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i was driving my bmw x5 in some traffic. when i looked up, i noticed that the temp gauge was on hot. i was at my destination. called a friend who knows a lot more about cars and he said my antifreeze was a little low, and he put some antifreeze in the car.. drove it home, no problems on that drive (30 minutes). should i still take it in to make sure everything is okay? this has never happened to me so i don't know how "normal" it is.

2007-12-03 04:12:14 · 4 answers · asked by Anonymous in Cars & Transportation Maintenance & Repairs

4 answers

The thermostat is probably sticking. I couldn't say for sure without knowing more about the car but I would have that checked (It may or may not be expensive, the part is cheap but some cars are very hard to change it in)

2007-12-03 04:16:05 · answer #1 · answered by John Avry 2 · 0 0

Now top off the coolant again and you should be fine. If the coolant was low in the reservoir, where you are supposed to add it to most cars, and your friend filled that to the proper mark, the radiator will have pulled that in and the reservoir will be down a little again.

If it happens again soon, then take it in. It is not abnormal for an engine to get toward the upper part of its temperature range in city traffic but if it is losing coolant at any significant rate, especially if you see it on the pavement beneath it, get it looked at. If that was only a short drive, it is also not unusual for a thermostat to not open until that first blast of really hot liquid gets to it.
I had a car with a temperature gauge that constantly cycled up and down this time of year. That is NOT a sign of a bad thermostat. It is a sign that it is working exactly as it should. The thermostat is not there to cool the engine. It is there to make sure the engine is getting to the proper temperature for the most efficient operation.

2007-12-03 12:20:49 · answer #2 · answered by Tom K 6 · 0 0

I would check for a leak, if you were missing antifreze then it had to get out somewhere. If you have a leak it's not a huge deal to fix if you aren't avaliable to do so (depending on the severity of the leak), as long as you keep your resovaur (sp) topped off you will be fine.

Could also be the thermostat, but it takes a lot for one of those to stop working, even on a BMW

2007-12-03 12:20:51 · answer #3 · answered by Nate 6 · 0 0

you should be fine, besides your buddy is knowledgable, ask him if you want a definite answer

2007-12-03 12:15:50 · answer #4 · answered by mr fugi 6 · 0 0

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