z3 six cylinder cooling

pedro20001 · Post by **pedro20001** » Wed 12 Oct, 2011 21:22

I have noticed a smell of coolant when parking my 2.2 in the garage - noticeable from the front grille area. I cannot see any leaks, i have replaced rad cap and don't seem to lose any coolant. i have noticed after a short journey that the top rad hose is hot yet the bottom is still cold - i understand the thermostat is electronically controlled. is this normal as the engine warms up quickly and the temp gauge sits bang on halfway. any advice would be greatly appreciated

jont · Post by **jont** » Thu 13 Oct, 2011 02:47

High
Just had the same problem on my 4 Cyl sounds like the thermostat is not opening and not creating a full water circut around the radiator.
You will find that it is the fan that is keeping your motor cool only.

Regards JohnT

c_w · Post by **c_w** » Thu 13 Oct, 2011 11:16

From what you have said it sounds fine to me. Normally those 2.8/3.0 thermostats break and are always open so that car takes ages to warm up and sometimes never does depending on outside temps.

If it warms up quick and stays in the middle then it sounds fine to me. I would just investiage further the leak. Not sure how long your short drive is as that may mean the radiator isn't even being used much/at all yet.

Mike Fishwick · Post by **Mike Fishwick** » Thu 13 Oct, 2011 11:37

It's normal - the thermostat closes the return from the radiator, so the top hose wrams up, but as there is no return flow throught the radiator, the bottom hose remains cold.

It takes quite a while after the engine warms up for the thermostat to open sufficiently to affect the radiator temperature. Until then it just bleeds enough cold coolant fromt he radiator to comntrol engine temperature, and the engine dissipates quite a bit of heat anyway.

pedro20001 · Post by **pedro20001** » Thu 13 Oct, 2011 20:17

cheers guys, always appreciate your help, nice to know i am not alone

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