E30 Zone

Hi all,

So I know there is a lot of info out there about this but hard to narrow down my issue.. hope some one can help?

My temp gauge was completely dead so I tightened the nut on the back and cleaned/sanded the pins on the back, it now has power but the reading is still not right, it only goes up max just over the blue marker.

The reading you get is about right if your engine is a 6-cyl. one.
For a 4-cyl. motor the needle should be vertical/ 12-o-clock.

is you engine a 6 cylinder? aka m20?

if so check the brown temp sensor in the thermostat housing,

6 cylinder m20 320i year 1985

in that case test the brown temp sensor,

disconnect the plug & the gauge should read zero,

ground the sensor & the gauge should go into the red zone,

if it fails to do either of these then replace it.

Stupid question - how do I ground the sensor?

Moo2 wrote: ↑

Tue Aug 20, 2019 12:54 pm

Stupid question - how do I ground the sensor?

Remove the plug from the sensor and use a piece of wire to connect the single pin in the plug to a good body earth.
Have you considered the possibility that the gauge is telling the truth, and the engine isn't reaching full temperature?

So I have 2 sensors which seem to be wrong from my research...any ideas?

I’m not sure why the brown plug is connected to the blue plug?

And I bought a temperature sensor which only had 1 pin!?