Coolent Light

[Nobby_N]

My coolent light came on last week so i topped it up and was ok up until today when it came on again, ive topped it up again and pulled the sensor tube up and the water seems a greyish colour and is sludgy, ive looked on oil cap and its fine, looked on dipstick and no trace of water or white residue? She tends to get hot in traffic but cools down when you turn heater on and get going again, sorry for my spelling and bad grammer lol Any ideas whats going on as engine runs fine 320i btw cheers

[allstar_07]

Is the level actually going down or just the sensor playing up?

[Nobby_N]

Going down, just put a litre and bit in after just a week

[mrLEE30]

firstly i would take the thing to a garage and have them do a pressure test on the cooling system, this will find any leaks.

if this proves sucessful and no leaks then drain the system and fill it with new coolant (not tap water!!), if the loss of water persists then look to change the radiator cap and if still same then look to head gasket - check you plugs for signs of one plug being cleaner then the others, or failing that have a compression test done..

you car getting hot in traffic is probably your viscous fan clutch knackered, change it and normal service should resume,

by the way what do you call hot?? hot is only up near the red, not just above the middle line, anywhere within the three middle white lines is OK

[Nobby_N]

Cheers for that i will get it looked at, my Hot was getting up near the red but ive not let it hit the red.

[mrLEE30]

up toward the red is getting too hot, just above the centre but below the 3/4 point is OK. this may be a combination of a leak (causing the pressurised system to loose pressure and thus the boiling point of the fluid is lower, causing overheating.)or it could be the fan clutch not working or a combination of both!!

1. establish if there is a leak first.
2. fix the leak if there is one, if not dump the coolant and replace it with proper stuff, it only really has a one year lifetime.
3. if not leak then pressure can be lost from the cap, hence why i suggest to change this.
4. i would also change the fan clutch after all this, they are not expensive compared to a head gasket
5. if all this does not solve your cooling problems then come back and we can look further.

mrlee

[Nobby_N]

Thanks mrLee

[mrLEE30]

mrlee, i refuse to use capitols!!

hope it is just a hose leak and a fan clutch!!

good luck

[Nobby_N]

mrlee, i refuse to use capitols!!

hope it is just a hose leak and a fan clutch!!

good luck

Me Too lol

[spp320i]

As above really. If the coolant water is sludgy, replace it with the correct distilled water and coolant mixture, and see how it is then. Hopefully it's not the first signs of mayo forming and a shot head gasket.

Do replace the viscous clutch anyway though, or you may regret it if it gets too hot!!

[mrLEE30]

i would check for leaks before replacing the coolant, as any leaks will require a drain of the system anyway, replacing the coolant first will waste money and require being done again once the leak is found.