the temp on my car sometimes says it hot but not completely to the H..the highest the needle went is bout 3/4 the way..thing is there is no smoke or such..radiator has coolant and it works.touch the top part of the hoes and its warm..so i know it works..so what can be the problem??bad thermostat maybe??any ideas would help..thanks

 

Maybe a bad thermostat.

 

did you touch the bottom hose? thats the hose that reserculates after the thermostat opens... the top hose will get hot without the thermostat opening

does your fan kick on?

 

Ya, i've had that problem too, mine is like this, I tested the car for about 12 miles and nothing happened, so then I started driving it on a daily bases, but then a week later the heat temp gauge went up pretty high, so i hit the heater on and drove to work, then I came home and not really a problem, and then later on we started the car with the radiator cap off, and let out some air, the heat gauge has not gone above 1/2 now, and if it does go to 1/2 its like for a second then goes back down, we know its not actually getting hot because the radiator is cool and the engine temp doesn't really match what it says on the gauge, so maybe try letting out so air bubbles, sorta worked for me, but I will probably get a new thermostat anyway...anyways thats my input, hope it helps.

 

thanks for all the input..but no i didnt touch the bottem hose..ill check it out when i get home..and also im not sure if my fan kick on..usually when drivin i dont hear or after drivin i dont hear it turnin off..ill try warming it up with the cap off..but other than that anything else it could be?? is there a certain time the thermostat needs to be change or anything?? its a z6 with almost 200k on it..

 

it wouldnt hurt you change it anyway... its like 10 bucks or so

 

yea, id go with a new thermostat. Mine was only $8.00 and if you have 200k on your is definately wont hurt

 

yeah got a new one today..lets say its not the thermostat..what would it be??imma try warming my car up wit the cap off today wen it cools down..