Re: <E30> Coolant temp

[Andrej Gaspari <aeg@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

> Ever since I bought the car the coolant temp has been in the 3/4 range 
> in stop-and-go traffic. It has not gone to red. The temp would go back 
> to 1/2 way when crusing on on the highway. There is no lost of 
> coolant. And I just yesterday added Redline Water Wetter - No help.
>     
> I explained the problem away with the hot and rather humid wheather 
> recently in the San Fran area. But now that the wheather is cooler I 
> am still seeing the same problem.

A couple of general suggestions:

1. Check your auxiliary fan. If its not coming on, the car is likely to
experience exactly the symptoms you describe.

2. Make sure your fan shroud is in place (I think the E30 M3 has a
shroud...) - without it, fan efficiency is impaired.

3. Flush the cooling system and put in new coolant. Use BMW original or
equivalent coolant.

4. Make sure your water pump belt isn't slipping.

5. A/C running will make the car run hotter.

My 533i will do exactly the same thing with the A/C on, despite having
all of the above taken care of. I added a switch to manually activate
the aux. fan, which helps. Unfortunately, it seems that some BMW cooling
systems are not exactly ideal for coping with higher ambient
temperatures, and being 10 years old doesn't help.

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