Bottom line: my car overheats in stopngo traffic but is fine on the highway. My auxiliary (electric fan) turns on when i turn on the a/c, the primary (belt driven fan) comes on every time i start the car, and when i put some rolled up paper to it this afternoon, it didn't slow down. I just put new coolant into the car's system, which slowed down the temp. guage rising. I have checked it everyday since i put it in, and it hasnt shown any signs of being oily. A few weeks ago I drove a long distance with the car... oh i forgot, its a '90 325i.... and near the end i pulled over and there was white smoke coming from from under the car at the middle, from it looked like the exhaust system.... any ideas? [slap]
narrowing down the problem
- Thread starter AHHH nuts
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Did you try painting your exhaust manifold, maybe the paint is baking off. Or you have a coolant leak somewhere an its leaking on to your hot exhaust. Or the most dreaded problem is a blown head gasket or the head itself is cracked. There are many more possibilities maybe your thermostat is stuck and is closed. Have it checked out.
Probably your fan clutch.
here's a link to a previous discussion on this:
http://www.bmwboard.com/forum/showthread.php?t=7686&highlight=fan+clutch+stop
here's a link to a previous discussion on this:
http://www.bmwboard.com/forum/showthread.php?t=7686&highlight=fan+clutch+stop
Sounds like a coolant leak of some kind.
mjbst111... didn't you read his original post? He said he took rolled up newspaper to the fan and it didn't stop (which almost guarantees that it is working). I'm not ruling that out - it definitely could be the problem.. but the fact he sees smoke is what tells me he has a bad gasket, hose, etc. somewhere.
Check your coolant reservoir and then check the oil (do an oil change yourself). If the coolant looks like dark green - or if the oil is frothy, your head gasket is bad.
mjbst111... didn't you read his original post? He said he took rolled up newspaper to the fan and it didn't stop (which almost guarantees that it is working). I'm not ruling that out - it definitely could be the problem.. but the fact he sees smoke is what tells me he has a bad gasket, hose, etc. somewhere.
Check your coolant reservoir and then check the oil (do an oil change yourself). If the coolant looks like dark green - or if the oil is frothy, your head gasket is bad.
haha my bad epj3, i actually skipped over that part....
There's another test for the fan though. Sometimes you can get different results with the rolled up paper.
Try moving the fan when engine is cold (engine off, key out of ignition)
Then when engine is hot (or normal temperature)turn off the motor (key out of ignition) and try it again. Should be harder to move. Harder to move = working fan clutch.
but yeah there are many possibilities as epj said
There's another test for the fan though. Sometimes you can get different results with the rolled up paper.
Try moving the fan when engine is cold (engine off, key out of ignition)
Then when engine is hot (or normal temperature)turn off the motor (key out of ignition) and try it again. Should be harder to move. Harder to move = working fan clutch.
but yeah there are many possibilities as epj said