Temp have reads hot but coolant is still cool

MY 323I HAD A LEAK IN COOLING SYS.CHANGED OUT RADIATOR,BRACKET ,ALL SEALS,THERMOSTAT,HOSES,IT THEN BEGAN TO RUN HOT,I USED WATER CUZ BMW ANTIFREEZE IS EXPENSIVE,TEMP HAVE READS HOT BUT WATER IN REZ.IS COOL CAN IT BE SOME KIND OF INTERNAL BLOCKAGE (HELP !!!!

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You changed the bracket and it still didn't cool it down? Hmm. I'm stumped.

Did you replace the expansion tank and water pump?

Drain the water and put in distilled water and BMW coolant.

Did you check to see if it's the temperature sensor?

THE WATER PUMP IS GOOD ,EXPANSION TANK CHANGED ,COULD IT BE CLOGGED COOLING PORTS

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Have you properly bled the cooling system?

It could be a faulty thermostat. Normally when a thermostat goes bad, it gets stuck open, which means the coolant/water is always circulating through the radiator even before the engine gets up to normal operating temp. However, in rare cases the thermostat gets stuck closed and the water pump cannot circulate any water through the radiator. In this case the car will overheat but the radiator will still be cool. Specifically the coolant going through the engine (and upper radiator hose) will be hot but the coolant in the radiator and lower radiator hose will be cool. Which thermostat did you install?

That said, it seems a more likely cause of the problem is you didn't bleed the system properly.

The e46 is easy to fill if you remove the bleeder screw (right next to the rad cap).
1. have car on level surface
2. take out the bleeder screw
3. fill with water (or coolant) until water comes out of the bleeder screw
4. put bleeder screw back in
5. put radiator cap back on
6. run engine, watch temps and feel the upper rad hose
7. hose gets hot and temp gauge has not pegged itself, you are probably OK.
8. run the car long enough, the lower hose will start to get hot

Preciate info,top hose and thermostat one piece,bleeder screw removed while filling expansion tank ,once again can it be some type of internal blockage

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Does is have a plastic impeller on the water pump?

Originally Posted by RJONESJACKSON

MY 323I HAD A LEAK IN COOLING SYS.CHANGED OUT RADIATOR,BRACKET ,ALL SEALS,THERMOSTAT,HOSES,IT THEN BEGAN TO RUN HOT,I USED WATER CUZ BMW ANTIFREEZE IS EXPENSIVE,TEMP HAVE READS HOT BUT WATER IN REZ.IS COOL CAN IT BE SOME KIND OF INTERNAL BLOCKAGE (HELP !!!!

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First of all BMW coolant is $7 bucks. If you can't afford it don't drive a BMW.

Second of all, blockage would cause other parts of your cooling system to run VERY hot. Check your system my touch or with thermal scanner.

Furthermore you need to figure out where the temp sensor is located on your car and check temperature at that point, if it's cold within that location replace the sensor.

FIRST OF ALL WHEREVER YOU LIVE IT MA BE 7 BUCKS AND AS LONG AS I SPEND MY MONEY I'LL DRIVE WHAT I PLEASE ,NOW IF YOU ARE GOING TO HELP THEN HELP IF NOT KEEP YOU TINY COMMENTS TO YOURSELF,I POSTED FOR HELP ON A MECHANICAL PROBLEM NOT FINANCIAL ,YOU HAVE A GOOD DAY CAUSE IT JUST OCCURRED TO ME JUST WHAT YOU ARE ADDICTED TO

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THEN TO ADDICT IF IT IS AN INTERNAL BLOCKAGE OF THE COOLING PORTS WHAT OTHER PART COULD BE HOT OTHER THAN MOTOR SINCE NOTHING IS CIRCULATING ,

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Could be something like the water pump impeller broken? Might be a stupid question, did you properly route the engine belt around the waterpump pulley (if you removed the belt of course)?
Also, There are 2 different drain plugs for the same radiator, one for automatics and one for manuals, did you get the correct part? From what I recall, the automatic plug is longer than the manual version. Finally, try re-bleeding the cooling system, official bmw instructions here

P.S also try to avoid caps it's really irritating

I'd just start over again. Pull the radiator, thermostat and water pump out. Take the expansion tank off of the radiator. Run water through the radiator with a hose. Rinse out the expansion tank. Rinse out the upper and lower hoses. Run water through the two smaller hoses that go to the expansion tank. Take a flashlight and look in where the water pump and thermostat are.

At this point, if everything flows nicely, then you are down to only a few things. First and foremost would be the thermostat. Second would be the water pump. The plastic impeller ones can come apart and create a blockage. On VW's the plastic impeller just spins on the shaft and the car overheats within 2 minutes.

Now, if everything checks out, reassemble everything. Fill the car with water and bleed it properly. At this point, you don't need BMW coolant, water will be suffice. Run it and see if the top hose gets hot. If it does, then keep running it and the bottom will get hot (it will take a while). Keep watching the gauge while you are doing this.

This will take a while to accomplish but you are better off getting to the bottom of this and sometimes you have to go back to square one.

If everything works out, drain the radiator (not the engine) and refill with some of that universal coolant that you can get at an autoparts store. No need for the BMW stuff.

THANK YOU MRSHELLY,NOW THAT'S BEING HELPFUL ,BUT EVERYTHING WAS NEW RAD ,EXPANSION TANK,THERMOSTAT,BOTTOM HOSE,I THINK I WILL TRY TO USE PRESSUREWASHER AND,SHOOT WATER THRU UPPER AND LOWER HOSES ,ALSO I DIDN'T CHECK WATER PUMP CUZ WATER APPEARED TO BE CIRCULATING THROUGH SYSTEM,THANKS AGAIN

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PARAKLAS NOT A DUMB QUESTION
BUT DID NOT REMOVE BELT,USED BMW PROCEDURES FOR BLEEDING SYSTEM,THANK YOU
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Don't use a pressure washer. It might just ruin something else. Those plastic fittings on the heater hoses are the perfect size for a water hose.

STOP YELLING IN CAPS!!!!!

(its also harder to read)


okay?

thanks.

Originally Posted by RJONESJACKSON

FIRST OF ALL WHEREVER YOU LIVE IT MA BE 7 BUCKS AND AS LONG AS I SPEND MY MONEY I'LL DRIVE WHAT I PLEASE ,NOW IF YOU ARE GOING TO HELP THEN HELP IF NOT KEEP YOU TINY COMMENTS TO YOURSELF,I POSTED FOR HELP ON A MECHANICAL PROBLEM NOT FINANCIAL ,YOU HAVE A GOOD DAY CAUSE IT JUST OCCURRED TO ME JUST WHAT YOU ARE ADDICTED TO

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Originally Posted by RJONESJACKSON

THEN TO ADDICT IF IT IS AN INTERNAL BLOCKAGE OF THE COOLING PORTS WHAT OTHER PART COULD BE HOT OTHER THAN MOTOR SINCE NOTHING IS CIRCULATING ,

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Have fun diagnosing simply cooling system problem for the third week in a row