At M & R Auto, we know a BMW’s thermostat plays a vital part in your car’s performance. One of the common repair issues you might face as a BMW owner is a thermostat failure. A bad thermostat can wreak havoc on your engine.
The thermostat is a valve in your BMW’s cooling system that controls coolant flow through the radiator and cooling hoses. It regulates your car’s temperature, keeping the engine in the healthy range and preventing catastrophic overheating damage.
Your thermostat can fail three ways—stuck open, halfway, or closed. If it fails stuck closed, you’ll notice quickly because your car will have severe overheating issues. An overheating engine can lead to major damage to multiple systems. Always pull over and let the engine cool down if your BMW overheats.
By comparison, if the thermostat is stuck open, you might not notice immediately. Your BMW will take longer to reach operating temperature. The most common way to stick is halfway open, which will cause your engine to take longer to reach normal temperatures and could overheat on a long drive.
Read on for five signs your BMW’s thermostat might be failing.
- Check engine light
The check engine light is one of your car’s most direct methods of letting you know something is wrong. You should always take it seriously and get the error codes read as soon as possible. A bad thermostat in your BMW will trigger the check engine light if it fails.
- Overheating
As you might expect, a thermostat failure will often lead to your BMW overheating. Letting your engine run above safe temperatures can cause significant damage, so pull over as soon as possible if your car overheats and let the engine cool down. Call a tow truck if you start it after the engine is cool and it overheats again within five minutes. You could blow your engine if you try to drive it.
- Coolant leaks
Coolant may build up and leak if your BMW thermostat is stuck closed. If your coolant system is compromised, leaks could also develop in the hoses.
- Fluctuating temperatures
If the temperature in your BMW is fluctuating wildly in either direction, your car is having an issue with the cooling system. Rapidly shifting from high to low temperatures could signal that your thermostat isn’t sending the proper coolant levels through the system.
- Bubbling sounds
If your thermostat fails, you may notice a bubbling sound from under the hood as your coolant system struggles to keep up with the shifting temperatures. It can also sound like gurgling as your coolant bubbles.
Conclusion When you experience troubles with your BMW thermostat, M & R Auto will get you back on the road without wrecking your wallet. We have the tools and experience to diagnose and repair your BMW.
