BMW e36 318i 1991 - Overheating :(

[Turning_Point 0]

Hey guys, havent posted here in donkeys years

Have a bit (huge) problem with my gypsie vehicle.

Yesterday i had a pretty bad day haha, car gets towed by ace bastards from domion rd, i had to walk into the city and get it back... 200$ later i got the car back and drove it to my friends and all of a sudden whenever i sit idle the car will just overheat and go straight to red (now its done that a couple of times in the past, but as soon as the car gets going its sweet again) but now its just constantly hitting the red as soon as it stuck at lights etc. :'(

Help!

I think this is going to cost me a lot of money, that i dont have. Possible thermostat? or water pump?...

Many thanks in advance

[Silver Fox 43]

Possibly the viscous fan, indications are right. Do you have any water leaks, do you have to top it up at all?

[Turning_Point 0]

Hey thanks for the reply

where abouts is this? how big is it out of 10 on the, rape all my money scale lol. i havent noticed any leaks as such and havent needed to top it up, ill probaly need to now though since it stemmed out last nite

[Eagle 1534]

Big fan at the front on the engine, i quoted one up from BM Workshop awhile ago and it was bit over $300 for an E30 one, id imagine yours be similar price.so i imported one for just over $100.

Could buy a 2nd hand one but bit of a gamble if the clutch is good enough.

Is it easy to spin?

[Silver Fox 43]

Give Ray a call at Hellbm, a forum sponsor, He'll do you a good deal.

[Turning_Point 0]

Okay so there is two fans, thers a little one behind the grills. thats not spinning. i assume it only spins when air passes through the car when travelling? .. the massive fan behind the radiator is spinning as its belt driven ...is there some way i can test why either of those are fault.

Also just read on the bently manual that if the top radiator house is not hot to touch after car reaches operating temp, then the thermostat might not be opening? as this is the case, top hose is not hot/warm to touch at all

[Silver Fox 43]

It's the big fan behind the radiator, when the motor's off you should feel some resistance when you try to spin it. The car will need to be at full operating temp to do the top hose check, what car do you have?

[Turning_Point 0]

i see, there is lots of resistance there, it wont spin freely by any means. oh yes, i only felt it after the temp gauge read half way, that would be only water temp, not actual engine temp.

and its a 91 e36 318 4 door

[Silver Fox 43]

Ok, it's the M40 motor then. So the hose to feel is the one on the drivers side which goes to the bottom of the radiator, not the top hose, it should be hot. You'll see that the bottom hose joins to the motor at the front, behind the fan, the thermostat is behind that aluminium fitting that hose slips on. You undo 3 x 10mm bolts to remove it, and the thermostat should just pry out quite easily. You can drop it in a pot of boiling water and see if it opens. This motor can run without a thermostat if you want to see if it makes any difference, because of where the thermostat is, by removing it you just have it open all the time, so you shouldn't overheat due to a problem there.

[Turning_Point 0]

okay so its safe to undo the hoses, i wont need to replace the coolant etc after removing the thermostat?? cause ill give that go if thats the case.

[Silver Fox 43]

you will need to bleed the system and top up when you do this, you do lose some water. make sure its cold if you do it.

If in doubt, take it to a garage, Botany motor worx in Te Irirangi is good if you're south.

Edited July 13, 2008 by Silver Fox

[Turning_Point 0]

Great thanks for all your help silver fox, i think ill be able to bleed it.

Ive managed to get the housing off, i accidently took the bit off that the top house connects to at first... *woops*

so ive chucked it in a pot with boiling water from the kettle and this is the result of the bastard...

would it be fair to say its buggered? its only opening maybe .5cm?

how much do brand new ones go for these days from the likes repco

Edited July 13, 2008 by Turning_Point

[Eagle 1534]

Looks pretty ancient & might as well be replaced. New genuine ones are about $30-40