Still struggling with cooling system

[MyBMWHabit]

Hello all. Just put a new aluminum radiator in my E3, and flushed everything. Bled the system twice, and the car, which used to have the temp needle shoot right up, was fine for a couple of drives. Nice and in the middle of temp gauge. Took it out the other day and I'm back to where I started. Shoots right up. Did not overheat the car, but really wondering what I did wrong. Belt is tight, coolant level is right where it should be.

Bleed it again, or?

Thanks!

 

[sfdon]

Change your thermostat.

Call Carl if you need a new one AFTER we see the actual thermostat.

Show us a picture of the thermostat housing. Show us a pic of your thermostat.

Did you drill your thermostat?

 

[MyBMWHabit]

Checking with my friend that I got the car from. He had done a bunch of things to the car before sending it my way. I'll report back with pictures!
Thanks....

 

[MyBMWHabit]

Yes fresh thermostat. I forgot to ask about water pump.

 

[sfdon]

which thermostat???

Which housing?


Pics please.

 

[MyBMWHabit]

Well when I have time to get under the hood again and pull this all apart, I'll get some pics. But right now kinda have a job to attend to. We'll get there...

 

[bavbob]

As an aside....Does everyone pull the block plug when flushing their system?

 

[HB Chris]

Is the wire terminal making good contact with the temp sensor? Try a new sensor.

 

[sfdon]

Grab the upper and lower radiator hoses you’ll be able to tell whether the lower radiator hose is hot enough to show that the thermostat is open.
If you can’t hold the upper hose for more than a second or two the cars is too hot

 

[rsporsche]

Grab the upper and lower radiator hoses you’ll be able to tell whether the lower radiator hose is hot enough to show that the thermostat is open.
If you can’t hold the upper hose for more than a second or two the cars is too hot

now that is the voice of experience ... no fancy tools needed.

 

[HB Chris]

Infrared thermometer is a wise investment and pretty cheap.