Morning All,
I have an overheating issue with my 318i. I've owned the car nearly 3 years with no issues until recently.
About 4 weeks ago I started to notice the temps creeping up when sat in traffic but would come down again when I moved off, so I began to suspect the fan. A few days after that the temperatures really started to rise and even when moving it just kept going up to the point where I had to pull in to let it cool enough to get me home. After that I replaced the fan coupling, the thermostat and the water pump just to try and cover all bases. I refilled and bled the system and all was working fine for a couple of weeks, with the needle sat just below the mid point through all types of driving.
Until this morning, when towards the end of my commute I noticed the temperatures creeping up again. By the time I got to the office, the needle was in the red. Thankfully I just about made it to the car park without having to pull over, but I am now worried I won't be able to get home. I have the bottle of coolant in the car still so I will check the levels before I set off and top it off if needed, but I don't know what has all of a sudden caused it to over heat again after 2 weeks of running well and new pump/stat/fan.
Any thoughts of things to look at next?
Thanks
318i M40 Overheating issue
Moderator: martauto
Maybe you have a water leak and could be a slow one in the radiator which is only evident when the car is moving. May also be down in water a bit as I believe it is hard enough to completely fill the system in an e30 due to airlocking. Think there is a method on the zone on how to do this. Definitely temperature rising in traffic is the viscous fan as the car is stationary and it cools down as the wind rushes through the radiator when it's moving.
Thanks contours.
I think I found the issue, the small hose in the bottom of the radiator looked like it was leaking slightly at the joint. I could see some evidence of dripping on the undertray below it. I refilled and bled the system before leaving work, and got home no problem.
It did seem to take ages to bleed, I ended up having to disconnect the top hose and pour coolant straight in to make sure there was coolant in the engine it self, and did eventually get bubbles and then coolant coming out of the bleed screw.
One thing I noticed, my end tank doesn't appear to have a coolant min and max line on it, so I filled it about 1/3rd full when cold. Is this about right? Does anyone know how full it should be when cold? Will re check the level in the morning when it has properly cooled down.
I think I found the issue, the small hose in the bottom of the radiator looked like it was leaking slightly at the joint. I could see some evidence of dripping on the undertray below it. I refilled and bled the system before leaving work, and got home no problem.
It did seem to take ages to bleed, I ended up having to disconnect the top hose and pour coolant straight in to make sure there was coolant in the engine it self, and did eventually get bubbles and then coolant coming out of the bleed screw.
One thing I noticed, my end tank doesn't appear to have a coolant min and max line on it, so I filled it about 1/3rd full when cold. Is this about right? Does anyone know how full it should be when cold? Will re check the level in the morning when it has properly cooled down.
