'87 oil temp gauge question

[austinindian]

Sorry if this question has been posted many times on the board, but I just went through the search, to no avail.

I have a '87 with about 110k on it. Picked it up back in '03 with 24k. So far, it's been a great ride.

The weather has been dropping a bit in the central state of Texas, USA. On a 2 hr drive I noticed that my oil temp gauge reading always stayed in the bottom quarter. If I turned on the heat I noticed it dropped a bit further. I'm assuming this is all a better scenario than going to the top end of the temp gauge, but I was wondering if this was normal. Should it not by in the middle range?

Thank you.

+nirav

[roadrash]

Given that the 318ti was not produced in 1987, any advice you get here is going to be based on assumptions of what model car/engine you have. So, it would be a pretty good idea to mention that. :-)

[austinindian]

Crap...1998. And all stock beside a short shifter kit.

I used to own an '87 vanagon and slipped up on my original post. My bad.

http://www.agencia72.com/van.jpg

[cooljess76]

Well the 318ti doesn't have an oil temperature gauge. If you're talking about the coolant temperature gauge, it's supposed to rise and stay at the 12 o'clock position. If yours drops or doesn't reach the 12 o'clock position, you more than likely have a faulty thermostat. If you replace the thermostat, MAKE SURE to properly bleed the cooling system. There's a writeup on how to properly bleed your cooling system located in the knowledge base section of the forum.

[austinindian]

Thank you both so much. I'm really not that much of a dunce with cars, I swear. My mind is mashed with the current issues I'm facing to resolve a huge issue my vw camper van. The ti has always been the reliable car.

Yes, I was referring to the gauge on the right side. Thanks for clarifying that it is for the coolant temperature. It climbs up when the engine warms up but does not get to 12 o'clock position. I will dig around the forum board to replacing the thermostat and the 'coolant flush' procedure, like you recommended. I don't want to overheat the engine and not even have any indication of that.

As for repair manuals, do you recommend a certain brand for the 318ti? With my VW it's been a mix of Haynes and Bentley. Haynes, more illustrative and maintenance based and Bentley being more technical. The forum boards are a always supportive too!

[cooljess76]

For the 318ti, I recommend both. The Bentley has a few errors and the Haynes is a good manual to clarify. Neither is 318ti specific, but between the two, you could pretty much tackle any project. I like the Bentley's wiring schematics better, but the Haynes is a little easier to navigate through. Pelicanparts sells a cool book called 101 BMW projects or something like that. Getbmwparts.com is probably the best place to source Genuine BMW parts and realoem.com is an awesome site to find part numbers and illustrations for your car.

[austinindian]

Thank you for that information. I should go ahead and order those books.

On the 155 mile drive from Houston to Austin last night, I noticed that my temp gauge was just a hair above the blue marking on the gauge. That does not seem right to me. The temperature outdoors was in the range of 40F. Regardless of outside temps, I would think that the temp gauge would go to the 12 o'clock position like you stated earlier.

[cooljess76]

The temp gauge should rise to the 12 o'clock position and stay there the entire time. It's harmful to the car if you continue to drive the car like this. If the thermostat is stuck open, the engine will run cold which means it's running rich which means it'll clog up your valves, exhaust manifold, CCV and catalytic converter with carbon deposits.

[austinindian]

cooljess76, you've set me on the right path and I'm now seeing all your responses in regards to coolant and thermostat issues. I thank you. I'm going to talk to a mechanic this week about replacing my thermostat and seeing if any other vitals in the coolant system need replacing, i.e., radiator, water pump, etc.

[cooljess76]

Cool man, hopefully you get everything sorted out. Let me know if you run into any snags and I'll do my best to help you out.

[austinindian]

Quick question. Does the computer (calling ECU here) read that gauge of my coolant temp and then adjust the richness of the gas based on the reading?

[cooljess76]

Fuel is regulated to a prescribed pressure by the fuel pressure regulator. The ECU determines how much air is entering the engine via the MAF which in turn the ECU tells the fuel injectors when to open and for how many milliseconds. Now the ECU also gets signals from the oxygen sensors which tell it how rich or lean the engine is running and it combines this information with the information taken from the MAF and adjusts accordingly. This happens several times a second. I don't think the ECU bases it's functions off of temperature readings but moreso from the readings taken from the MAF and o2 sensors. I could be wrong though.

[austinindian]

Wanted to follow up on this issue.

I got my car back after taking it to new 'indie' bmw shop here in Austin, Tx – USA.

Funny thing is that I took it in to fix the issue (reason for my original post) and came away with a myriad of options to update my car.

Here is what the mechanic found out, and their quotes for repairing.

1) Oil Coolant System needs a refresh:
Replace radiator, two hoses, thermostat + housing
Quote $1,200 (600 labor and 600 parts)
I denied this work and decided to buy the OEM parts online and find another mechanic.

3) Replace shocks/struts and replace mounts
Quote $1200 (parts and labor)
I denied this work. I will buy the parts and do some of the work myself, at least the rear suspension.

4) My oil filter housing is leaking
Quote $600 (parts and labor)
I denied this work. I will buy the parts and try to tackle this on my own.

5) My valve cover gasket is leaking (strange to hear this since it was replaced less than 30k miles ago)
Quote $275 (parts and labor)

I did have some work done, though! I had them replace my front end bushings to a desirable effect. My bushings were giving too much play, so they swapped them out with tougher bushings found on the M3. The steering feels so much better now. Once I replace the suspension components, get some new tires, and a new alignment, the car should drive much better.

Thanks for all your advice.

[austinindian]

One more thing...

I got to talking with the shop regarding me wanting to buy OEM parts to do the repair. They seems okay with that. We talked about the waterpump and how many people (on the boards) recommend to go with the newer water pumps with metal impellers. The person at the shop was under the impression that BMW tested metal impeller pumps but found that the hard plastic composite water pump is the correct choice if I was going to source a new part. I saw some posts on this board regarding this, but I thought I'd bring it up with you guys. Is the metal one the way to go?