128i No engine temp gauge?

[Billup]

I searched and found a couple answers to my questions, however, is there any simple way to pull up what my running temperature is?

I ask because I did my valve cover gasket recently and I removed the front upper hose from the overflow tank to get the cover out, put the new gasket in, reinstalled everything, and when I started her up everything seemed to be running great so I took it down the block and noticed smoke.

Seemed like the smoke was coming from the end nearest to the cabin, but I couldn't quite tell what it was, so I put my hand on the valve cover to get in and look and it was HOT.

Now, I figured if the motor were overheating, it would throw a light on the dash, but it never did, however, the overall temp was worrysome...,

is this a legitimate concern, or am I being too much on the cautious side?

Thanks in advance,

[TheSt|G]

I bought the performance steering wheel for this purpose, oil and coolant temp right in front of me.

[Billup]

I really have absolutely no idea why it doesn't come with one from the factory. The fact that my dipstick is on the dash also drives me nuts.

Any input as far as overheating? Will it throw a light on the dash, or will the motor blow with no warning?

[TheSt|G]

Originally Posted by Billup

I really have absolutely no idea why it doesn't come with one from the factory. The fact that my dipstick is on the dash also drives me nuts.

Any input as far as overheating? Will it throw a light on the dash, or will the motor blow with no warning?

Dipstick is inexcusable, and completely agreed on temp.

It will throw a light, but generally that is too late(especially with a magnesium engine).

Wheel is nice because it yells at you if temps get too high as well. I do wish it had a pressure gauge though.

[Dackelone]

Originally Posted by Billup

Any input as far as overheating? Will it throw a light on the dash, or will the motor blow with no warning?

IF the engine over heats the warning light will come on. First in yellow and then in RED if something is wrong. Many owners report(like when their electric) water pumps fail, that the red warning light comes on first and then 30 secs later the engine looses all power and shuts off. This is to prevent damage to the engine.


All modern engine will get hot very quickly because a hot engine produces less emissions than a cold engine. Its not like in the old days when an engine would take ten or more minutes running to get hot to the touch. Modern engine are scolding hot(to the touch) after just a minute of running/idling.

IF you want to monitor your engine temperature(and other things as well) you could buy a OBD-II Bluetooth dongle, it will plug into the OBD-II slot by your leg leg on the bottom of the A-pillar. Then use an app like "Torque" to monitor oil and water temp and other cool stuff. With the "Torque" app you can also read and clear thrown codes.

Dackel

[sixburgh]

Dackelone always in the know. From the Black Forest...

[Billup]

Originally Posted by Dackelone

IF the engine over heats the warning light will come on. First in yellow and then in RED if something is wrong. Many owners report(like when their electric) water pumps fail, that the red warning light comes on first and then 30 secs later the engine looses all power and shuts off. This is to prevent damage to the engine.


All modern engine will get hot very quickly because a hot engine produces less emissions than a cold engine. Its not like in the old days when an engine would take ten or more minutes running to get hot to the touch. Modern engine are scolding hot(to the touch) after just a minute of running/idling.

IF you want to monitor your engine temperature(and other things as well) you could buy a OBD-II Bluetooth dongle, it will plug into the OBD-II slot by your leg leg on the bottom of the A-pillar. Then use an app like "Torque" to monitor oil and water temp and other cool stuff. With the "Torque" app you can also read and clear thrown codes.

Dackel

Thank you! A lot of good information here. I must have been being a little over cautious by just going off the feel of the motor after running for a while. The fact that it was scolding hot threw a red flag.

I drive an hour to work one way every day, so I had that thought in my head I would be 45 minutes away and stranded because of overheating.

I'm going to look into an OBD dongle so I have some reassurance going forward. I ended up dropping it off at the dealership just out of wanting the confidence that I will be able to get to and from work without being stranded.

[Sedona_Red_128]

Has anyone used the Bluetooth dongle? Seems there are many available. I'm wondering if one is better than another for BMW compatibility.

[JimD]

I use one occassionally, not constantly, but I don't remember which bluetooth unit I bought. What I did was to go to Amazon and pick one that had good ratings from users. I think I paid about $25.

I wish I had a decent set of gauges but that isn't what is typical these days. To me, decent would include coolant temperature and oil pressure. Oil temperature would also be nice to have. Air fuel is interesting as is spark advance. All of these can be created as virtual gauges in Torque. I might use it for this if I had a non-work cell phone to run it on and a good mount for the phone. Probably happen eventually.

One reason I think they don't give us a coolant gauge has already been mentioned. Our engines deliberately run pretty hot for emissions and mileage purposes. I monitored my 128i for awhile on Torque and that was my judgement. The temperature also moves up and down with load. I think that might be too much information for a lot of drivers - so no gauge. Just my theory. I run Torque on a tablet which seems to big and heavy to have on in the car all the time.

[Billup]

Originally Posted by JimD

I use one occassionally, not constantly, but I don't remember which bluetooth unit I bought. What I did was to go to Amazon and pick one that had good ratings from users. I think I paid about $25.

I wish I had a decent set of gauges but that isn't what is typical these days. To me, decent would include coolant temperature and oil pressure. Oil temperature would also be nice to have. Air fuel is interesting as is spark advance. All of these can be created as virtual gauges in Torque. I might use it for this if I had a non-work cell phone to run it on and a good mount for the phone. Probably happen eventually.

One reason I think they don't give us a coolant gauge has already been mentioned. Our engines deliberately run pretty hot for emissions and mileage purposes. I monitored my 128i for awhile on Torque and that was my judgement. The temperature also moves up and down with load. I think that might be too much information for a lot of drivers - so no gauge. Just my theory. I run Torque on a tablet which seems to big and heavy to have on in the car all the time.

When you monitored yours, what were some of the extremes you saw in temperature? Did you put your hand on the oil filter housing or anything stemming off the head to see what kind of heat it generated?

I've taken off oil filter housings when I was a tech after people were driving around all day and I've never felt one as hot as in my 128, which is what really raised concern.

[JimD]

Originally Posted by Billup

When you monitored yours, what were some of the extremes you saw in temperature? Did you put your hand on the oil filter housing or anything stemming off the head to see what kind of heat it generated?

I've taken off oil filter housings when I was a tech after people were driving around all day and I've never felt one as hot as in my 128, which is what really raised concern.

It's been too long since I did it to remember the temperatures, sorry. I also didn't touch the engine at about that time. But my observation is all my cars get too hot to touch after normal operation. I believe they are designed to.

What I would be a little concerned about in your case is that you have air in the system. I would try to burp it. Sometimes you can squeeze the upper radiator hose and get it to burp into the coolant recovery tank. If it has air in the system, I doubt you could get a good temperature reading.

[Billup]

Originally Posted by JimD

It's been too long since I did it to remember the temperatures, sorry. I also didn't touch the engine at about that time. But my observation is all my cars get too hot to touch after normal operation. I believe they are designed to.

What I would be a little concerned about in your case is that you have air in the system. I would try to burp it. Sometimes you can squeeze the upper radiator hose and get it to burp into the coolant recovery tank. If it has air in the system, I doubt you could get a good temperature reading.

That's what was jogging in the back of my mind was that I had somehow gotten air in the system when I removed the hose from the overflow tank, but I opened the bleed screw on top, some air came out, then fluid, but it was still running hot.

I read about bleeding the system at the waterpump, but my large tool box and a lot of my heavier duty tools and battery charger are still in Michigan, so I didn't get to attempt that procedure last night.

[TheSt|G]

Originally Posted by JimD

I use one occassionally, not constantly, but I don't remember which bluetooth unit I bought. What I did was to go to Amazon and pick one that had good ratings from users. I think I paid about $25.

I wish I had a decent set of gauges but that isn't what is typical these days. To me, decent would include coolant temperature and oil pressure. Oil temperature would also be nice to have. Air fuel is interesting as is spark advance. All of these can be created as virtual gauges in Torque. I might use it for this if I had a non-work cell phone to run it on and a good mount for the phone. Probably happen eventually.

One reason I think they don't give us a coolant gauge has already been mentioned. Our engines deliberately run pretty hot for emissions and mileage purposes. I monitored my 128i for awhile on Torque and that was my judgement. The temperature also moves up and down with load. I think that might be too much information for a lot of drivers - so no gauge. Just my theory. I run Torque on a tablet which seems to big and heavy to have on in the car all the time.

I'm actively working to add oil pressure. I really wish the vent gauge had such functionality.

Originally Posted by Billup

When you monitored yours, what were some of the extremes you saw in temperature? Did you put your hand on the oil filter housing or anything stemming off the head to see what kind of heat it generated?

I've taken off oil filter housings when I was a tech after people were driving around all day and I've never felt one as hot as in my 128, which is what really raised concern.

Oil temp generally ranges from 200F to 240F depending on drive style(cruising vs backroad beating). I keep an eye on it at all times.

[rking117]

your best method to figure out if you are over heating is to not wait until that point. Forgve me for not reading hte rest of this post so if someone else has given this info then just ignore me

If it were me with a vehicle that has a dummy light and not a guage you can run the vehicle to the store and back. Make sure there is enough time to get the vehicle to normal operating tempurature and then let it totally cool off.

From there crack open the radiator fill cap and note the level of the coolant. If it is low fill it up replace the cap and run tot he store again gettng the vehicle up to the normal engine temp.

repeat these steps until you have not lost coolant. If you cannot keep the coolant level full then you know you have a leak and thus need to give your coolant system some attention. I would look at the hoses connections and seal for evidence of water. the other thing you can do is look in the oil capo and see if there seems to be a white foamy residue there. If you do then that suggests blown head gasket or cracked block/ head.

I know, I know. You are asking well how do I know if I am at normal operating temperature if I dont have a guage. The answer to this is you dont. The general rule of thumb is that your vehicle can get too hot in just 5 minutes of normal driving if you are completely out of coolant. so if you have coolant in the system AND your coolant pump/ thermostat is functionng corectly then a goood ten minute run will be about right.

The best method is to buy a ODBII bluetooth dongle and buy the torque app for your phone. there is temp setting in there if i remember correctly.

[JimD]

I've done what the previous poster suggests and it works. Whether you can burp the air out is a function of where the air is and how the pieces are arranged. letting it accumulate in the radiator and then filling that works. As long as the system is sealed well, you should be able to let it vent itself into the overflow tank and pull liquid back when it cools. But checking it after it has been operated long enough to open the thermostat and then cooled off is a valid way to check for air and deal with it if it is present.

[Dackelone]

Originally Posted by Sedona_Red_128

Has anyone used the Bluetooth dongle? Seems there are many available. I'm wondering if one is better than another for BMW compatibility.

I bought this OBD-II bluetooth dongle from Amazon.com I must confess I have not used it too much though. I guess I have been spoiled with good running cars. But I have used it on both my 135i(N54) and my e39 535iA. So I know it works with the Torque App.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[JimD]

I think I bought this one:

http://www.amazon.com/BAFX-Products-...etooth+adapter

It looks right and that's about what I paid. I guess it only works Android which is what my tablet is but not my phone. It is big enough you can't put the cover back on the compartment in the drivers side footwell where the OBDII port is when you're using it. It isn't in the way but you can see it down there if you look.

I've used mine on my Suzuki SUV and a Toyota Tundra my wife used to own. I was just creating gauges in the bimmer and SUV but I cleared codes on the Tundra a couple times (after reading them).

[Billup]

I am going to order one today, seems like the easiest logical solution to my problem.

Side question, are there any open ports or plugged ports on the motor that can allow access for a secondary gauge like Defi for coolant temp?

[Deutsche-Broke]

Anyone have any decent results with bluetooth and iOS? I had a crap ELM327 connector, found it was garbage and gave it to a friend with a passion for GM..

Looking for something a bit more predictable, but haven't found anything that anyone is raving about.

Thanks

[Mikee82]

Anyone have any experience with this product from P3Cars? Pretty nice actually, but REALLY pricey...

http://www.p3cars.com/bmw-1-series/b...tal-interface/

[Sedona_Red_128]

Thanks, I got the BAFX device today and I'm truly amazed. $20 for the scanner and $5 for the torque app and you can create a full blown glass cockpit of gauges plus scan for codes if necessary. Best value of anything I've bought in a long time.

[horsepower_and_hounds]

What are peeps using if they have IOS......