- This topic has 5 replies, 4 voices, and was last updated 8 years, 4 months ago by
.
-
Topic
-
In my 1991 BMW 525i, I’ve been trying to solve this overheating problem which has me stumped. New thermostat, new waterpump, new cooling fan, previous owner supposedly had the radiator replaced and put 50 miles on it but it might be clogged with stopleak. After examining it some more, I noticed that the heater core valve was completely fused shut, so I bypassed it. Still overheating, but the radiator remains cold. Sometimes it’ll get hot on the top half, but the bottom half remains ice cold. Tried a coolant system flush today, but still nothing.
Is it safe to assume that the radiator is clogged up, or could air in the system make the radiator cold?
-
Replies
-
[quote=”MfromVan” post=169010] Is it safe to assume that the radiator is clogged up, or could air in the system make the radiator cold?[/quote]
Providing the top hose is extremely hot and the bottom is cold, yes.
Yes, it sounds like a clogged rad to me. Air will percolate upwards, even against the direction of coolant flow, and even in a cross-flow rad.
The previous owner should be shot with nuggets of his own waste. Stop Leak is terrible stuff, and often causes more problems than it solves.
Sounds like you have a clogged radiator ,,, There is a guy https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acaRwmmfapA he takes one apart to clean’s one … also you might want to check the thermostat too… put it in a boiling pot and watch to see if its open’s up and take it out and see if it closes…
I would take out the thermostat for a few days and test it out with out it in the car… not so recomanded for the winter but fine for the summer time… you will notice the temperature going up and down with the thermostat removed but it will not get super hot if that is it… also check to see if the car uses Dex Cool… which is red…. lets just say not so bright people at oil change places will add the green anti freeze to the red antifreeze … if you do that it will cause it to gum up.. I just have to check did you purge the cooling system from air bubbles.. because some ppl for get that step???[quote=”Rob781″ post=169412]Sounds like you have a clogged radiator ,,, There is a guy https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acaRwmmfapA he takes one apart to clean’s one … also you might want to check the thermostat too… put it in a boiling pot and watch to see if its open’s up and take it out and see if it closes…
I would take out the thermostat for a few days and test it out with out it in the car… not so recomanded for the winter but fine for the summer time… you will notice the temperature going up and down with the thermostat removed but it will not get super hot if that is it… also check to see if the car uses Dex Cool… which is red…. lets just say not so bright people at oil change places will add the green anti freeze to the red antifreeze … if you do that it will cause it to gum up.. I just have to check did you purge the cooling system from air bubbles.. because some ppl for get that step???[/quote]Pulled the thermostat that came with the car, and it was jammed all to hell with stopleak goop. So ran without it, and still had the same problem with the radiator. No Dex-cool thank goodness!
And yes, tried for hours to purge the stop leak, even got myself a spill free funnel like Eric’s to do it! So next stop is seeing if I have enough free time to try rodding out the radiator. Thanks for that video! It was really informative!
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.