My car has joined the E39 Overheat Club as of Thursday night. I took a short drive out to dinner that night and because it was raining, I had the A/C on to defog the windows. As I was returning to my hotel (I was travelling for work), I noticed the red light was on and the needle buried to the right of the dial. I quickly turned off the A/C, popped the hood and jumped out to check whether or not the fan was running - it was. The next day when the engine was cool, I checked for leaks and checked the radiator fluid level. All looked fine. I even checked for oil in the overflow tank - nada. I drove the car home (100 miles) without any hint of a problem. Had the needle even HINTED at rising, I would have pulled over and called a tow truck.
Yesterday, while running an errand, I kept a close eye on the temp gauge. At one point during my drive, the needle began to rise toward the danger zone. It kissed the red zone and then immediately returned to the normal (12 o'clock) position. My A/C was off the entire time. I never had another incident after that.
I'm going to drop my car off at the dealer tomorrow to see if they can diagnose the problem. If it's something serious, I may be parting company with my "baby".
+1 If you are close to 100k miles, I recommend a full cooling system replacement. i.e. Radiator, belts, hoses, water pump, thermostat, etc. It will save you a lot of trouble.
Why is it people here always say these things about their cooling system, it is CHEAPER THAN YOU THINK, just spend $300 on parts find a buddy with tools and spend a weekend getting to know your car...if not then find a independent mechanic who will do it for a third of what the dealer charges. The fact is if you own an E39, it has cooling issues...so every 60K miles just do the whole thing much cheaper than buying a new engine or replacing a head. I am at 56K miles, full cooling replacement in March, all tranny fluids next week, fuel filter next week with new spark plugs.
My car has joined the E39 Overheat Club as of Thursday night. I took a short drive out to dinner that night and because it was raining, I had the A/C on to defog the windows. As I was returning to my hotel (I was travelling for work), I noticed the red light was on and the needle buried to the right of the dial. I quickly turned off the A/C, popped the hood and jumped out to check whether or not the fan was running - it was. The next day when the engine was cool, I checked for leaks and checked the radiator fluid level. All looked fine. I even checked for oil in the overflow tank - nada. I drove the car home (100 miles) without any hint of a problem. Had the needle even HINTED at rising, I would have pulled over and called a tow truck.
Yesterday, while running an errand, I kept a close eye on the temp gauge. At one point during my drive, the needle began to rise toward the danger zone. It kissed the red zone and then immediately returned to the normal (12 o'clock) position. My A/C was off the entire time. I never had another incident after that.
I'm going to drop my car off at the dealer tomorrow to see if they can diagnose the problem. If it's something serious, I may be parting company with my "baby".
If that's the case, then why is there no oil or residue in the cooling system? Today, on the way to the dealer, the check engine light came on. I didn't get the car into the shop until 12:30 so they didn't get to it today. I anxiously await the dreaded call tomorrow.
Im still holding to the possibility that you need a new thermostat. If you had a blown gasket you would know, smelly steam coming from exhaust, loss in power, etc.
Thermostats get old and when they do they work periodically. Sometimes they wont open other times they might. With your description this sounds like the problem.
My problem was diagnosed as EITHER a leaking head gasket OR a cracked cylinder head. Neither of which are cheap. I sold the car instead of taking the gamble.
[happened to me once!
fixed that by changing the water pump!
changed thermostat,and flushed out radiator just 4 kicks also !
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