). Everything else works great belts, fan, new water pump, wow the car is great no problems other then this one I am naming please advise me thanks.
Super Dave.

witeshark · 09-30-2009, 11:33 PM

First,

I deleted the duplicate thread about the A/C. About the cooling issues, there's clearly something missed. How free flowing is the radiator?

johnnyBgood · 09-30-2009, 11:52 PM

Welcome to Bimmerwerkz........

jb

hardy · 10-01-2009, 01:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by witeshark

First,

I deleted the duplicate thread about the A/C. About the cooling issues, there's clearly something missed. How free flowing is the radiator?

The radiator is flowing clear and free according to my look over and another mechanic as well.
Let me ask you this how can I find out what the tempature guage should read/be at from the factory? Perhaps its normal for it to go to 3/4? I am not sure but there are some cars like that Saturns 91-93 did that. So far with the new thermostat I installed it has not gone to 3/4 but it does go over the half way point. Thanks for any help/info you can give me.

witeshark · 10-01-2009, 09:58 AM

Normally, it shouldn't pass the halfway point. I'd say there's an issue to track down.

Cabdude · 10-01-2009, 03:16 PM

I used to have a 1981 318i E21 that did something similar. The problem was the radiator. The design of the radiator was arranged in such a way that it had multiple parallel down channels, if that makes any sense. The coolant would run hot from the engine along the top part of the radiator, then down these vertical channels, which are the cooling fins, then back to the engine to complete the cycle. Over time these channels become blocked by rust, muck, etc, but there are always plenty of them for the coolant to flow down. So the radiator appears free flowing, but has actually lost quite a bit of cooling efficiency. Replacing the radiator totally cured this problem for me. Only after the top hose burst

hardy · 10-01-2009, 06:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cabdude

I used to have a 1981 318i E21 that did something similar. The problem was the radiator. The design of the radiator was arranged in such a way that it had multiple parallel down channels, if that makes any sense. The coolant would run hot from the engine along the top part of the radiator, then down these vertical channels, which are the cooling fins, then back to the engine to complete the cycle. Over time these channels become blocked by rust, muck, etc, but there are always plenty of them for the coolant to flow down. So the radiator appears free flowing, but has actually lost quite a bit of cooling efficiency. Replacing the radiator totally cured this problem for me. Only after the top hose burst

The auxilary does come on when the a/c is turned on but not when sitting in traffic. Or at least it does not come on when the car is slightly over the half way mark.

This is my ? to you.... At what point is the Auxiliary fan supposed to come on? At what tempature when the guage is at the half way point? The reason I am asking is I don't think it is supposed to come on or if it is I have not seen it come on yet please advise thanks DAve.