The last couple of times I've taken the car out the temp gauge seems to shoot up above the midpoint and even above the 2/3 line. I had a leaky radiator pipe but fixed that and it's still doing the same thing.
I'm wondering if it's the gauge that's dodgy or is it symptomatic of E21s to have a fairly fluctuating gauge?
Any ideas?
Ta
Update...
Just took car for a run and opened the bonnet afterwards to look after needle crept up. I rocked the fan which was actually a bit loose and water started coming out
Any ideas? Could it be a seal or a bearing or a seal and a bearing. I don't really know about these things and I don't think I'll drive her again till I've had it looked at.
The needle should sit dead on centre and not really move afaik. My M10 has head gasket issues so it does fluctuate. So long as it doesn't go over 3/4 then there isn't any real harm, but it does point to something not quite right and the sooner sorted the better.
When you say water came out, out of where? You could have split a hose somewhere, they're old and brittle now but the Manchester stealership still sells most of them. Also the fan shouldn't rock. Might need the bolts tightening - they used to have spring clips to stop them working loose but they're a bitch to put back on when removed so many are missing now.
Cooling issues are normally a process of elimination. Start with the cheapest options first!
1. Replace coolant, flush the system (run a hosepipe into one of the water jackets), flush your radiator (remove from car and run a hose through upside down). Tighten fanbelt.
2. Check everythings tight and secure and bleed the system - you could just have an airlock, especially if you replaced a component and didn't bleed properly afterwards. For 316's there's no bleed plug afaik so you just jack up the front of the car slightly (or do it on a hill, front needs to be higher than the back to allow air to migrate), run engine with rad cap off, turn heater on at full temp and blower setting and keep squeezing the hoses to get the air out. Watch your fingers on the fan.
3. Replace radiator cap and thermostat (both easy DIY jobs).
4. Replace radiator if excessively corroded (also easy).
5. Replace all coolant hoses (one might have split under the air filter housing where you can't see it), age has made them brittle and full of crap on the inside.
6. Consider testing for head gasket issues.
There's a couple of us around Manchester. If you're apprehensive re some of the more basic jobs like rad replacement I'd be more than happy to give you a hand!
Wow, thanks for that info, Reck I appreciate the advice.
The thing which is wobbling is actually at the point where the wheel which the fan belt is on meets the enging block. That part is loose and shaky and the water came out as if there's something broken behind it. My guess is that it's not straight forward and I've had some advice that it could be the water pump that's shot. I might just take it to a reliable mechanic and go through that with him and see what i get. I had previously tightened up all the pipes from radiator to engine to make sure it wasn't them and it was dry after that until I found this problem.
If I had the experience I'd get a bit more stuck in but as it stands I'm not too sure what it is I'm dealing with.
Nice one
