So my wife says here cars heat is lukewarm and the radiator fan runs after it's turned off. I'm thinking Coolant Temperature Sensor. I pull the one out of my R55 I just replaced recently and know is good. No luck. Bimmerlink is giving me no fault related to coolant temperature. But it's giving me E717 which is under climate control. I found very little info about it other than a couple posts about it being the flapper actuator. Is it possible it's the thermostat housing sucking air into the system? I'm doubting that as I've bled it several times and no improvement. Any suggestions would be much appreciated before I take the dash off to inspect the actuator. I forgot to add that leading up to this when the blower fan was turned on it would and still does emit a high pitched squeal for about a minute. I figured the blower motor bearing was starting to go. It still blows strong though.

 

Ok. Your first question "Is it possible that it's the thermostat housing sucking air into the system?" No. Air going into the cooling system means coolant is coming out, and you'd probably notice that.

Next steps: 1. Check coolant level. Connect a scan tool and pull up live data for the PCM (DME in the MINI/BMW world). Find coolant temp and monitor it while driving. Coolant temp should reach 221 degrees F. Now, accelerate hard and hold it for a minute; the temp should drop to 185 degrees F.

2. Using the scan tool, pull up the IHKA module; under live data; look for door actuator positions. Rotate the temp control **** while monitoring the blend door position. At full cold, the door should reach 0%. At full hot; it should reach 100%

I had a problem where my '07 Justa wasn't getting cold, what I found was the temp control **** skipped a tooth inside the control panel and at full cold my blend air door was at 9%. Once I removed, disassembled, and reclocked the temp ****, the door would go to 0%, and my air temp dropped like it should with the AC on.

 

Thank you so much for the detailed checklist. Especially number 2. Probably won't get to it till this Saturday, fortunately the lukewarm air is good enough for her 7 mile drive to work.