3.0 Coolant Temperature High / Overheating?

M

MD01

Member
 Sandhurst, Berkshire
Hi all,

I only picked up my Z4 coupé last week so haven't yet gotten round to introducing myself however I've already run into my first problem.

I was driving home this evening and got stuck in some traffic, I had been stationary or hardly moving for approx 20 mins and then noticed that the temperature gauge on the dash was lit up and at maximum. I pulled over as soon as possible and opened up the bonnet where it was immediately obvious that it was extremely hot so I left it for 20 mins to cool down. The gauge returned to half way and I got it home. The traffic was flowing more smoothly by now so I didn't run into too many more problems. I stopped at a couple of traffic lights and it was starting to creep up but once moving the air hitting the front of the car was doing enough cooling.

Once I got it home I had another look in more detail and it didn't appear that the fan was working however after only having it a week I couldn't be 100% sure not really knowing what I'm looking out for. I.checked the coolant level which was fine, although very hot (steaming) along with the oil. I'm really hoping I haven't done any damage and its hopefully getting looked at tomorrow morning by a Indy specialist.

My question is does anyone have an idea what this could be caused by and how I can further diagnose it?

Thanks in advance.
 
My money would be on the radiator fan pack..

Mine had faulted on my roady and i have heard of a few since.

Its fairly easy to diagnose with some diag equipment...Im sure your indy will sort it.
 
Thanks for the input. I did a quick search and similar suggestions were posted but I'll keep the thread updated with the outcome tomorrow.
 
I would take the car for a long run, then strip the bumper down and place layers of paper towels on the upper part of the undertray, under the radiator / hoses.

This should help you locate where the leak is coming from

***edit - sorry I thought this was the leaking radiator thread :) too many radiator issues atm!
 
Just for my knowledge more than anything else.....but when should the fan come on? I assume this to be after a certain temperature point is reached?

I think I have read that the fan should come on when turning the AC on and I assume this is the fan that is behind the radiator? I have just had another look at the car and although the AC is on and I can hear a fan the radiator fan is stationary.

If I apply a small amount of pressure to the fan it doesn't budge either. I'm unsure if whether this is because it only rotates once the car is moving or whether something is jamming it? Any input or answers are greatly appreciated again.
 
Yes..

The fan should rotate slowly when the AC demands it too..

Like i say within diag you can operate the fan via the diag machine.. My money is on that the fan will not operate when asked,Check for voltage at fan plug..
If you have voltage then fan pack is faulty..

Is the fan stiff to turn ? It should spin freely,so any resistance will indicate the motor has had water ingress..
 
Yes the fan is very stiff to turn. I didn't want to apply too much pressure just in case it wasn't supposed to be turned manually.

If the motor has had water ingress would the solution be simply to replace the motor?
 
MD01 said:
If the motor has had water ingress would the solution be simply to replace the motor?
Click to expand...
Correct. The entire fan-motor assembly and housing is supplied as a single unit, but the shroud is separate.
 
The indy I'll use its fully booked for 10 days now but has offered to take a quick look tomorrow lunchtime to try and pinpoint the cause. Looks like the car is going to be off the road for a little while despite only having had it a week; not how I hoped my ownership would start out.
 
Just had the diagnosis from the Indy and it is going to require a whole new fan unit. He said that the signal was being successfully transmitted to the fan however it was not responding. It's booked in for Monday morning now to have the work completed.

Hopefully this is the only problem to occur in my early weeks of ownership. The prior owner claims to have no knowledge of the problem but then they would say that wouldn't they.
 
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