It's been getting pretty cold and usually I don't have to drive my car much, as I can walk to school. Unfortunately, I got in my 2002 325i last night and while driving I noticed the engine temperature needle was dead center, meanwhile the air blowing from my car was extremely cold. I had the heat set to 91F and it was still blowing, what felt like, AC air.
I have read thermostat failure is usually an issue when the engine temp isn't getting to where it should be, but this didn't seem like the case and I'd like to self-repair this when I get back to my hometown and have access to tools + a garage
Vacuumed out the little vents
Made no difference. I put in a new thermostat couple weeks ago. The fact that I have heat sometimes leads me to believe it's not the t stat.
Good news everyone. I spent all day inspecting the hoses for leaks and made sure everything was put together the way they should be. This morning i checked the coolant level and it was in between min and max. I started up the car and let it reach operating temperature. Around 96 degree Celsius. I had the car running without the air filter box so i can look hard into the engine bay looking for signs of leaks and help massage and squeeze the hoses. When the car was around 80 degrees celsius (i was watching on the OBC) i decided to crack open bleed screw to see if i was getting any air bubbles. A few air bubbles did come out and as soon as it was a constant stream of coolant i screwed the bleed screw down. I did that procedure every 5 - 10 min and each time more bubbles came out then turned to a stream. By the time i did it the fourth time no bubbles came out, just a nice stream. The heat was on full blast with blower running mid range so i can feel the heat. Also i paid close attention to squeezing the hoses that run to the heater core while bleeding. The car was producing fantastic heat. From all vents. I turned the car off with a huge grin on my face. Im gonna leave the bimmer sit till tomorrow morning, top off coolant and hopefully no more issues. Fingers crossed.
This is my favorite tool (this one is $117 in Amazon, though I have more expensive one, and it is not used very often) for this kind of reason. It sucks to a certain vacuum level and check for leak before refilling with coolant. No need to monkey around for multiple bleeding or risking overheat. Usually I need to top it off with 1/4 Quart next day after some driving to fully circulate coolant.
I had great heat for a couple days then it started acting up again. It seems like air was I introduced into the system again. I dont really see any leaks anywhere. Any ideas as to why this is happening? What would you recommend doing?
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