my car is overheating...

sm32589g

sm32589g

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#1
...i have a 1989 325ix 127k miles and it just decided today that it would overheat. it was a normal day about 90 degrees outside maybe a little bit hotter. i get in my car turn on the a/c fan speed 2 and start driving down a long strait away for about 3.5 miles it warms up. then i go up hill about .3 miles stop at a freinds and just happen to look at my tach. it was in the red. i stop my car turn it off let it cool 5 mins. it still is in the hot. i turn on the heater no a/c, nothing. i get home and run the engine and spray cold water in the radiator but it just gets warmer and doesnt get colder. the whole day it never got any lower than the middle.
 
sm32589g

sm32589g

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#5
i need help not sarcasm
i thought these boards were for help and i didnt have to bother asking
the post was already long enough
so... what could be the problem? im thinking its the thermostat but its weird cuz it happened in one day not gradually or idk my first thermostat problem encounter i guess
 
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epj3

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#6
Well you didn't actually ASK anything. If a thermostat breaks, it'll break open not shut. Either you have a bad waterpump or you are very low on antifreeze. Did you think to check the cold antifreeze level?
 
jrt67ss350

jrt67ss350

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#7
Time to swap in that E36 M3 engine. If it will fit....

sm32589g said:
then i go up hill about .3 miles stop at a freinds and just happen to look at my tach. it was in the red.
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For someone who claims to be such an experienced racer, you would think he'd know the difference between a tachometer and a coolant temperature gauge. [confused]
 
sm32589g

sm32589g

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wow. jrt67ss350 you are a jerk so just please leave.

i did check the coolant level it was the same as when i checked it about a week ago, about mid level.
waterpump it could be. and i remember hearing about the thermostat which will break open not closed, anyways i have to drive to work in about an hour its about 30miles. ill tell you if it overheats again.
 
jrt67ss350

jrt67ss350

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#9
sm32589g said:
wow. jrt67ss350 you are a jerk so just please leave.
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Yep, that's me. I sure am always a jerk.[rolleyes] I just don't have much tolerance for people who ask for help and then tend to get into shouting matches with those who try to help them. I've been here for a while though, so I think I'll stick around - Thanks anyways.

If the water pump isn't leaking, then it isn't the water pump. Water pumps don't stop circulating coolant when they fail (except for the E36 pumps with the plastic impellers). They leak when they fail.

Even though most thermostats will stick open when they fail, it is possible for them to fail and stick closed. That's what I'd have my money on in your case. There really isn't too much else it could be based on what you have described.
 
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epj3

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#10
Justin, he said he was a racer, not a race engineer! [rofl]

But yea you're right about the waterpump. Was going to say check the belt, but the car wouldn't run if it were that belt!
 
sm32589g

sm32589g

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#14
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#14
it isnt overheating right now i drove it just a little bit and drove with no a/c like before nothing was really different but it went a little over normal operating temperature and then went back. Oh I just remembered, my car used to not get up to operating temperature unless you drove it for at LEAST 30 mins. but now it gets there in about 6 mins.
 
Kirby

Kirby

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#15
When was the coolant changed/checked last? If you are low on coolant concentration, the cooling system will not work as well. Check the specific gravity with a coolant tester.
 
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epj3

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#16
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#16
sm32589g said:
Oh I just remembered, my car used to not get up to operating temperature unless you drove it for at LEAST 30 mins. but now it gets there in about 6 mins.
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You're kidding me, right? you're planning on swapping an s50/52 into an e30 but you can't see that you have a bad thermostat?!
 
sm32589g

sm32589g

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#18
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#18
im not really planning to do that im trying to see if it is possible thus the title of the forum "Is It Possible?"
besides i was suspecting that it was the thermostat ergo my second post. i was just seeing what the other possibilities were.
i had bought another thermostat to replace myn but the bolt holding it in is stripped so i need a new thermostat housing and didnt have it so i couldn't replace it. now that i think of it regarding my first and then second post it did break down gradually. so i need the housing first to replace it also the hoses are stiff.
 
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