over cooling?

[liquidtiger720]

i dont know if this is even a problem, or is just caused by my commute.

my morning commute consists of 22 miles of freeway. the car has maybe 5 minuets before getting on that freeway. when i first start it, the car will slowly warm up. but lately i've noticed that after 22 miles of going 70-90mph, the temperature is only 1/4 the way up. as soon as i get off the freeway and go up a big hill, it slowly climbs up to the normal posistion and is at the halfway mark by the time i park. does anybody find it weird that the temperature gauge wont move up until i am off the freeway? do i possibly have a stuck gauge? or a bad temperature sensor? or is it just the commute?

[632 Regal]

A cold engine is almost as bad as an overheated one except that the engine will wear out 200x as fast. Do the thermo first then go to sensors because OF the long commute you drive.

[Alan_525i]

I would guess its a slightly stuck open thermostat.

[632 Regal]

I would guess its a slightly stuck open thermostat.

[PABLO]

Mine does the same thing as yours and i drive in the morning 10 minutes and then the highway. In the highway it always goes in a little bit more than 1/4 mark (but realy a little) and in the city between 1/4 and 1/2. But the point is that i have changed the thermostat a while ago.
Should i check the sensors?
pd: a while back the water got mixed with oil. Would that damage the sensors?

[Craig]

Mine has started doing the same thing, I'm guessing it's a stuck open thermostat. It's not good to drive around with the engine too cool, so if you can't get to the thermostat right away you might think about blocking part of the radiator with something like a piece of cardboard. Seeing as how I'm booked pretty much the rest of this month, that's what I am going to do if it gets any colder here.

Note: If you damage your engine doing that don't blame me- do it at your own risk. :)

[liquidtiger720]

how much does it cost to check/ change the thermostat? where is it even located? (yes, im mechanically un-inclined =,( )


could it also be the oil weight? im using 20w50 conventional.


god, i was hoping it wasnt anything big.

[liquidtiger720]

oh yea, one more thing. if i get it warmed up to normal temps. im okay to go right? i have a planned drive for the 18th, and do not want to miss it incase i cant changed the t-stat in time.

[Renman]

I have the same deal goin on too (jeez, must be catchy). On the parts sites that I have looked, it appears there is only one t-stat recommended for 530i. Does anyone know if there are variations in t-stat depending on climate, or shoud we just change it out to the standard model and then go to sensors? Thanks in advance for any info here.

[632 Regal]

I have the same deal goin on too (jeez, must be catchy). On the parts sites that I have looked, it appears there is only one t-stat recommended for 530i. Does anyone know if there are variations in t-stat depending on climate, or shoud we just change it out to the standard model and then go to sensors? Thanks in advance for any info here.

[liquidtiger720]

on this morning commute, i let the car warm up for a good 10 mins. the temp was up 1/4 the way. as i drove the 5 min drive to the freeway, the temp go up to normal temps. but as i got onto the freeway the temp then dropped below 1/4 mark. as i hit traffic it rose again.


is this conclusive of a bad t-stat?

[Rick L]

Most likely your thermostat... However, I had the same experience by having too much coolant over water. I put 75 coolant / 25 water or more by mistake and my car took for ever to warm up. I guess 50/50 is about right for normal use. My friend always change from 40 coolant / 60 water in summer to 60 coolant / 40 water in winter. I think that's excessive... 50/50 works for me.



on this morning commute, i let the car warm up for a good 10 mins. the temp was up 1/4 the way. as i drove the 5 min drive to the freeway, the temp go up to normal temps. but as i got onto the freeway the temp then dropped below 1/4 mark. as i hit traffic it rose again.


is this conclusive of a bad t-stat?

[Tron5]

Same problem here in my diesel. Overcooling! Barely gets of the blue mark in regular driving. Going to change my thermostat and coolant next week. The dealer had sold a dozen of thermostats the last week because of the cold weather that came.

[liquidtiger720]

Same problem here in my diesel. Overcooling! Barely gets of the blue mark in regular driving. Going to change my thermostat and coolant next week. The dealer had sold a dozen of thermostats the last week because of the cold weather that came.



haha, they got 1 sale off me too because of the cold weather that came in. but i picked it up today and will install it soon.

[Renman]

Just installed mine today and all is well. Man, I've seen smaller thermostats come out of a mack truck. I guess the old one just wore out as it showed no signs of breakage. Temp is much more stable and straight up. Thanks.

[liquidtiger720]

no kidding. when the guy handed me the thermostat. i was like, "is that it?"