my car is being major PITA this week... little help

[ubernasty]

I need some input from some knowledgeable people please.

I got my new oil pan on and now my cars running like shit.

Symptoms:

The temp gauge is jumping erratically from half to almost all the way hot. The coolant hoses are really hot and seem to have a shit ton of pressure ---- probably the thermostat and water pump would take care of that.

Then on the highway i notice that when the gauge stops bouncing and chills at halfway where it usually does it runs fine and has full power... but then when it jumps around again it stutters and doesn't want to accelerate. --- Probably the o2 (since i've bought it, under full throttle it accelerates strong till about 4,500 rpm where it bobbles for a second then continues strong to the limiter.)

I have put off the things I know I need to do since i've had so i guess there just catching up to me.

If i replace the:
- thermostat
- water pump and housing
- timing belt and tensioner
- o2
I should be good to go right?

What's making the temp gauge bounce tho? (also the gas gauge stays on full most the time till you tap your fingers raw on the cluster... time for a new cluster?)

I hate asking these questions more than you do reading all this so help me out.

thanks

[bimmer_E30]

Did you bleed the system really good??

[ubernasty]

Bleed the oil system?

[z31maniac]

Fan clutch?

[Kershaw]

have you pulled the cap & rotor and checked their condition? that can give you stuttering problems.

[ubernasty]

Fan clutch?

Really?

I was mostly just curious why the gauge jumps around. I figured the o2 is what's causing the problem tho.

Alright well i'm off to the bar to drink away my problems, maybe if i get drunk enough my car will be good by the morning hah.

[thedeal]

Check the huge ground strap that connects to your oil pan.

[UNHCLL]

--

[ubernasty]

7 posts to get the the root cause.....

Replacing an oil pan is not going to affect any part of the coolant system.

You know thats exactly what i thought!!!... the thing that i didn't mention, because of pride , is that i didn't change the pan on my car myself because i didn't have time with my work schedule, the fact that it was on the side of a road, and the forecast was rain all week.

I got the pan from the junk yard myself, but gave my car to the shop that i happened to break down in front my car to fix. Those dumb mother fuckers obviously don't know what the fuck they were doing. I told them to make sure they hook the ground back up, and i just looked and they didn't.

Is that seriously why my car is acting all fucked now?? I'm gonna rip there ass's a new one tomorrow morning if so.

[ubernasty]

Fuck man, i was wondering why it was running pretty much solid except for the 4,500 bobble cus of the o2 before hand, then it was like i just picked up a fucking car that sat for 20 years.

Its funny cus i heard from local people that the guy that owns the shop "used" to be a funny car "pit captain"... fucking people don't understand that purpose built race cars aren't the same as dd pos e30s with sensors and shit. hah bmw v. 6 sec 1/4 ftw

[Unearth078]

if i posted first i would have told ya it was the ground ;)

[ubernasty]

Fuck, i'm never spending a fuckin cent of paying anyone i don't personally know to work on my fucking cars ever again, this is bullshit.

Goddamn hacks... i should have fuck got jackstands and risked gettin flattened on the hill then pay those assholes.

hah, damn i gotta laugh.

so anyway, what the fuck does the ground from the oil pan bolt to anyway. Save me some fucking searching cus its been a hell of a week.

[walktheboard]

not meaning to sound like an ass, but why dont you just try it? it takes 5 seconds.

[ubernasty]

try what?


Your not sounding like an ass, i just wanna be able to drive my fuckin car... if i could do something in 5 secs i'd do it... just don't know where it goes.

[ubernasty]

fuck. nevermind. its a ground.... i just wanna have it connected to the oem location cus i'm ocd like that.