MD13 494 Report post Posted April 17, 2023 Yes very happy. Thanks for the advice Eagle! 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MD13 494 Report post Posted April 25, 2023 Odd thing happened yesterday. I was driving to Orewa last night. I looked down at the cluster because a "check brake light' message popped up and I noticed the temp gauge pointing to the red! Queue sudden panic! Light traffic so I slowed and pulled off onto the shoulder and as I came to a halt the temp gauge promptly went back to half way... I didn't smell anything and the BP station was just around the corner so I drove her back onto the motorway heading north. Temp gauge stayed at half way so I went to Orewa. Couple of hours later I checked the engine and fluid levels which were fine so drove home with the temp gauge staying at half way. Any ideas? Dodgy sensor perhaps or maybe fan clutch? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Eagle 1662 Report post Posted April 26, 2023 Do the hidden OBC unlock and bring up the coolant temp so you can see what its actually reading under different conditions. The gauge being buffered means if it goes even a few degrees out of its normal middle range then its going straight to the red zone. Cooling system refresh is always a good idea as you probably given its probably on old\unknown parts. Never really heard of sensor failing but you can almost guarantee the thermostat and fan clutch are original. When i buy a car i usually remove the radiator at the same time and clean out all usual debris on the front of the fins and the AC condenser area. 2 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MD13 494 Report post Posted May 28, 2023 (edited) Pixel fix time. Saw Sreten do it so ordered the parts and this hasn't gone well... Looks like someone has been in here before... Marked and ready to pull... The needle won't come off... So where do I buy the motor's from? I don't see them on pixelfix... Or should I just get a new cluster? Edited May 28, 2023 by MD13 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MD13 494 Report post Posted May 28, 2023 (edited) Found the step motors here - motor Even with pliers I can't pull the needle off the pin... Might have to buy a second hand cluster and use it for parts. Edited May 28, 2023 by MD13 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
aja540i 1906 Report post Posted May 28, 2023 I had the exact same thing happen when I was swapping the overlay in my 530d from a MPH one to metric, I got a cluster from pick a part and raided it for parts. I even got a set of needle nose pliers and ground them down really narrow to get in the gap and hold the motor shaft, didn't help!! I think I still have whats left of the spare cluster if you want it. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MD13 494 Report post Posted May 28, 2023 Thanks Andrew - were you successful in the end? Looking for a little hope... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MD13 494 Report post Posted January 4 3rd failed attempt at this cluster repair. Time to give up and pay a professional 😞 Recommendations for an expert? I would prefer Auckland if possible. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MD13 494 Report post Posted February 16 Got the cluster repaired and re-installed it this afternoon. I've been driving it on occasion with the donor cluster and was worried the mileage would be off at next WOF but it seems to have autocorrected 🙂 Only off thing is it appears to think it's -20C outside. Hopefully that comes right with some driving also. Recommend Robinson's Instruments in Onehunga. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MD13 494 Report post Posted May 26 On 4/26/2023 at 5:56 PM, Eagle said: Do the hidden OBC unlock and bring up the coolant temp so you can see what its actually reading under different conditions. The gauge being buffered means if it goes even a few degrees out of its normal middle range then its going straight to the red zone. Cooling system refresh is always a good idea as you probably given its probably on old\unknown parts. Never really heard of sensor failing but you can almost guarantee the thermostat and fan clutch are original. When i buy a car i usually remove the radiator at the same time and clean out all usual debris on the front of the fins and the AC condenser area. I'm a little slow but now that the cluster is useable I got around to unlocking the hidden menu and viewing the temp. KTMP at cold shows 30' and moved up to 60 before the gauge went to the red zone at which point KTMP shows -128'. I'm assuming this means no reading available so as a safety the gauge shows red? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Eagle 1662 Report post Posted May 27 (edited) Never overheating a BMW while looking at it so im not sure, but i would expect it to read the temperature regardless. Sounds like some sort of electrical fault with cluster, maybe the sensor itself or something else. If you have access to any scan tool with live data you should be able see if its reading properly on that. If it is then probably a cluster fault im guessing. EDIT: Im assuming you have bled the system? Edited May 27 by Eagle Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MD13 494 Report post Posted May 28 (edited) 22 hours ago, Eagle said: Never overheating a BMW while looking at it so im not sure, but i would expect it to read the temperature regardless. Sounds like some sort of electrical fault with cluster, maybe the sensor itself or something else. If you have access to any scan tool with live data you should be able see if its reading properly on that. If it is then probably a cluster fault im guessing. EDIT: Im assuming you have bled the system? Yes new coolant and system bled. Gauge doesn't just go to red and stay there. It's somewhat random but it usually goes to red then comes back down after a few minutes - KTMP was showing 75 degrees on the short trip Sunday. It seems to go to red and back down a few times before "settling" on just under halfway on the gauge. Edited May 28 by MD13 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Eagle 1662 Report post Posted May 28 Sounds like a faulty cluster to me or the temperature sender side of the coolant sensor is playing up in turn causing the gauge to act abnormal. Sensor is easy to test by checking the resistance with multimeter at various temperatures, but otherwise as above with a scan tool or use a infrared thermostat to take readings around the coolant sensor. Id also scan the whole car for any fault codes at the same time. 2 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Allanw 1071 Report post Posted May 28 Yeah - and carefully check the wiring to the sensor - that -128 would normally be an open circuit default value, wouldn't it? Or maybe short to ground? The -20 outside won't help either - they use a number of temps to determine what it going on with the whole cooling system. It won't make the gauge peg or anything, but it does alter fan PWM calculations etc. 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MD13 494 Report post Posted June 30 Replaced the sensor - no change 😞 Bought some new fog lights off a nice young chap on fb and fitted - one of the old ones was cracked. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
