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Temperature guage not going above ~30%
Posted: Wed Oct 21, 2020 12:13 pm
by Kalimsnor
Hi!
So I've replaced my entire instrument cluster, as my car was originally USA-spec and I'm from Europe. I have have 325i cluster in my 325e. Sadly this also means my RPM is reading wrong (7k instead of 5k red line), but from what I've understood I need to fix my old SI board and put it in the new cluster. However the old SI board is soldered into oblivion by the previous owner, even a professional electrical shop said they wouldn't want to touch it.
Anyway, on to the "issue". My temp meter never really reads above 30%, even after driving for hours on end in temperatures up to 30 degrees celcius. It also creeps up to this 30% mark really slow. I'm assuming it's just a faulty gauge, and it shouldn't be a real issue. What I'm more worried about is if it ever were to run hot, I'm assuming it would get to 60-70% rather than 90-100%. Can someone clarify this?
Re: Temperature guage not going above ~30%
Posted: Tue Nov 03, 2020 11:21 am
by Kalimsnor
Sneakily bumping this thread
Re: Temperature guage not going above ~30%
Posted: Wed Nov 04, 2020 1:33 am
by twright
Are you sure that the the temperature is real and your thermostat isn't closing properly?
Re: Temperature guage not going above ~30%
Posted: Wed Nov 04, 2020 11:54 pm
by Contours
My temperature gauge never goes above 30% either and I have the car for years and done substantial mileage in that time. The car heats up quicker than my woman's modern Audi a3 . I would assume the gauge isn't faulty as this has been it's routine from the start. I could be wrong but I do not think the cluster has a bearing on the gauge reading.
Re: Temperature guage not going above ~30%
Posted: Sun Nov 08, 2020 12:11 pm
by Kalimsnor
Seems like the VISCO in my fan needs replacing. The fan turns on early on and is constantly cooling the engine, even when it shouldn't be. I think that's the issue.
twright wrote: ↑Wed Nov 04, 2020 1:33 am
Are you sure that the the temperature is real and your thermostat isn't closing properly?
I'm sure temp is good, but didn't test the thermostat.
Re: Temperature guage not going above ~30%
Posted: Thu Dec 03, 2020 10:05 am
by Kalimsnor
So the viscous fan has been replaced and my temperaturemeter still won't go above ~30%
Re: Temperature guage not going above ~30%
Posted: Thu Dec 03, 2020 10:52 am
by Brianmoooore
This was never going to be anything to do with the viscous fan coupling, but is likely to be everything to do with a duff thermostat, IF there is any problem at all.
Correct thermostat is 80 degrees, and that doesn't equate with the gauge needle being very far up the scale. Around the first white line is the correct position.
Re: Temperature guage not going above ~30%
Posted: Thu Dec 03, 2020 1:53 pm
by Contours
The viscous fan spins all of the time the engine is running. If it were faulty then your engine would heat up slightly while in traffic with a noticeable upward shift in your temperature gauge and resume back to normal when you're out on the open road. It may be the case that the car doesn't have the problem.
Re: Temperature guage not going above ~30%
Posted: Fri Dec 04, 2020 11:20 am
by BristolE30
Sounds like your car is running perfectly, by the 30% I assume you mean the first white quarter mark on the temp gauge? Standard for a 325i, as it’s around 80c
Re: Temperature guage not going above ~30%
Posted: Fri Dec 04, 2020 12:31 pm
by Blanca
Just shift the needle, I did on my gauges for fuel, (reading too low, fill to half full and adjust) and temp (reading to low, get hot) so that under normal warmed up conditions they are at 12-o-clock. Also calibrated speedo using a GPS speedo on my mobile and a tacho on my timing light, they all needed a tweak.
Re: Temperature guage not going above ~30%
Posted: Fri Dec 04, 2020 9:58 pm
by Brianmoooore
Blanca wrote: ↑Fri Dec 04, 2020 12:31 pm
Just shift the needle, I did on my gauges for fuel, (reading too low, fill to half full and adjust) and temp (reading to low, get hot) so that under normal warmed up conditions they are at 12-o-clock. Also calibrated speedo using a GPS speedo on my mobile and a tacho on my timing light, they all needed a tweak.
If the temp. gauge needle is near the first white line, where it should be, then moving the needle to make it read the middle white line will cause the needle to move into the red "stop the engine
now" area when the temperature only rises a few degrees, as it is designed to when idling in traffic. Don't forget that the middle of the gauge is expanded and the end areas compressed.
It's a commonly held misunderstanding that the purpose of a speedometer in a car is to tell you at what you are driving. A speedometer is fitted to a car, by law, to enable the driver to be able not to exceed a speed limit in the area where they are driving.
If the reading on the speedo. is more or equal to the posted speed limit, then you are not in breach of the relevant law.
The speedo has to deal with tyres of varying tread depth, slip, and anything else affecting the rolling diameter of the tyres, and the fact that they are not ultra precision instruments, so all speedos are designed to over read at all speeds.
By all means check the calibration of your speedo, and make a mental note of it, but don't move the needle.
If you check your speed using the OBC display, you'll find it's much more accurate than the speedo.
Re: Temperature guage not going above ~30%
Posted: Sun Dec 06, 2020 1:11 pm
by Blanca
Brianmoooore wrote: ↑Fri Dec 04, 2020 9:58 pm
Blanca wrote: ↑Fri Dec 04, 2020 12:31 pm
Just shift the needle, I did on my gauges for fuel, (reading too low, fill to half full and adjust) and temp (reading to low, get hot) so that under normal warmed up conditions they are at 12-o-clock. Also calibrated speedo using a GPS speedo on my mobile and a tacho on my timing light, they all needed a tweak.
If the temp. gauge needle is near the first white line, where it should be, then moving the needle to make it read the middle white line will cause the needle to move into the red "stop the engine
now" area when the temperature only rises a few degrees, as it is designed to when idling in traffic. Don't forget that the middle of the gauge is expanded and the end areas compressed.
It's a commonly held misunderstanding that the purpose of a speedometer in a car is to tell you at what you are driving. A speedometer is fitted to a car, by law, to enable the driver to be able not to exceed a speed limit in the area where they are driving.
If the reading on the speedo. is more or equal to the posted speed limit, then you are not in breach of the relevant law.
The speedo has to deal with tyres of varying tread depth, slip, and anything else affecting the rolling diameter of the tyres, and the fact that they are not ultra precision instruments, so all speedos are designed to over read at all speeds.
By all means check the calibration of your speedo, and make a mental note of it, but don't move the needle.
If you check your speed using the OBC display, you'll find it's much more accurate than the speedo.
True, as far as the sprit of the law goes. Of course Spain has a different slant on things as usual.
What I meant was, If I am driving at 120Kph, normal working temp' and half a tank of gas then that is what my gauges show, not 'near enough' .
Re: Temperature guage not going above ~30%
Posted: Thu Dec 10, 2020 9:10 am
by Kalimsnor
That is interesting, I always thought temp. gauges shold be around 50%. It is indeed at the first white line, so that means it's functioning as it should.
Brianmoooore wrote: ↑Thu Dec 03, 2020 10:52 am
This was never going to be anything to do with the viscous fan coupling, but is likely to be everything to do with a duff thermostat, IF there is any problem at all.
Correct thermostat is 80 degrees, and that doesn't equate with the gauge needle being very far up the scale. Around the first white line is the correct position.
The thermostat and thermostathousing are both replaced a few months ago after my head gasket had blown.
Re: Temperature guage not going above ~30%
Posted: Thu Dec 10, 2020 10:23 am
by Brianmoooore
Never make the mistake of assuming that a new part is either working properly or won't fail quickly. These things follow the well known 'bath tub' reliability curve.
Having said that, I still think there's probably nothing wrong. Posting a pic. of the gauge with the engine up to temp. would settle the issue.
Looking back at your OP, you mention SI boards. The rev. limit of your engine is determined by the engine ECU, and has nothing to do with red paint on the dial, and SI boards are interchangeable.
Re: Temperature guage not going above ~30%
Posted: Tue Jan 05, 2021 12:11 pm
by Kalimsnor
Brianmoooore wrote: ↑Thu Dec 10, 2020 10:23 am
Never make the mistake of assuming that a new part is either working properly or won't fail quickly. These things follow the well known 'bath tub' reliability curve.
Having said that, I still think there's probably nothing wrong. Posting a pic. of the gauge with the engine up to temp. would settle the issue.
Looking back at your OP, you mention SI boards. The rev. limit of your engine is determined by the engine ECU, and has nothing to do with red paint on the dial, and SI boards are interchangeable.
Fair enough. The car is away for the winter, but I took it out for a quick spin to prevent it from staying put too long. Here's a bad-quality pic of the temp reading after driving for about 20 minutes and having it run idle for 10 minutes:
Re: Temperature guage not going above ~30%
Posted: Tue Jan 05, 2021 1:34 pm
by Brianmoooore
That's a little lower than it should be.
Was the gauge higher when driving? If it's been idling for a while, and the heater is on, then the heater may be putting out more heat than the engine's producing.
Did you change the 'stat yourself?
Re: Temperature guage not going above ~30%
Posted: Thu Jan 07, 2021 11:40 am
by Kalimsnor
Brianmoooore wrote: ↑Tue Jan 05, 2021 1:34 pm
That's a little lower than it should be.
Was the gauge higher when driving? If it's been idling for a while, and the heater is on, then the heater may be putting out more heat than the engine's producing.
Did you change the 'stat yourself?
The gauge basically stays around this point. Temperature outside was about 2-5 degrees celcius, but it's roughly the same on warmer days. The heater was on indeed.
I will snap another picture when I take it out again to do some minor work on the fog lights. Might be a while, I'll bump this post when the time comes!
Re: Temperature guage not going above ~30%
Posted: Thu Mar 11, 2021 2:06 pm
by Kalimsnor
This is how high the temp goes after ~25 minutes of driving roughly 100km/h. Is there any way to check my engine temperature easily to see if the meter is (slightly) off?
Re: Temperature guage not going above ~30%
Posted: Thu Mar 11, 2021 7:24 pm
by Brianmoooore
It's slightly lower than I'd expect ,but only by a couple of degrees, so it's fine.
You can check with an infra red thermometer, or possibly measure the resistance of the blue sensor, and compare it with the published temp/resistance graphs for these sensors.
Re: Temperature guage not going above ~30%
Posted: Fri Mar 12, 2021 3:29 pm
by Kalimsnor
Brianmoooore wrote: ↑Thu Mar 11, 2021 7:24 pm
It's slightly lower than I'd expect ,but only by a couple of degrees, so it's fine.
You can check with an infra red thermometer, or possibly measure the resistance of the blue sensor, and compare it with the published temp/resistance graphs for these sensors.
OK great, then I'll leave it as is! Thanks
Re: Temperature guage not going above ~30%
Posted: Mon May 10, 2021 2:41 pm
by Kalimsnor
I purchased an infrared temperature reader to double-check, and the oil gets to roughly 90-95 degrees Celcius if I point it at the part where you can pour new oil into the block.
