Overheating!

[xcrave]

Guys I donno where to start cause all i read point to my water pump... But still I want Sifu advice...As i was driving, today early morning.,... My Radiator Sign Pops Up... So i ignore it till i reach work cause its turn on and off.Then Before I embark home, I filled in the Radiator with "TAP WATER" cause i dont have anything else in my booth since i always stand by 2 bottle of de-ionized water...Then roughly about 15 minutes drive i was shocked off my boots... THE TEMPERATURE IS RED!!!I keep driving till i reach a Gas Station and the car died Just as i enter in... I quickly open the booth and splash water ehere i think its safe....It Was Raining heavily and my temp warning from my "lost" ambient temperature showing -40 Degrees...I let it cool a bit and using wet towel i open the radiator and open the bleed screw!To my amazement the water are all there not a single less drop but the bleed screw only emits steam not water....Then having no option i bought 1 coolant from Petronas (RM 20) when the water subside add all in and start engine temp go back normal but i keep bleeding the radiator but no water come out even after i pour somuch water in the reserve tank... i see that there is water coming out from the small hole from the side... Is the Pump still alive??? then i close everything up and drive home... IT overheat again when i reach home...Now i let it rest on its on...Questions...Was it really my pump is busted???Or i fill coolant and water badly that i didnt bleed it last time... please help...What can i do at home for self check...?It dawn to me that a lot of problem starting to arise... huhuhuh feel cheated....

 

[Petrus]

Bro,

Had the same problem of Radiator light came ON and OFF. There were some water / coolant leaks as well and had to top up water from time to time. After pressure testing, mechanic found a very small crack on the Radiator which was not visible until they dismantled the radiator. I ended up replacing the radiator. You should really get your radiator checked as well.

When a car shuts down completely after overheating, it is a very bad sign. It may cause some cracks to engine block as well (Please forgive me, i don't mean to scare you here). But if the overheating still occur, better don't drive the car. Perhaps bring the mechanic over or get the car towed to the workshop to prevent damage to the engine.

 

[xcrave]

Problem fixed...

YES!!!

[video=youtube;Q6BeQozdOYc]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q6BeQozdOYc&feature=related[/video]

Turns out i never actually bleed the system correctly...

[DIY]

Open all your bleed screw.... (take out)

Turn on AC to the hottest temp (mine was 30 degrees) lowest fan

(Key Position 2)

Then slowly top up the expansion tank...

The bubles will slowly go out of the bleeder hole then ... WALAH!

Overheating solved...


2moro will go for checkup on radiator... (touch wood)

also engine check just so im at peace....

Hope it will never happen to anyone here...

But BECAREFUL DO NOT TOP UP water when the system is hot even lukewarm... wait till (at least till cold)

 

[Petrus]

Good to hear you fixed your problem bro.

Here is an article on Maintaining your coolant system. Its for an E36, but at least it will give some idea on the culprits of your cooling system in the future. For some reason, I am quite paranoid when it comes to coolant system since overheating can really damage the engine.

http://www.pelicanparts.com/BMW/techarticles/E36-Coolant_Flush/E36-Coolant-Flush.htm

 

[jarance]

xcrave, my advise is not to go for chopshop radiator. The radiator have a lifespan of about 4 years so using it will only
solved the problem temporary.

better to change new radiator. while changing the radiator, change the rubber hoses and thermostat.
There are 2 thermostats. The one at the bottom is more important as it tend to get chocked up.
This will cause problem for the Gearbox heat exchanger.

Yes, bleeding the radiator with the bleeder cap is most important. adding water without opening
the bleeder cap will lead to overheating..

 

[xcrave]

Just fund out that my water pump is leaking... can see lots of water coming out behind the fan pulley...

This is after pressure test... radiator was ok... pipes was ok too based on the mechanic... he say change the water pump and pulleys then later u can change the pipes... since the pipe are all in good condition...

Radiator is in good condition and may well serve the car for years t come he say...

Also i noticed that my serpentine belt has craks so i will change it too together with the idler and tensioner...

Car will be quiter soon... cant wait to get all my parts by 2moro...

@ Bro Jarace: after the PA 1.4 come in will do a full com check again...

@Petrus: Great info bro thx!

Will do flushing then top up coolant (BMW + deionized water) and another pressure test afterwards...

 

[cythomas83]

guys...my car overheating yesterday when i stuck in a heavy traffic jam from singapore custom to johor custom =.="
the pointer of the temperature meter increasing like pointer of fuel meter is having fuel pump to full....
this shocked me and i off the aircon and can clearly see the temperature meter back to normal....but my normal temperature is not point to the middle of the meter...it's a bit trend to the RED side...

can any sifu tell me wat's wrong about it??

 

[jarance]

guys...my car overheating yesterday when i stuck in a heavy traffic jam from singapore custom to johor custom =.="
the pointer of the temperature meter increasing like pointer of fuel meter is having fuel pump to full....
this shocked me and i off the aircon and can clearly see the temperature meter back to normal....but my normal temperature is not point to the middle of the meter...it's a bit trend to the RED side...

can any sifu tell me wat's wrong about it??

Please clarify what do you mean by "Normal temperature a bit trend to the red side"?

btw, did your temperature goes back to middle mark when the car is moving?

 

[pdot]

sifus all,

my car had overheating probs
too many times happened until it stops overheat when the mechanic told that water had been mixed with oil
the situations that i experienced were

1. the temperature goes up from middle to red while in traffic jam/carpark basement. but after long shoot on the highway, the temperature went middle.
solution: changed the fan as the fan didn't has the 2nd speed.

2. same situation like above after changed the fan. happened seldom.
3. finally, overheat until red sign temperature with water popped out and bleed like hell

now my car is at workshop waiting to be done by mechanic
cost? like hell

i think we should have seminar on how to top up radiator water/bleed as i am not have the proper lesson laa


so glad to have this forum
tq

 

[Alex5522]

sifus all,

my car had overheating probs
too many times happened until it stops overheat when the mechanic told that water had been mixed with oil
the situations that i experienced were

1. the temperature goes up from middle to red while in traffic jam/carpark basement. but after long shoot on the highway, the temperature went middle.
solution: changed the fan as the fan didn't has the 2nd speed.

2. same situation like above after changed the fan. happened seldom.
3. finally, overheat until red sign temperature with water popped out and bleed like hell

now my car is at workshop waiting to be done by mechanic
cost? like hell

i think we should have seminar on how to top up radiator water/bleed as i am not have the proper lesson laa


so glad to have this forum
tq

Bro on how to top up radiator water/bleed case, if im not mistaken lar.. just open your radiator cap and open the bleeding screw with engine run, start pouring water until u can't see the bubbles then tighten bck the bleeding screw and radiator cap done.

 

[cythomas83]

Please clarify what do you mean by "Normal temperature a bit trend to the red side"?

btw, did your temperature goes back to middle mark when the car is moving?

bro jarance....
yes the temperature did go back to normal once i OFF the aircon....and after the jam...i on back my aircon...the temperature is normal and never go high again....

"normal temperature a bit trend to the red side" mean the temperature pointer is not in the middle...it's like a bit higher than middle...my english is not so good to describe it...let's say middle is 4/8 but my car temperature pointer always point at 5/8....

 

[jarance]

bro jarance....
yes the temperature did go back to normal once i OFF the aircon....and after the jam...i on back my aircon...the temperature is normal and never go high again....

"normal temperature a bit trend to the red side" mean the temperature pointer is not in the middle...it's like a bit higher than middle...my english is not so good to describe it...let's say middle is 4/8 but my car temperature pointer always point at 5/8....

5/8 is clear enough for me.. check your clutch fan first then your electric aux fan second.

Lastly, have bleed your radiator system properly?

 

[cythomas83]

will have the full body check-up soon

thanks jarance for the info...

btw...i dont think i did bleed the radiator system properly b4 the overheat...i just open the radiator cap and fill in water until it required level...but after the overheat...i did bleed the radiator system properly...

 

[jarance]

If you air lock in the system, it will cause overheating when you are stationary in a jam.

If you have not experience any overheating after bleeding, then your problem is solved.

However, you still have the 5/8 mark temperature which is not "normal". when you OFF the aircon,
the load on the engine is lessen, hence the temperature will dropped by both the fans.
If the clutch fan is slipping too much, the cooling efficiency would be reduced.

You can check the clutch by trying to spin it with your fingers. If it spin more than a few revolutions,
problem is with the c/fan. It should turn maybe about half or three quarter turn.

will have the full body check-up soon

thanks jarance for the info...

btw...i dont think i did bleed the radiator system properly b4 the overheat...i just open the radiator cap and fill in water until it required level...but after the overheat...i did bleed the radiator system properly...

 

[cythomas83]

bro jarance...i just tried to spin the fan...it turned out spin a few revolutions...
according to u...this is because of the clutch fan right...in this case...what is the things i need to change?or the clutch fan itself can be adjust?

 

[jarance]

thomas, better have a mechanic check the clutch fan if in doubt.

I have a mechanic in JB that have refill the clutch fan with "oil" and it works.

Problem is that it work so well that my normal temperature is 3/8 on the highway and
4/8 when stuck in a jam. btw, the car I am talking about was for my E36.

 

[xcrave]

mind sharing this "oil" solution jarance?

 

[OldmanBM]

One items that may have an impact on temp is radiator temp sensor which tells the fan to switch to faster speed.Its connector is located at the side of the fan with 2 fine wires connectiong to a switch/male connector fixed to the radiator hose ( below ). Check the connector as the connectior has 2 fine female catch in the connector which tends to be pushed back when you plugh in the (flimsy) connector.This will break the circuit and your fan will run only at speed 1 all times, and may cause overheating in slow speed.

Was told, fan /fan controller is quite robust and unlikey to mulfunction.....

hope this helps....

 

[jarance]

mind sharing this "oil" solution jarance?

It was done by an old skool mechanic. The shop is in JB by the name of b2H or H2 something (cant remember cos long time ago).

what he did was removed the clutch fan and remove the bimetallic strip in front of the fan.

he add some special oil (say from toyota) into the clutch fan and reseal it up. basically what he did was add enough
oil so that the clutch will engage more earlier.

do a search on fluid coupling for the working principle.

pro: engine stay cooler

con: more load on the engine. feels slightly sluggish.

 

[bmw7833]

Oil solution can not last long one.. i had mine last time too.

I added the oil in workshop A, when i replaced the new clutch fan in workshop B, the mechanic B said the workshop A is stupid as added oil in the clutch fan..lol..

Jarance, any chance the mechanic u mentioned in JB is Two-B?