E30 318I Touring Overheating?

[Jayzzle]

Nice thanks, I'll look into that.

[Guest DazH]

Your welcome to add my facebook (If you have it) if you need any help and no one's about on the forums at that time

Darren Harkin London

[Guest Mister Dabsy]

Hi all, My e30 318i touring has developed an annoying problem. As I was stuck in traffic one day it overheated, lost a little bit of water out of the rad. I left it to cool down for about half an hour, and then put some more water in it, now it seems that whenever I'm not moving, the car overheats. I have had the thermostat out and in a pan of hot water, it started to open at about 93-94 degrees C, the heater still chucks out hot air, the fan still spins, when I'm driving along its fine, sits about halfway in the normal range, but when I'm stopped at traffic lights or in traffic, it heats up to just over 3/4 (it might go further I have only been stuck in traffic long enough for it to get to that temperature before moving off again). I've googled it and the general concensus is the thermostat, second in line as a culprit is the viscous fan unit (which has started screeching a little?). But it does seem to lose water a lot. I really don't know what to do about it or things I can try to rectify the problem. Any suggestions? Thanks guys. John.

TBH the thermostat should open well before 93+ that is too close to boiling-point... (Sorry if i've missed earlier posts)

70-85 tops should be enough !!

[Jayzzle]

Your welcome to add my facebook (If you have it) if you need any help and no one's about on the forums at that time

Darren Harkin London

Thanks mate, appreciate it.

TBH the thermostat should open well before 93+ that is too close to boiling-point... (Sorry if i've missed earlier posts)

70-85 tops should be enough !!

So you think I should change the thermostat then just to be safe? Since I got that bolt out and gasketed that top hose housing, I put proper coolant in it, I was sat outside the house yesterday with it running for about 20 minutes while I sorted my sat nav out, it slowly creeped up and was just over halfway before I started driving, So I'm guessing the overheating problem persists but just slower lol.

[IanIOM]

Ask dabs said,thermostat

[Jayzzle]

Sorry to bring up a dead thread, but I wanted to update you all as you have been so helpful. I changed the thermostat a while ago, but it still overheats like anything. It has also started pouring out white smoke every now and then, so I guess it is a head gasket problem after all. I have bought some K-Seal, it's supposed to be a permanent head gasket repair, has anyone had any dealings with it before? I'd like to know if I wasted my money or not lol. It will just be temporary anyway untill I can gather the £80 to get a head gasket kit and a further few hundred to get it fitted, I could probably do it myself but I don't feel confident enough anymore after I snapped that bolt off. The MoT ran out now and I'm just trying to find all the bits that need replacing so it has a better chance of passing. I got a few other problems that I need to look into cus I'm not sure if they will cause a fail or not. So yeah, that's where it stands now :) Thanks again for everyones help. Jay