It seems as if this is a biweekly occurence. I'll get some part in the cooling system replaced, and I will have no overheating problems, then after an extended highway drive (@speeds of 80-95), I will have overheating problems when sitting (traffic, etc). I am not usre what the hell to do. This summer, I have had two fan clutches put in, most recently 2 weeks ago. I have a new water pump, thermostat, and radiator. There are no leaks in the system and I am not losing an abnormal amount of coolant. There is also no coolant in the oil, that can be seen. When I was sitting in traffic this weekend on the highway when these problems started again, I would use the heater to try and counteract the problem. At first it would blow cold air and the temp needle wouldnt move from the red. Then all the sudden it would blow extremely hot air and return to the middle of the gauge. This back and forth hot/cold would continue for the entire amount of the traffic. :( Any ideas guys? This is getting old real fast. As much as I love my car, something has to be making these components fail. I wanna sell and get an Estoril 4 door, but thats probably me dreaming.

Damn Joey that sucks man. You've spent a lot of cash trying to fix it. I know for a fact I need a new radiator because I can see some deposits at the top. How much did you pay to have the radiator replaced so I'll have a general idea of how much I'm looking at.

Originally posted by qwickm3
Damn Joey that sucks man. You've spent a lot of cash trying to fix it. How much did you pay to have the radiator replaced so I'll have a general idea of how much I'm looking at.

Damien, you dont know how much this whole thing pisses me off. I seem to think I have it beat and then it starts over again. I would buy something else, but I cant see myself driving anything but an e36 M3. I dunno, its going to go to the dealer on Friday, just because they have replaced everything and its all under warranty. I had the radiator replaced by a private mechanic on my old 92 325i for about 350 i think, but the dealer hit me up for 785 for new thermostat and radiator. So good luck with, I would take care of that ASAP. And the new wheels look hot. Update that sig. :)

Well,
It looks like you've replaced everything you can.
I've heard of other cars doing this (race cars), it turned out
to be a warped head creating a hot spot. I would get the
head taken off and make sure all the ports are clean and
the head is true......not much else to check!
Sorry!
Pierre

Originally posted by Pierre
Well,
It looks like you've replaced everything you can.
I've heard of other cars doing this (race cars), it turned out
to be a warped head creating a hot spot. I would get the
head taken off and make sure all the ports are clean and
the head is true......not much else to check!
Sorry!
Pierre

Fuck!

Radiator cap? Have you had your cooling system pressure tested? Replace all the hoses? If your aux fan working? While you're having things checked, how about the temp sensors? Also, the way your heating system is working sounds weird - might be a funky heater valve. How about your belts - are they all in good shape?

Or, it may be your head...

Jim

Do you ever see any boiling in your overflow bottle? It sounds like a possible small head gasket leak.

Eugene

In the resevoir tank I do get some boiling and some pressure, more than normal when it is both hot and cool. I was thinking all along that it might be head gasket, but I dont ever see any coolant in the oil. The hoses are all good and hold pressure. The heater valve has crossed my mind.....hmmmm.....Thanks for the replies guys, I am going to keep at this even if I do go broke.

It is most likely the head gasket :(

You need to take the car to a mechanic that can test the coolant for combustion gases. You can perform a basic compression test on your own, but that does not always detect the small, pesky leaks.

If you have a small leak in the head gasket that bridges a fire ring and causes combustion gases to leak into the coolant, that will cause the coolant to bubble/boil in the tank. This is what you are looking for, as it is unlikely for coolant to get into the oil unless there is damage to the head near the front of the head where coolant can get into the timing chain areas and drain down into the pan.

Good luck with the unfortunate road ahead....

A couple of things. 1. how's the a/c fan? You can turn the a/c on and it will turn the a/c fan on when your in traffic. Sometimes the sensor goes bad, you can also ground the sensor to be on all the time if you need to. If this get's really bad, dump the fan clutch and get a manual electric fan mounted in there.

Second, sounds like the heater core may be plugged up from what you are describing. Do you live in cold weather? If not, you can by pass the heater core by cutting the heater hoses and plugging it up.

To ease your mind about a head gasket. You can get a head gasket check at any local radiator shop or you can buy a test kit from Napa. It was a blue liquid that you put in a test tube w/ a rubber gasket that sealed over the coolant bottle, and would turn green if it detected oil in the air. They may have better kits now.

Good luck.
You can even email me for more help.
~Lopaka

Thanks Lopaka for the offer for more help and to everyone else for the replies. I am not sure what I am going to do at the moment. I havent been able to go outside and mess around with it the past two days. I've pretty much spent them in bed sick. But, I need to get to the bottom of this fast. I think I need to get the head gasket checked using a test or having some radiator shop take care of it. I'll keep you guys updated and any other ideas would be great.