spaz temp gauge

[psychochild187]

ok im not sure what is going on . my car now and then starts to over heat . and ive seen the gauge flicker about all over the place , and then go overheating on me . so im not sure if it is . or just lieing

that and over a fer hundred miles it needs toping up on water but the oil is fine
it seams the harder i drive the more both happens.

could this be old hoses need swaping incase of leaks and a new thermostat ,
and fan coupling . i dunno . whats your sugestions

[bigmattpowell]

Hi, noticed a similar thing on my 318i. Thought it was overheating for a few days till i saw the gauge flicker so i gave it hard tap and it went back to halfway. It could well just be the needle but if not try the fan clutch. When the engine is hot, try stopping the radiator fan with a newspaper-shouldn't be too easy or else it's just free wheeling, not pulling cold air.

[AndrewL]

There is a well known problem with the temp gauge going erratic on the E30 which is often due to a poor earth connection. Fix is to take the dials out and clean (=spray with switch cleaner) the brass stud on the back of the cluster behind the temp gauge. Worked for me. A search around the various E30 websites (particularly Ben which was more active some years ago) will produce a more detailed technical article but it's not much more complicated than I've said.

[Brianmoooore]

AndrewL has the solution. Very common problem on E30s.
I did mine in the middle of a campsite in the Loir valley last year!
Doesn't normally even need cleaning. Just tightening up a bit.