E36 Operating Temperature

[Tinkermoose]

I have a 94 325i Convertible that all of the sudden started overheating with no warning. I replaced the thermosat and fan cluth and aux. fan is working fine. The guage is still reading hot. What is the standard operating temperature for and e36? Can anyone help?

[Tinkermoose]

Could it be just the guage?

[whosyadadie01]

not likely the guage as they rarely ever go bad. usually the temp should be in the middle after it has warmed up. try replacing the water pump, they tend to go

[nue36r]

I'm trusting you did a full bleed of the system after replaceing the thermostat. If so, and your coolant level is still at the 'cold' mark, you might try the pump. Although if the pump was gone you would have a rapid temp increase into the red. Is this what you're observing?

[NYe36er]

sorry to hijack the thread....but i've posted this like 3 times now and haven't gotten a response:

hmm...when I run my car without the heater/AC on, the temp needle goes fully to the middle of the gauge. When I turn the climate control on, the temp gauge falls back to nearly 1/4 of the gauge, is this normal operation for the gauge or do I have something wrong? I've never experienced the needle moving so much in any of my previous cars simply from using the climate control.
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[whosyadadie01]

sorry to hijack the thread....but i've posted this like 3 times now and haven't gotten a response:

hmm...when I run my car without the heater/AC on, the temp needle goes fully to the middle of the gauge. When I turn the climate control on, the temp gauge falls back to nearly 1/4 of the gauge, is this normal operation for the gauge or do I have something wrong? I've never experienced the needle moving so much in any of my previous cars simply from using the climate control.
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the needle is suposed to be in the middle normally, it sounds like the eratic operation is due to a bad thermostat.

[bboyvek]

probably not a bad thermostat but one that opens at a lower temp than stocks thuz causing ur engine to be cool most of the time and when u run ur aux fan all the time then the temp will probably drop

[whosyadadie01]

its funny you mention the fan, i couldnt get the aux to turn on, or does it turn on automatically as needed ?

[Fox2112]

I have a 94 325i Convertible that all of the sudden started overheating with no warning. I replaced the thermosat and fan cluth and aux. fan is working fine. The guage is still reading hot. What is the standard operating temperature for and e36? Can anyone help?

Replace the water pump..... The way you can tell if it is working is start the engine when it is cold and open the radiator resivoir look in it and see if the coolant is moveing around... kinda like a whirlpool.... If not then the water pump is bad...

[bboyvek]

its funny you mention the fan, i couldnt get the aux to turn on, or does it turn on automatically as needed ?

1) theres a temp sensor in the radiator that switches the aux fan on and off.
2) when u turn ur the ac on.

Now if u havent overhaul ur cooling system do it. replace water pump, hoses, tsat & housing, flush ur system. finally bleed ur system.

[whosyadadie01]

1) theres a temp sensor in the radiator that switches the aux fan on and off.
2) when u turn ur the ac on.

Now if u havent overhaul ur cooling system do it. replace water pump, hoses, tsat & housing, flush ur system. finally bleed ur system.

thats the thing it doesnt turn not with or without the a/c as far as ive seen lol :dunno:

[Tinkermoose]

Thank guys It was the water pump!

[willysully]

I've had this problem before. If the car runs 4 30 or so min then gets hot your radiator is probably clogged to some degree. If poor quality / non factory coolant was used it tends to leave deposits in the tubes inside the raydiator. Hope this helps.

[Michael Cornish]

Can any one tell me the way to change the heater hose back of engine to solenoid block on my e36 320i?

[Michael Cornish]

Could anyone tell me the way to replace heater hose rear of block to solenoids on my e36 320i?

Thanks Michael

[Corey Milne]

I've had this problem before. If the car runs 4 30 or so min then gets hot your radiator is probably clogged to some degree. If poor quality / non factory coolant was used it tends to leave deposits in the tubes inside the raydiator. Hope this helps.

The whole "you have to use factory coolant" deal is a scam for the company to make money, all coolants to some extent are the same, except of course the cheap no-name stuff and long life coolants which should only be used in cars that were originally meant to use it, but as long as the car has had annual or even semi-annual coolant flushes throughout its life it shouldn't clog anything.