Somethings not right with your car. We hit 93 (archive)

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My girlfriend came and visited me this weekend, which is why I've been slow to reply to you that've e-mailed me. Also, that's why I haven't posted any messages until today.

Anyway, we decided to take the 20-minute drive down the Interstate to Monroe, yesterday afternoon. We went to see Changing Lanes, which is an absolutely AWESOME movie. Society needs more movies like that. Those are my favorite kinds of movies, right there. Back to the point, though. . .

I had two bikes on the roof, so, needless to say, I was feeling a good bit of wind. The temperature was about 83 - 88 on the way up there and back. This stretch of I-20 that we took has a 70 MPH limit until you get into West Monroe. It's pretty hilly. Not San Francisco hilly, but it's not flat anywhere. You're always going up or down at least a small grade.

With that heat, the car wouldn't rev above 3,000 RPM. The heat was just too much for it. I've noticed this the past two summers. It just can NOT rev above 3,000 when the temp is above 70 or 75. I mean, with 225,000 miles on the engine, it probably only produces about 110 or 115 HP anyway. Factor in driveline loss, and I'm probably at about 85 or 90 HP at the wheels. It doesn't matter if I have bikes on the roof or not. The car is a FROZEN SLUG when you want to rev.

Going up a hill, I couldn't floor it and let the auto transmission shift into 3rd. Doing that would put me right at 3k RPM and just slow the car down. I would have to let off the gas just enough that it wouldn't downshift. Then, I had to just wait until I got to the top of the hill where I would then floor it and let it pick up more speed in 4th gear. Driving like this, I would hit about 75 - 80 at the bottom of the hill, depending on how steep and high it was. At the top of the hills, I would range between 65 and 70.

I normally drive on the interstate with the cruise set at about 85 or so. In the winter, I usually set it at 90. So, needless to say, I was NOT enjoying this very slow going, yesterday.

On top of that, I had the AC going the whole time. When we got out to buy the tickets before going to lunch, we were gone for maybe 5 minutes. Coming back, there was a nice puddle under the car. I looked under and could see the car dripping at a pretty good rate. There was some condensation on the bottom of the oil pan. I put my hand under the car to see what it was. It was just water: clear, tasteless, and scentless. So, at least I knew I wasn't leaking coolant (I use a 50/50 mix of coolant/water). I'm assuming this was just from the AC? I've never noticed it doing this before, although it could just be a normal thing the car does when you use the AC. Am I correct?

BTW, the water temp needle was perfectly in the middle all day, so I wasn't overheating.

Now, can someone please tell me what the hell I can do about this heat? I am NOT going to enjoy my summer very much if I'm going to be driving around in a 3500+ pound car putting out a stout *sic* 85 HP at the rear wheels and that can't even drive on the interstate.

Should I just put a higher percentage of water into the coolant reservoir, along with some Water Wetter, and just quit bitching about it, or is there something else I can do?

I'm planning on doing the auto-to-manual swap, as well as the e-to-i swap with my current head (I'll get a good e30 325i head from somewhere, swap out the innards, and have a shop drill the holes in my head for me). These two things will be done at the end of the summer during the month of July (summer school will be over, and I'll have to wait until the beginning of August to go back). That's the plan, at least.

If I get these two things done, the car will be a bit more tolerable, but someone PLEASE tell me there's something I can do in the interim. You people that live north of Tennessee just don't know what it's like to live in 70 - 90 degree weather 8 - 10 months out of 12.

P.S. Please don't tell me I need to sell my car and get a 535i. That's easier said than done. Doing that would require me to spend the time and money to show and sell this car, look for a 535i, make the trip(s) to look at one or more, and finally scrounge up the money to get a car that I don't know 100% about. I know everything about this car, its full history, because I experienced it first-hand.

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