Discussion
Hooray!
It's 350i! Lovely condition. Thanks Rob Ingleby for putting me onto it!
Drove it from Wiltshire to High Wycombe after picking it up, in some darn awful weather, and it was sweet as a nut. Low speed, low revs on wet roads.
Then over the next couple of days in Wycombe I slightly upped the idle speed to stop it hunting when cold and cutting out when warm. Seems to have worked a treat.
However, driving back to Manchester, I experienced the following behaviour:
The engine runs at 90 degrees at about 2700rpm at 70mph. If I have a quick burst a little beyond this, the temperature rises to midway between the 90 and the start of the red section. It takes about half an hour cruising at 70 to restore 90deg.
If I have a burst of wild acceleration from 40 to 80, without exceeding 4,500 rpm, the temp gets worryingly close to the red section, less than a needles width away. Again, cruise at 70 for 30 mins and it creeps back down.
I haven't had chance to look at the car yet since getting back, but I'm going to work thru the points that Steve Heath recommends, starting with an inspection of the radiator and vents.
However, I'm a learning amateur car person, so if anyone has pointers for the first things I should check (yes, the coolant and oil are topped up!), I'd be very gratefull.
Could my adjusting the idle cause this? I upped it from about 800 (once it settled) to 1000.
Thanks.
It's 350i! Lovely condition. Thanks Rob Ingleby for putting me onto it!
Drove it from Wiltshire to High Wycombe after picking it up, in some darn awful weather, and it was sweet as a nut. Low speed, low revs on wet roads.
Then over the next couple of days in Wycombe I slightly upped the idle speed to stop it hunting when cold and cutting out when warm. Seems to have worked a treat.
However, driving back to Manchester, I experienced the following behaviour:
The engine runs at 90 degrees at about 2700rpm at 70mph. If I have a quick burst a little beyond this, the temperature rises to midway between the 90 and the start of the red section. It takes about half an hour cruising at 70 to restore 90deg.
If I have a burst of wild acceleration from 40 to 80, without exceeding 4,500 rpm, the temp gets worryingly close to the red section, less than a needles width away. Again, cruise at 70 for 30 mins and it creeps back down.
I haven't had chance to look at the car yet since getting back, but I'm going to work thru the points that Steve Heath recommends, starting with an inspection of the radiator and vents.
However, I'm a learning amateur car person, so if anyone has pointers for the first things I should check (yes, the coolant and oil are topped up!), I'd be very gratefull.
Could my adjusting the idle cause this? I upped it from about 800 (once it settled) to 1000.
Thanks.
It does sound like a blocked radiator - 50,000 miles is the average life. If you can get to Steve Reid's meeting tomorrow I'll have a look. ( Ask for Jonathan. ) You shouldn't need a fan over-ride switch.
90-93 is fine but revving especially at speed should not cause any problem except in summer on track days.
90-93 is fine but revving especially at speed should not cause any problem except in summer on track days.
Thanks to 19560 (Jonathan) who had a good look round my engine bay with the tiniest torch I ever saw on darn chilly night at the north west car club meeting on Tuesday.
In my original post, I had said that the levels were topped up...well at the start of my journey, they were as high as as I thought would be ok
(.25 inch off high mark on the oil, and about an inch below the cap on the expansion tank).
Having now added a pint of oil, and a pint and a half of coolant, the problem seems to have gone away.
In my original post, I had said that the levels were topped up...well at the start of my journey, they were as high as as I thought would be ok
(.25 inch off high mark on the oil, and about an inch below the cap on the expansion tank). Having now added a pint of oil, and a pint and a half of coolant, the problem seems to have gone away.
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