What's wrong with my car :-(....PLEASE HELP!!!

[gillsl500]

Right guys,

My coolant light has been flashing on my car for a few weeks, I checked the levels and it was fine, somebody told me that the sensor must have just gone.

Yesterday I noticed that when I was sat in my stationary car the temp guage was heading to the red?! This isn't normal is it?! Could this be to do with a dodgy fan?

Also when driving the car back from work today I had the heater fan on full, it was blowing warm air as it should, then suddenly the warm air became cool/not warm?? This has never happened before...

It's a 325i cabby. Any help appreciated fellas, many thanks.

[Rtaylor2208]

There are a few possibilities, going on the issue with the heater the first thing I would do is try bleeding the coolant system as it sounds like you may have an airlock.

Its not difficult. Make sure the coolant level is correct, then get the car upto the half way mark on the temp guage and set the heaters to full for temp and fan speed.

Open the coolant bleed screw that is on top of the thermostat. IIRC its a 8mm bolt and its just below the fuel pressure regulator.

Coolant will drian out of the bleed screw and any trapped air should be released as small bubbles.

Keep an eye on the temp guage while you are bleeding the engine. Once you get a steady stream of coolant comming out the bleed screw with no bubbles tighten it back up. And top up the coolant till it meets the mark again.

This sounds way more difficult than it actually is.

If you then have hot air all the time from the heaters but the car is still overheating when stationary the viscous fan may be on its way out.

If it checks out OK then you may have a failing head gasket. Is there any sign of mayo in the oil or oil in the coolant expansion tank?

[sunnyr83]

As above, worth checking the thermo ??

[Rtaylor2208]

worth checking the thermo

I might be wrong but if thermostat was causing a problem i.e. not opening the car would run cold rather than too hot.

[gillsl500]

Top stuff mate i'l be sure to check'em out? I'l post back up after I've done it, many thanks for your time mate

[BenHar]

worth checking the thermo

I might be wrong but if thermostat was causing a problem i.e. not opening the car would run cold rather than too hot.

If the thermostat is not OPENING the car will overheat. If it is not CLOSING it will run cool.

Ben

[Gavla]

As everyone has said above, I had the same problem, turned out to be my water pump and viscous fan needed to be replaced.

[gillsl500]

As everyone has said above, I had the same problem, turned out to be my water pump and viscous fan needed to be replaced.

Interesting...how much did it put you back mate? Did you do the job your self?

Cheers

[Rav335uk]

As everyone has said above, I had the same problem, turned out to be my water pump and viscous fan needed to be replaced.

Interesting...how much did it put you back mate? Did you do the job your self?

Cheers

Where are you located Gill

[gillsl500]

Right guys just checked my coolant levels, and there's nothing in there :-/...what a twat I am!!

What sort of coolant do I go for and where can I get it from? Do i need any other bits and bobs too? If the problem still persists with over heating and cold air then i'l try to bleed the system and check for air locks?

Cheers fellas

[gillsl500]

I'm in Telford Rav if that's any help dude!!

[Brianmoooore]

Just use plain water for now, as I fear you may be too late, and serious damage has been done. You rarely get the chance to overheat an engine twice!

[gillsl500]

Alright mate, but the engine hasn't actually over heated, it got to 75% hot on the guage and then come back down again as I was driving her.

Surly this will not have caused damage to the engine?

If I was to use plain water, how much would I need?

Also if all is fine with water, then will I have to bleed the water out and replace with proper coolant?

If so what coolant do I need to use?

Cheers

[Rtaylor2208]

As Brain has said fill it with water to check it first.

Fill the water up in the coolant tank to the top level.

Then follow the steps I posted yesterday to bleed the system.

Providing you dont have any overheating issues and no loss of coolant, which I suspect you will as it's unlikely it all just evaporated. You can then replace the water with coolant.

You really need to drain the radiator and block to get all the water which means getting the car off the ground.

Draining the radiator is easy enough you just disconnect the bottom hose on the radiator and drian the water into a basin or something. The block there is a drain plug near the back on the engine. The guide in the wiki for basic M20 servicing covers this much.

As for what coolant you need to use the Blue Coolant, you can get this from any motor factors and will be about £10 to £20 for 5 litres.

When filling it back up you want a 50/50 mix of coolant and water. Also you are supposed to use deionised water which you can also get in the motor factors or even asda in the car products bit.

[kman82]

the temp sensor reads the temp of the collant though mate so if you had no coolant in there it wont read the correct temperature.

some other tips on topping up the coolant though...... Park the car on a hill facing upwards / raise the front end slightly. make sure you massage all the hoses as you fill it up to move the air through.

[gillsl500]

Right guys I followed RTaylors advice and tried to bleed the coolant system. I topped the empty coolant resivour up, brought the engine temp to half way on the gauge and the opened the bleed nipple, it appeared as though the water was spluttering out, the spluttering water never actually settled to a flowing stream.

Here's a pic of the spluttering water





All this time I had the fan on full turned to the maximum possible heat too, I kept checking the temp of the car and It remained steady however the fan never blew out hot air!!

I also noticed that all pipes linked to the coolant system were hot apart from this one





What other checks could I do lads? I was told to also check my viscous fan by holding a folded new paper to it, I was told it should rip the folded paper to shreads if it's spot on, and if it's not working then it will just stop when the paper finds it's self in-between the blades. I did the check and the paper just stopped the fan no problems, so does this mean I may have issues with my viscouse?

Thanks to everyone for all your help [/img]

[capri_rob]

Yes if when the engine is hot the fan can be stopped by the rolled up newspaper the viscous is knackered.

You can get them from GSF or ECP - just make sure its a Sachs or equivalent part and not some cheap crap.

The viscous not working properly goes some way to explaining why the engine was getting hot.

I'd be more worried about where the coolant is going - its a sealed system so if theres none in there its escaped somehow - you need to find out where !

[gillsl500]

Cheers rob, so basically I'm looking for a leak then?

How much would a new viscouse fan set me back mate? Are they easy to install and fit?

Cheers buddy

[capri_rob]

A decent quality viscous coupling is about £35 - £40 from ECP or GSF

Easy to install if you have the correct sized big spanner to undo the existing one.

Yes if the coolant reservoir was empty you have a leak somewhere. Check the obvious stuff first like all the hoses and radiator - are the carpets wet ?
Could be the heater matrix or heater valve.

Failing that it could be leaking from the water pump if its on its way out.

[Rav335uk]

So, Viscous fan, as I suspected Gill, and i think you'r other issue might be the thermostat,

can you feel if the pipes gping to the heater matrix are hot/cold, and which is which??

[gillsl500]

Many thanks fellas, i'l have to sort that fan out then?

Yeah Rav, I think you should change your user name to the oracle now ...actually from now on dude I'm gonna call you uncle oracle haha...nah mate but I did what you said with the paper and it just stopped dead!!

Il check the houses tmrw mate and post back up. Cheers dude

[TouringTash]

You'll need a 32mm long handled open ended spanner to get the fan off and it's a left hand thread fella.
Worth ordering up a set of new knuckle skins whilst you are at ECP.

[e30topless]

if the bottom hose is cold but temp is rising then your thermostat could well be jammed shut and not operating properly,

is this a problem that has just started or has it done this since work has been carried out ? is it losing coolant ?