e36 Overheating
 

Hey everyone,
I'm driving a 1996 E36 saloon with 180,000 miles on the clock and about a week ago it started overheating again...I say again because a month ago i replaced the broken water pump and thermostat.

When I drive the car it rises to the normal, safe temperature in the normal fashion, but then it will just shoot up past the third line and the needle will sit just outside the danger zone for about another mile of driving before slowly drifting into the danger zone and the light coming on.

I bled the radiator and refilled it to remove any trapped air pockets, I also looked for the tell tale signs of a cracked head gasket and all seems OK there.

Can anyone please help me shed some light on what the problem could be I'm loosing my mind here without my car to drive.

Thanks :D

How are the cooling fans?

cooling fans are working perfectly

are you losing any coolant?
you may need to bleed it again another possible problem is a stuck thermostat that wont open.

no coolant leaks!!

Did you check both fans? Be sure to check the auxiliary fan in front of the radiator. Happened to mine, it was one of the fuses for the auxiliary fan. Also replaced the FAN CLUTCH.

If it's overheating during slow driving or stopping; It's probably the fan clutch.

The way to check it is when the engine is off, turn the fan with your hand and if it spins easily then you need to replace the fan clutch.