E30 Zone

my 316i just had some new parts fitted (by myself,not wanting to spend anymore-foolish me!)

new water pump
new thermostat (I snapped Two of the three bolts holding the housing on)
new fan clutch

ok so i fitted the parts,and all seemed well until i drove about 1 mile up the road.
The car was steaming from the engine & water was just pouring out of the bottom.

i can't figure out what i did wrong & can't do anything until the weekend as im working.

Any Idea's what's gone wrong? besides the snapped bolts which I cant get out,Or do i just take it to a garage.

HELP!!!

Difficult to see how you expect the thermostat housing to seal under pressure if there's only one bolt holding it on.

could it be that the water is pissing out the thermostat as one bolt wont be enought to seal it as its under pressure? just a late night wild guess? or the water pump not sealed properly?

i realize the bolts are probably the problem,but how can i remove the two snapped bolts in the head? without damaging the engine.

It is possible to remove snapped bolts successfully, but I think you'll probably just dig the hole you're in deeper still.

right,got the bolts out,with some difficulty using a bolt remover tool bought from the local motor factors.
and fitted housing back on,
So after all the parts fitted,air taken out of the system,radiator has been flushed and the cooling system refilled correctly,the temp gauge still goes right up to the max.
I can't understand it? (Heaters work fine also)

You are lucky regarding the bolts - bolt removers usually end up broken in the hole.
Is it overheating, or just the gauge saying it is?

The bolt remover was like a wratchet and socket type device,worked first tme luckily Brian,There are no physical signs it's overheating,(how would i tell?) it doesn't feel stupidly hot but the gauge creeps up slowly from the blue to the red in about 10 mins of driving.

have you put the thermostat in the wrong way round? (does it go straight up to red before the engine feels warm)

I thought it would only go one way round? the engine feels like its at the right temp,the top hose also gets hot which means the thermostat must be opening?
im at a loss guys i can't take it to B.M.W until payday at the end of the month.

could there be a fault in the temp sensor or the gauge? This E30 is costing a lot.

brightyboy wrote:I thought it would only go one way round? the engine feels like its at the right temp,the top hose also gets hot which means the thermostat must be opening?
im at a loss guys i can't take it to B.M.W until payday at the end of the month.

it can be fitted the wrong way on a 320 and 325, not actually worked on a 316 to be honest!

Don't take it to a main dealer try and find a local specialist or even reliable garage.

If the gauge gets right across then it will be boiling, and you'd certainly know.
Have you driven the car? Or just let it warm up idling? If your new viscous coupling wasn't stored properly (on edge), then it might be faulty.
Does the whole of the radiator get hot?

i've been out in it today,the radiator is toasty warm,the hoses are hot.but the engine certainly isn't boiling.im thinking the gauge reading must be suspect now,
i'll have to check wiring and fuses in the morning.
the fan def works fine.

It's gonna have to have the B.M.W treatment i think..

Didn't buy some oddball high temp thermostat by any chance?

don't think so,it came from G.S.F it has 88c written on it?

god im at a loss but ive found a specialist down the road from me called autobest i'll take it there.
cheers anyway guys

Brianmoooore wrote:Didn't buy some oddball high temp thermostat by any chance?

spot on Brian,replaced the thermostat again with one from B.M.W
(Put the old one in a saucepan and watched it,didn't open until water was boiling)

cheers all.