Author Topic: Cooling system; thermostat, pump, fan-clutch (Read 2581 times)

a.12912 · « **on:** December 30, 2007, 11:10:20 PM »

Cooling system; thermostat, pump, fan-clutch

I had noted on a cold night that the temp on the gage had creped between neutral and hot.
I have had issues where the temp would creep a little past neutral or � way and would rescind from that position towards neutral and cold when driven/ revved hard.
I had concerns for a failing thermostat and fan clutch. The fan clutch has much free play and remains free even when hot. I have disassembled the cooling system on my m42. The radiator is as new, coolant is clean thermostat checked in boiling water and don�t do much and appears stuck, water pump broke removing though seemed ok.

I�m replacing the fan and clutch assembly with that of an electric thematic controlled type, 16� 8 curved blades (brand unknown, though will replace the electrical component with a known and trusted brand).

I had pre purchased a thermostat though am untrusting of the unit. I�m planning on replacing with the correct 88 degree or possibly that of the 80 degree 325i model, any suggestions comments?

The water pump looks ok, though is 300 au genuine BMW replacement cost! The pump had not leaked and appears to have been changed 10 years ago, date of manufacture present. Which non BMW brands are well trusted and successfully used? (laso, gaff, geba)

Any comments or suggestions are welcome; I would also like to specifically know where are the preferred places to purchase our components from, service and price.

Thank you all in advanced

neilofla · « **Reply #1 on:** December 31, 2007, 11:56:54 AM »

Hi a.12912,

This is my first post on this site, so maybe wait till more reply to your questions, but here's my 2 cents worth...

I bought my e30 318is a few months ago and noticed temp gauge only just got out of the blue zone in normal driving , but temp would creep up to half in traffic, and would nudge past half way in really heavy city traffic (giving me the sweats...)

I changed the thermostat for Wahler 88 deg (the old one was 88 deg too, but was sticking open) and flushed the coolant and now it's like a new car, gets up to temp quickly and stays rock solid just below half on the gauge, doesn't budge at 70mph on the motorway or in really heavy traffic.

The fan clutch seems in good order on my car so I'm not much help there, though yours sounds busted, but I'd wager a new 88 stat and fresh coolant would go a long way to solving your problem, btw, the old coolant flushed out of my engine looked clean too, but mustn't have been doing its job if it got past halfway on the gauge before flushing, and now it seems welded to just before half on the gauge

Seems to me your (now broken) water pump may have been on way out anyway if it took a bit of revving to really get the coolant circulating (?) and au300 does seem cheeky for a new one, but BMA Parts in the US have a Meyle one for US$70 (au85 I think), could prob be shipped to Oz for not much more, I have heard Meyle are pretty good, dunno if they're OEM though.

In fact, BMA prices are good enough (and genuine BMW prices cheeky enough) to make me consider shipping over some stuff from there to Ireland, GSF and Halfords here are beyond useless, and I'm far from a pro when it comes to repairs

best of luck anyway
--Neil

D. Clay · « **Reply #2 on:** December 31, 2007, 07:17:05 PM »

BMAParts.com is on the west coast also. I just ordered a complete cooling system (rad. and cap, pump, thermostat) as I have 200,000 miles on mine with the original radiator. The Meyle pump was US$66.21 with the M42club discount of 5% (see banner at top of page) - $72 Australian. The dollar is getting beat up real good on the currency markets. Order on line and shipping is free for orders over $50 in the US. Don't know about overseas but e-mail is good. Send to Patrick

JHZR2 · « **Reply #3 on:** January 02, 2008, 10:12:04 AM »

Quote from: a.12912;40181

I had pre purchased a thermostat though am untrusting of the unit. I�m planning on replacing with the correct 88 degree or possibly that of the 80 degree 325i model, any suggestions comments?

Do not use an 80 degree thermostat. Your car will not get up to temperature, and youll end up forming CC deposits, inefficient combustion, and high levels of water and fuel dilution in your oil, causing increased bearing wear.

My car had an 80 degree thermostat (an accident by the mechanic when I had the profile gasket changed and thermostat replaced as PM). Car wouldnt get up to temp, and I could only get 24 MPG consistently in the city (low for me). I would also note a small smoke cloud at hot WOT, since there were unburnt fuel resdues in the exhaust that would combust when I would do a fuel dump and get the engine working real hard. The 88C thermostat makes a big difference, economy is up, no soot/smoke at the intial few seconds of WOT anymore, etc.

JMH