Bad radiator?

[325i dwn south]

OK so I talked to my mechanic. We talked about my car over heating over the phone. I told him that the fan clutch test with the newspaper worked - it kept spinning. I mentioned that I just drained the radiator, so there isnt and clogging. Also, we talked about the water pump. He told me that the water pump wouldn't be causing my car to over heat. I told him that the auxiliary fan works when ac is on and high temps turn on. Then we talked about a broken head gasket. He said that if I did have one I wouldnt be able to drive it at all (right now i can drive highways fine and not stopngo). SO, then he suggested that i might just have a bad radiator that doesnt do its job, but still holding onto a fan clutch possibility. Well I am here to ask if anyone knows how to check to see if the radiator is in poor shape? I am getting it checked out where i am by a mechanic, and then i'm gonna talk to my one back home that i called and he's gonna help verify a diagnostic, but i wanted to check w/ u guys before as well. Thanks,
Ross

 

[xLibelle]

What exactly does it do? Over heat when? Boiling over? Maybe a bad sender?
i dunno how to check if its bad, all i know is that mine could be running better than it does anyhow. Then again, living in the dirty south, nothing runs cool.
usually, its the radiator or fan clutch. if the shop doesnt find anything wrong with your radiator get some radiator flush and water wetter from bmpdesign

and see what happens.
clutch and water pump dont cost all that much. last would be the radiator replaced.

 

[535iracer]

unfortunately, there really isn't a way to tell if the radiator is clogged up... its just guess and check. My 325is is running a little hotter than i would like right now, I am going to try some granulated cooling system cleaner then put some new coolant in it. you might be able to have your radiator rodded, its pretty inexpensive (compared to the cost of a new radiator) and it works pretty well if your radiator isn't completely worn out.

good luck

 

[325i dwn south]

yeah i'm getting it checked out. I honestly wouldnt expect a faulty radiator on a car with only 80k miles, but then it is 14 years old. Oh well, Hope to god its the fan clutch so i can replace it myself. [headbang]