New Thermostat - How long to warm up

MosH · #1 10-20-2009, 09:14 AM

Ok, so the SES light came on this past Saturday, brought it to my mechanic and the code was for a stuck open thermostat. This made sense since on my drive there (20mins ont he highway) my temp guage never came up to 12 o'clock (was always running cold). So the quote was 230 for a new thermostate andhousing with full coolant flush, fair price. I picked it up yesterday evening, on the drive home the guage stayed at 12 o'clock the entire time (truck was already warmed up when I started it). I left it in front of the house for about 6 hours in 40 degree temps. I took it out again, drove about 5mins at highway speed, let it idle for 5mins in a parking lot and drove back 5more mins at hwy speed, the guage never came up to 12 o'clock and actually was going down at bit on the hwy. This tells me the thermostat is still not right however Im not sure how long this truck takes to warm up. Can anyone shed any light? Did I just get a coolant flush and no new thermostat?

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LeiZ · #2 10-20-2009, 10:47 AM

As far as I know, it only takes 2~3 mins to warm up my car. The gauge goes up to 12 o'clock pretty fast.

TheKingSim0n · #3 10-20-2009, 11:30 AM

Pretty odd, could be a defective thermostat. Do you still have check engine? If so get it diagnosed. Write down what codes come up and clear them. Drive for a while until SES light comes back and then check for codes again, If its the same codes, read the codes and see what are the possibilities.

It could be various things from what your describing, codes might help you track down the real issue at hand. Anyone else ever have this issue feel free to through in your experience ...

MosH · #4 10-20-2009, 11:52 AM

Yeah, so far no SES light however I havent driven much. I am concerned just based on the behaviour of the temp guage.

HPIA4v2 · #5 10-20-2009, 12:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MosH

Yeah, so far no SES light however I havent driven much. I am concerned just based on the behaviour of the temp guage.

Now I am wondering if your temp sender/sensor is of. I believe BMW peg the temp indicator, within range it stucks at 12 oclock when in reality it fluctuate, driving in freeway with water pump at full capacity would lower the coolant temp and driving in traffic would be the opposite (but the indicator always at 12).
The good thing is your water pump seems to be working :-)

MosH · #6 10-20-2009, 12:09 PM

Yeah, maybe my guage is actually ACURATE! haha, I was going to replace the water pump however the truck only has 39K miles and I just purchased it 6 weeks ago. Atlerntor and thermostat replacements have put a dent in my repair funds... So you think drive it until the SES light comes on again? I am afraid I am running rich and dumping fuel due to this.

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