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Thread: Strange overheating problem in my E36, any help is appreciated

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Apr 2013
    Location
    Sunnyvale,CA
    Posts
    33
    My Cars
    E21 320i, E36 328i

    Strange overheating problem in my E36, any help is appreciated

    Ok so here's what's been happening...

    About three times in the past several weeks, I've noticed something odd happening in my 1998 328i. On several occasions, after starting it up again after the engine's been running for a while and is still very hot, I've noticed that the needle on the temperature gauge will very briefly move toward hot and then after about anywhere from 2-10 seconds, it'll move right back to halfway.

    Here's an example. I came home the other day after being out and about and didn't have my garage door opener, so I parked the car in the driveway and went in the house to open the garage door. After it was opened, I hopped back in the car and started it up to move it into the garage. After it was parked, right before I put the car in park, the needle moved toward hot to the 3/4 line and after about 6-8 seconds, it slowly moved right back to halfway. This is the third time it's happened. The two other times were right after starting the car up and immediately moving it a short distance while the engine was still hot.

    From the research I've done, I've heard the thermostat could be going bad. What do you all think? One theory that I was also told about is that it could be that when you start up a hot engine, it takes a little bit of time for some of the cooling system components like the fan clutch/water pump/radiator hoses/etc to completely start working. So during that short time period, the engine gets super hot while it's waiting on those components to fully load up and start working again and that could be why the needle moves toward hot but then moves back to halfway after those components are fully up and running.

    I'm not a DIY person by any means, so I'll be taking it in to my mechanic to have him look at it. FWIW, and this may not have any relevance, but the last time my E36 was looked at I was told that it had several small oil leaks from the following places: front crankshaft oil seal, power steering cooler hoses, power steering return hose, and automatic transmission shift seal. He wasn't able to give me any estimates yet, so can anybody maybe give me some ideas of how pricey these repairs might be? I don't remember off the top of my head, but his labor rate is somewhere around $70-90 per hour. I'd look up the parts prices but, I've no idea how many hours it would also take labor-wise, so I figure other experienced people out there could give me an idea of what costs I'd be looking at based upon the hours of labor.

    Thanks

  2. #2
    Join Date
    May 2005
    Location
    san francisco
    Posts
    666
    My Cars
    E36 M3 , E39 540is
    wow sounds like you have air in your cooling system. that can happen from leaks. if your not a "DIY" guy just ask your mechanic for a coolant pressure test, that will find the leak. most shop will charge a minimum 1 hour labor. however a pressure test takes no more then 10min FYI. the oil leaks have nothing to do with your over heating issue. you should get those leaks fixed soon. most common failure points are the thermostat housing, water pump, radiator, and or upper and lower radiator hoses & heater hoses.

    I recommend you you read this

    http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum...-and-DIY-Fixes

    buy some tools and save your $$ and learn how to do it yourself, its pretty easy IMO
    "Racing is life, anything that happens before or after is just waiting" -Steve McQueen

    "Sex is safe & racing is dangerous" -Hans-Joachim Stuck

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Location
    Media, Pennsylvania,
    Posts
    4,699
    My Cars
    1991 325i
    sounds like the thermostat is sticking a bit, then opening.
    1991 BMW 325i(Current Daily) (S52)
    I have carburetors, and I'm not afraid to use them!
    There are always other fish (engines) in the sea (Craigslist)
    Life is about enjoying the engine you are sitting behind.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Location
    Arida Zona
    Posts
    30,108
    My Cars
    z3
    There is nothing strange about an E36 overheating...

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