Another S52 swap... but this time with a newb!

[Mohammed_A]

thanks, but i suppose its need to be butchered a bit to fit the e30 hey?

[dude8383]

i actually bought a brand new e36 o2 sensor for my car...you should be able to hook it up to the harness!

in case you haven't done this already, make sure you replace that plastic t-stat housing as well :)

Hrm, so I took it out for a little 5 min drive today... Damn is all I could say... I didn't floor it obviously because I'm just doing a ritual break in period since its been a while since this motor has ran.

One thing that concerns me is that half way through the 5 min drive my CEL came on. Anyone know how to check this and what codes its throwing? I'm 80% sure its the o2 sensor as I tried to use the oem sensors from the s52 and spliced and matched them with the obd1 harness. Anyone know which wires go to which?

e36 s52 o2 sensors - Yellow, Red, White, Black
e36 s50 o2 sensor harness end - 2 whites, Black, Gray

If anything I'm going to use my o2 sensor from my m20 and reset the dme and see if the check engine light comes on. Tomorrow to the muffler shop to get this shit quiet. Way too loud with midpipes without cats with no muffler lol.

[jahnaboi]

What colors go to which colors if you don't mind me asking? Also, the plastic housing isn't plastic its made of graphite tar. Which is quite strong. Why do people constantly change this thing? I have an aluminum one. Maybe I'll change it soon when I flush my coolant system.

[rThor432]

What colors go to which colors if you don't mind me asking? Also, the plastic housing isn't plastic its made of graphite tar. Which is quite strong. Why do people constantly change this thing? I have an aluminum one. Maybe I'll change it soon when I flush my coolant system.

The plastic thermostat housing is prone to failure. After 65k on that thing you've got a time bomb. Same thing with the plastic end tanks on the radiators (specifically where the hose mounts). I see these failures all the time, and I've had to deal with them on well maintained family cars as well.

Basically until you change the plastic housing for the metal one you'd better keep a close eye on the temp guage at all times. It's suck to lose your engine over a $25 t-stat housing.

[jahnaboi]

Will do. Thanks for the heads up.

[dude8383]

What colors go to which colors if you don't mind me asking? Also, the plastic housing isn't plastic its made of graphite tar. Which is quite strong. Why do people constantly change this thing? I have an aluminum one. Maybe I'll change it soon when I flush my coolant system.

oh man i don't remember and its a bit cold here on the east cost! you will probably have more luck looking at some used versions...

although, you can check the wiring diagram to see how the colors match!

[SamE30e]

Awesome man, I wish I cold get a S52.

[rThor432]

Will do. Thanks for the heads up.

No problem. I'd much rather see this car out driving around than broken down in a shop for repairs.

[jahnaboi]

UPDATE:

Welded my exhaust system together... That was a PITA crawling under bolting everything, measuring how much you need, then unbolting then tack welding then checking if its fine then welding then putting it on then noticing its too short lol jk. But yea, that was fucking gay. I ran straight pipes in place of the catless midpipes with obd1 resonators with the e30 flanges welded on to bolt up to the stock e30 muffler. Yes, back pressure for the muffler but I don't feel like dishing out money right now.

Anyways, I had to remove one of my exhaust manifolds to wiggle the midpipes on and got everything on tightly... only thing is now I hear some weird ass humming noise coming from the front of my engine. At idle there is no noise... but when I bring the rpm to 1k it has a humming noise... almost like a bikes chain rubbing against the slider. For sure it was not present before I removed the exhaust manifold and don't know why it would be there now. I didn't drive the thing within the period in between... Anyone car to chime in? I'm going to take my manifold off again though to fix the booster leak as its quite scary double pumping the breaks to stop. I'll take a video of the noise that I was referring to.

[dude8383]

UPDATE:

Welded my exhaust system together... That was a PITA crawling under bolting everything, measuring how much you need, then unbolting then tack welding then checking if its fine then welding then putting it on then noticing its too short lol jk. But yea, that was fucking gay. I ran straight pipes in place of the catless midpipes with obd1 resonators with the e30 flanges welded on to bolt up to the stock e30 muffler. Yes, back pressure for the muffler but I don't feel like dishing out money right now.

Anyways, I had to remove one of my exhaust manifolds to wiggle the midpipes on and got everything on tightly... only thing is now I hear some weird ass humming noise coming from the front of my engine. At idle there is no noise... but when I bring the rpm to 1k it has a humming noise... almost like a bikes chain rubbing against the slider. For sure it was not present before I removed the exhaust manifold and don't know why it would be there now. I didn't drive the thing within the period in between... Anyone car to chime in? I'm going to take my manifold off again though to fix the booster leak as its quite scary double pumping the breaks to stop. I'll take a video of the noise that I was referring to.

i think it may be your vanos making the humming noise although the video should help us out.

quick question, you're running catless...in CA??? how are you going to pass?

[jahnaboi]

Don't worry about it. =P

[jahnaboi]

Uploading a video... pretty sure its the vanos unit. Hrm, any means as to why it would do it now and not yesterday? I haven't even driven it hard... wah.

[Uber E30]

http://www.drvanos.com/us_single.htm

[jahnaboi]

Gay, i'm like 95% sure its my vanos... too bad I have another one on hand. Lets see if this one is quieter...

[MR 325]

Cats, rofl.