New radiator. Now running hot?

[Mmark]

Originally posted by ///schwartzman
Man I could swear my housing is black plastic, I know the thermo is inside... I didn't mean to imply they were separate from each other.

I hope your housing is not plastic.

despite the fact that the thermostat hangs from 4 hoses off the RF of the engine, the vibration under there is pretty intense...the fan switch wires break frequently.
The main thing I'd be worried about is that plastic and Hot coolant or the heating cycles tend to give the plastic (some derivative) a short life span.
the metal stat housing my fail with a small leak but the plastic may fail by shedding a chunk.


m

[jinkly]

if your upper radiator hose rises temp quickly re-bleed the system and check for the pipe (in black) over de head. Maybe it could be corroded inside because of its low section.

Good luck!

[m3ubbs]

all is well now. car runs barely over a 1/4. that's less than i've ever seen it. even with a/c full blast still a tick below half... the housing definitely is a black plastic. that's what it was before too. thanks for all the help.

the next problem is getting my a/c to be arctic cold when i'm stopped instead of only at higher revs. any idea why it's only cold in spurts?

[Magnus]

Never lift!

[jordantii]

Do you mean it is only cold when driving and not cold when idling? If this is the case then your aux fan is not bowing air over the condensor. Check to see that when you push the AC button on the dash the aux fan starts to spin.

Can you post a picture of this plastic thermostat?

Thanks,

Jordan

[m3ubbs]

i'll just put a link up to the part.
e30 m3 thermostat
there you go...yes, cold only when i'm driving, and sometimes not even then. it's in spurts. like a blast of cold air, then a few minutes not cold, but almost never when stopped. i might just need some more refrigerant.

[jordantii]

So strange becasue my Tstat is metal. Was your old Tstat plastic?

Jordan

[Reelizmpro]

Strange, I've never seen a plastic E30 M3 thermostat.

[m3ubbs]

yeap, exactly the same as my old one...crazy, half the people swear it's plastic and the other half have never seen or heard of them. how bout you, you have a pic of your metal one I can see? because i've never seen a metal e30 m3 t-stat.

[Reelizmpro]

Well it looks exactly like the picture you posted. Hard to tell what material it is from a picture though. Are you sure that's an OEM thermostat? perhaps all the new ones are plastic now? who knows.

[hardtailer]

The factory thermostats are black painted metal, brass (not iron or steel) to be precise so the housing isnt magnetic and could therefore lead one to believe it's made from black plastic.

The one pictured in the link is also a brass one, easily recognised by the way it looks: the whole thing consists of a couple of parts that were soldered/brazed together. If it were plastic the top and bottom entry/exit ( hose flanges) would have a curved geometry not the angled it has. It would probably also have some ridges/webbing from those hose flanges to the thermostat body itself.

[sector7g]

Currently my car has a plastic thermostat in it and I have a metal replacement waiting to be installed that I ordered from Turner over the winter.