2003 x5 4.4 running hotter then most...

[The-X-Man]

hey guys, ever since I got the rig, I noticed the engine temp arrow is always a little past the center, I checked operating temps, and it runs at 118F all the time, already replaced thermostat, water pump, new expansion tank, I did NOT however replace the little sensor at the bottom of the expansion tank, could that be my issue or is there something bigger going on?

Car runs great other then that, but it just bugs me that it runs that hot

[tmv]

Fan clutch is what I'd look at.

[The-X-Man]

Hmm...never crossed my mind lol ill do the news paper trick today and test it

[admranger]

Originally Posted by The-X-Man

hey guys, ever since I got the rig, I noticed the engine temp arrow is always a little past the center, I checked operating temps, and it runs at 118F all the time, already replaced thermostat, water pump, new expansion tank, I did NOT however replace the little sensor at the bottom of the expansion tank, could that be my issue or is there something bigger going on?

Car runs great other then that, but it just bugs me that it runs that hot

I assume you mean 218F, not 118F. 118F would mean it runs at the same temp as a nice July afternoon in Vegas.

FWIW, my 2005 4.4i used to run at 219F all day long. Now it just sits in the garage waiting for me to fix what I broke last weekend...

Need some help with that from the knowledgable members here though...

[flg8r90]

Where should the temperature gauge needle be ? and
Ummm.... What's the old newspaper trick ?

[bcredliner]

Normal operating temp is 225F. How did you check the coolant temp?

[The-X-Man]

sorry guys I meant 118C which is about 244F, I checked it with INPA and on the speedometer while running

the gauge needle should be in the center right? mine is past the center towards hot

the newspaper trick is if you can stop the fan easily with a rolled up news paper when its running, means the clutch is bad

[Meinhold]

If someone had the pixels fixed by replacing the ribon, some remove the needles on the dial to complete the fix. If it isn't done right the needle will be in the wrong place. So look to see if the needle is hitting the stop when the key is turned off if it just a little off the stop that is your problem.

[The-X-Man]

Nope arrow stops where it should, pixels actually need to be fixed as they are starting to pixelate worse and worse

I'm gonna test the fan clutch tomorrow and see what happens

[tmv]

Originally Posted by Meinhold

If someone had the pixels fixed by replacing the ribon, some remove the needles on the dial to complete the fix. If it isn't done right the needle will be in the wrong place. So look to see if the needle is hitting the stop when the key is turned off if it just a little off the stop that is your problem.

No need to remove any needle to replace the ribbon.

The X-Man, when did you have the cooling system flushed? You had new coolant when replacing the thermostat, expansion tank and water pump. Did you flush the system to get rid of the old coolant too?