engine heating once again

[grave77]

10 days ago my car started heating up in slow traffic, I just though aux fan issues since the heat sensor on the radiator was not triggering the high speed, today I removed the hole cooling system, cleaned the radiator fins and it was a chance to replace the spark plugs, belts and visco clutch, I also removed the thermostat to check if the system is cooling fine.

I ran the car with AC on, aux fan worked fine, but it overheated within 20min, if I hit the accelerator to make the fan cool the radiator, it cools back to the middle.

I would have 2 doubts, either the radiator has some blocked areas, or bad head gasket.

what are your recommendations guys?

[mbad7]

10 days ago my car started heating up in slow traffic, I just though aux fan issues since the heat sensor on the radiator was not triggering the high speed, today I removed the hole cooling system, cleaned the radiator fins and it was a chance to replace the spark plugs, belts and visco clutch, I also removed the thermostat to check if the system is cooling fine.

I ran the car with AC on, aux fan worked fine, but it overheated within 20min, if I hit the accelerator to make the fan cool the radiator, it cools back to the middle.

I would have 2 doubts, either the radiator has some blocked areas, or bad head gasket.

what are your recommendations guys?

HGasket is my bet...

[shogun]

Any coolant loss? If not, not the headgasket.

You can check the radiator. Maybe that is blocked. There are non contact thermometers which you can direct on every spot from a distance to check the temperature.

Check the fan clutch, on my website (scroll down) there is a link to MWrench E32 site, under white paper there is the best fan clutch test I know.

[grave77]

I have been observing the car lately and here they are:

When I fill the car with water it takes time to sink in as if there is something blocking the way.

I have blocked the heater pipes as we dont need it here and its causing in efficency of the AC. but I was wondering if this would complete the water flow at the end of the engine?!

as long as the car is moving the car wont heat up, the clutch is working aslong as the car is not overheating, once it overheats the clutch seems to stop working. so I will replace it, but if the radiator is blocked I guess the clutch wont function propperly too.

there is slight water loss, but after the car was overheated, maybe its the cap releasing pressure or I was thinking if the water pump is leaking from the back where the pipes has a rubber O-ring.

Questions:

would an old Catalytic converter cause overheating like that? if yes how would the engine behave?

how can I know that the water pump is functional, note that I'm not using the thermostat and the water is flowing all the time regardless of the engine temperature.

last week I have replaced 2 exploded hoses due to overheating, when I park the car and the car was a little overheated, the water temp increases when the engine stops and it blew up the small hose on the top of the water pmup first, after 2 weeks ( yesterday ) it blew up the hose going from the engine to the heater core. ( that was pain to replace !!! )

this is a full report untill yesterday, final observation was that I found alot of calcume build up on the pipes, if I pour in a small glass of vinigar and run the engine for few min then drain that out, would it help cleaning it?

Thanks guys, can't survive without your help

[632 Regal]

When I fill the car with water it takes time to sink in as if there is something blocking the way. Possibly normal

I have blocked the heater pipes as we dont need it here and its causing in efficency of the AC. but I was wondering if this would complete the water flow at the end of the engine?! I think the water needs to circulate through the valves byt not the heater core to complete its path

as long as the car is moving the car wont heat up, the clutch is working aslong as the car is not overheating, once it overheats the clutch seems to stop working. so I will replace it, but if the radiator is blocked I guess the clutch wont function propperly too. Replace the clutch first then Radiator if other remedies do not work, cheap fix

there is slight water loss, but after the car was overheated, maybe its the cap releasing pressure or I was thinking if the water pump is leaking from the back where the pipes has a rubber O-ring. Releasing pressure is the goal of a good cal, exploding hoses means the cap is bad

Questions:

would an old Catalytic converter cause overheating like that? if yes how would the engine behave? Big loss of power, will seem like you have NO power and it will most likely stink of sulpher in the exhause. If very clogged it is possible for the engine not to start.

how can I know that the water pump is functional, note that I'm not using the thermostat and the water is flowing all the time regardless of the engine temperature. No thermostat is bad, the first cylinders encountering cold water will wear just as a comd cylinder would wear in a vey cold climate much much faster than in a warm climate with a thermostat.

last week I have replaced 2 exploded hoses due to overheating, when I park the car and the car was a little overheated, the water temp increases when the engine stops and it blew up the small hose on the top of the water pmup first, after 2 weeks ( yesterday ) it blew up the hose going from the engine to the heater core. ( that was pain to replace !!! ) Need a new expansion tank cap!!

this is a full report untill yesterday, final observation was that I found alot of calcume build up on the pipes, if I pour in a small glass of vinigar and run the engine for few min then drain that out, would it help cleaning it? Try a HUGE bucket of vinegar, but heed that the vinegar will also have the tendancy to eat aluminum over time. There is better war=ys to get the calcium buildup out. A new radiator is a much better choise than introducing an acid into an aluminum engine.

Thats my guess and I'm sticking with it.

[grave77]

well...I replaced the cap, removed the radiator and tookit to a cleaning shop, still the car is heating up especially when I throttle it on the road, I cannot seem to see the water circulating, I will put back the thermostat but I removed it to see if the water flow is normal. untill now all what it shows it head gasket.

Thanks bro.

[shogun]

Removing a thermostat completely is not a good idea on a BMW. The T-stat also acts like a kind of 2-way valve. If that is not there, then the coolant will just take the way of lowest resistance.

[grave77]

then the way of lowest resistance is the way out of the engine, and this will make things wors, right?

[bimmo_2007]

I think it is faulty water pump, sometimes it causes weird overheating.

[grave77]

seems I will get a new thermostat and a water pump. hope things will work now !! thnx