erratic temp gauge

[kabal]

driving back from langebaan this morning, about 5 km from home my temp gauge goes and touches the red, light doesnt come on.

pull over, turn the car off.

I popped the bonnert and wasnt greated with a wave of heat.
motor was not "ticking" like it does when you drive it hard and then stop.

waited for about 15 minutes.
then started up and drove. temp gauge would then fluctuate between normal and red while driving.

checked water levels 2 hours later, and everything was fine.

stuck thermostat? faulty temp sensor/sender?

thankfully I dont use my car to commute

 

[rick540]

Viscous working?

Sounds like air in the system, I suggest you bleed it.

 

[kabal]

when I stopped the car, the fan was not running.
when I got home, it also was not running.

or does it only run off the pulley?

 

[Twinz]

No fan for that distance...thats the connection :thumbs:

 

[Sankekur]

When the engine is at temperature and you turn it off try and spin the fan if you can easily spin it the viscous is shot, if it resists turning then it is probably fine.

 

[zaleonardz]

Pidgeon, Cylinder 9

all of the above suggestions are good.

What you could do, is with DIS, check the temp of the heads if you suspet fowl play on the meter.

My money is on stuck thermostat.

Does that M not have an electrical fan, or am i being a noob ?

 

[Peejay]

What if its a faulty temp sensor?

 

[Mike1]

Shaine, you are welcome to bring the car around and I can check for any faults for you?

Though if you dont watch your wallet closely it may leave here a lot shinier with a new map on it. :fencelook:

:thumbs:

 

[Sankekur]

@LZ: The e46 M3 comes with a electrical auxiliary fan and a viscous fan as the main fan.

 

[kabal]

mine is like the first one in this video, stone cold
I will try tomorrow at operating temp, after I have bleed the system for piece of mind

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[kabal]

just did a bleed, and then a fan test

here is a video

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[Mike1]

Well, I wasnt much help. :nonono:

 

[kabal]

also noticed that the top rad hose is hot (ie few seconds touch time), while the bottom is relatively cool

 

[Twinz]

Cool video you made Kabal....ya that fan is sure dead...sorry cant be of much help.

 

[Philip Foglar]

Also didn't know that the E46 M3 has a viscous fan. My father in law had to replace the viscous fan on his E46 328i - managed to get a new one for a very good price somewhere, will ask where. Might have one for the M3!

 

[kabal]

Part 11527831619 (FAN COUPLING) was found on the following vehicles:

E32: Details on E32
E32 730i Saloon, Europe
E32 730iL Saloon, Europe
E32 735i Saloon, Europe
E32 735iL Saloon, Europe

E34: Details on E34
E34 530i Saloon, Europe
E34 535i Saloon, Europe
E34 M5 Touring, Europe
E34 M5 3.6 Saloon, Europe
E34 M5 3.8 Saloon, Europe

E46: Details on E46
E46 M3 Convertible, Europe
E46 M3 Coupé, Europe
E46 M3 CSL Coupé, Europe

Z3: Details on Z3
Z3 Z3 M Roadster, Europe
Z3 Z3 M Coupé, Europe


looks like a piece of cake to replace, which is a good thing.
realoem price = $202.21 = R1 606 = very expensive ZA from dealer

 

[Peejay]

Dead viscous and stuck thermostat. But these 2 things won't cause an erratic temp gauge. Check the sensor also.

Even if the viscous is dead your aux fan should kick in as a backup measure. Because since there's no viscous cooling the water temp in the radiator in increase causing the switch to trigger the aux fan. So I'd say change the viscous and thermostat.

 

[moranor@axis]

surely codes should give you some idea whats going on...

 

[kabal]

yah, probably best to just have it read.

will get towed to say zeemax some time this week

 

[Mike1]

I wanted to read it but don't have the firmware for the ECU.

Rolf at Promotec is going to see if he can get the update we need.