m20 temp guage quarter......?

[e30-EVN]

Ok so I completed a 318-325 conversion for a mate today after waiting for postage of new thermo housing after that little drama.
First signs are good and apart from needing a general service the engine runs sweet and pulls very nicely indeed for an m20 except 1 thing that's niggling me....

Temp guage when driving does not go above quarter on the guage!
If let to idle she goes up but not a great deal. As soon as you start driving she creaps back down again. Car goes nowhere near 3 quarters never mind the red so that's a plus I suppose.
I'm thinking maybey the thermostat is stuck open and needs replacing, am I correct in thinking this?

Also I was chatting to a friend on facebook about it who has a c2 alpina m20 and he said his was like it for months and he never had any issues and it wouldn't do it any harm. But in my experience an m20, even my m50 and 52 sits consistantly halfway unless in traffic where it goes just above and the viscous (m20) cuts in or the electric fan (m52) kicks in... Orrrr, just below when driving with heaters on wack.

Are my assumptions correct here, or is he right in saying it will be fine? Because you see, I'm not so sure and think maybey it should be changed asap

TIA

[HairyScreech]

Could be the brown temp sensor failing.

is it between the quarter mark and the half way or between the blue and the quarter?

[Grrrmachine]

You could have a quick look here:

http://www.e30zone.net/e30zonewiki/inde ... vercooling

[e30-EVN]

Thanks, so on that note the thermostat needs changing as I thought.

Thanks again

[DanThe]

It will be an 80° thermostat, perfectly normal, what I use on mine.
88° puts the needle to the centre of the gauge

[e30-EVN]

On that note Dan, I'm happy to hand the car back to him today and give mine some much needed handbrake shoes, spring kit and expander love for the mot

[Rav335uk]

It will be an 80° thermostat, perfectly normal, what I use on mine.
88° puts the needle to the centre of the gauge

I use the lower stat too.

[Grrrmachine]

I've updated the Wiki to reflect this new info.

[miniblob]

Nice to hear - mine must have the lower stat too then!!!

Just keeping

[fowler]

Yes it has rob !!!!!

[e30-EVN]

Happy days people

[jimf]

Here is me thinking there is something wrong with mine. Damn, just spent the day changing the thermostat and flushing the system!!

[e30-EVN]

Ummm gutted mate lol

[BenHar]

The wiki is still wrong.

I've checked on realOEM.

318i: http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do ... g=11&fg=35

88 degrees C

325i: http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do ... g=11&fg=35

80 degrees C

That's why 325i s run at just above a quarter on the gauge and 318i s at half.

Ben

[oomz1975]

It will be an 80° thermostat, perfectly normal, what I use on mine.
88° puts the needle to the centre of the gauge

I use the lower stat too.

Same here...

[sunnyr83]

Glad i read this, changed the blue temp sensor and was going to do the thermo tomm but no need now. Looks like i gotta spend time with the her indoors now!

[BenHar]

The wiki is still wrong.

I've checked on realOEM.

318i: http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do ... g=11&fg=35

88 degrees C

325i: http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do ... g=11&fg=35

80 degrees C

That's why 325i s run at just above a quarter on the gauge and 318i s at half.

Grrrmachine, I think the wiki should be edited.

The way this reads:
http://www.e30zone.net/e30zonewiki/inde ... vercooling
could persuade someone with a 325i to change to an 88 degree C stat. Which might damage the engine.

Ben

[KimH]

My 325i sits at just above 1/4 on the temp gauge all day long, it creeps up a couple of needle widths in stationary traffic on a hot day but stays there until I get moving again.

This it has done in the 107k miles since I've had it and returns 32mpg overall.

I would hazard a guess yours is perfectly normal.

[Grrrmachine]

I've made some changes to the Wiki now, including a "non-problem" part. That should clear things up.

[BenHar]

I've made some changes to the Wiki now, including a "non-problem" part. That should clear things up.

Thanks, Grrrmachine.

Ben

[BATTS91]

my m50 sits at quarter mark but the heaters blow hardly fook all heat and im pretty sure its bled up fine , would i also possibly have an 80degree stat?

[Grrrmachine]

If you've got no heat from the blowers, then you've got problems. An 80 degree stat will still let your system get to 80 degrees, and you'd definitely feel that being blown in your face!

[Brianmoooore]

my m50 sits at quarter mark but the heaters blow hardly fook all heat and im pretty sure its bled up fine , would i also possibly have an 80degree stat?

More likely reason is that the heater pipes are the wrong way around.

[BATTS91]

from engine to top of matrix right ?. soz for hijacking abit

[Brianmoooore]

from engine to top of matrix right ?

Wrong!

[HJG-E30]

Whilst on this topic.... mine sits between the blue and 1/4, only going higher if i'm in traffic for a fair while. Heater blows good hot air...

M20 B25

[BenHar]

That sounds low.

<Brianmooore> What engine? </Brianmooore>

Ben