Project Daily iS Real

[jjjjj]

great stuff, will definitely be tuning into this as you progress.

[G FORCE]

great stuff, will definitely be tuning into this as you progress.

Thanks!!

Motor is stabbed. Time to start bolting accessories back on! Also did the "mess under the intake" cleanup. I decided not to replace the master/clutch cylinders just to try and not complicate things by breaking too many systems all at once. I can always do that later.

[mike.bmw]

Looking good! Plans to replace any of the cooling system? How long until you fire it back up (or is it too soon to tell)?

[G FORCE]

Hey Mike! I've got replacement pieces for the water tube under the intake, heater hoses, radiator hoses, water pump and t-stat. Assuming a new shift rod selector joint (piece I received was off-center) arrives on time, hopefully I can get it fired up this weekend!

[G FORCE]

It's always the little nuances of a project like this that take the longest or are the most annoying.

I threw the old steering rack in the garbage this week and forgot there was 1 power steering hose attached, hence I was missing a pressure feed banjo bolt. Thankfully, the U-Pull It is open and after standing in line to get in for 20 minutes in the sun and standing in line again for 20 minutes to check out (25% capacity) I nabbed one from an E36 that should fit the rack just fine. Also scored a nice hood roundel! Worth it!

More power steering line troubles. Holy hell, I don't know what I ordered or what was sent. I ordered all new lines and only 1 return line seemed to fit appropriately. I had read I needed the E36 pressure line but now realize that is probably for the M20 engines. Some heating, bending and tweaking later I think we're good to go for now. It was probably my fault in ordering wrong hoses but I made them work well for now.

I am not very observant and installed the shifter backwards. Ah well, it'll still shift and it'll just buy my more time to force myself into getting a Z3 shifter anyway. :D Also, the replacement shift rod joint I ordered from a *kit* was off-centered so I couldn't not get the dowel pin to go through it and the trans shift arm. Called, had another shipped 2-day and it was even WORSE! WTF. I guess the funny part was I indicated they needed to make sure the replacement was centered and the package came with "inspected" on it. LMAO. Ended up just using the OEM one. Pretty pissed off cause it's gonna be a B to change in the car if/when that happens.

I also determined I routed the hard fuel lines wrong after finding the small alignment bracket that bolts to the intake support. At least this is an easy fix.

After these fix-ups, I assume it's smooth sailing with the driveline, exhaust, rad, fan and fluids. Plan is to start her up Saturday and hope for no leaks!

[G FORCE]

Well, the car is running and driving!

I somehow messed up the ignition wires even though they were still in the plastic guides so we pondered why it wasn't starting initially. Quick fix thanks to my pops' observance. Everything ordered properly and it fired up nicely and idled smoothly. I then realized I had the heater hoses backwards. Another quick fix and I think it's cooling properly now. However, there is a slight oil leak from the front cover still...namely around the AC bracket area. Ugh. Pulled the bolts out that go through the cover and Right Stuffed them but it did little to slow the seep. Consequently, I've ordered new timing cover gaskets and will be redoing those with a liberal amount of Right Stuff this time....

On a more postivie note, the Z3 rack feels amazing in my limited driving time!! They hype is real! Also, the shifter (although oddly forward due to my unfortunate compulsion to install things backwards) is nice and tight due to the new parts. I'll be fixing the orientation in the next week and installing the Z3 shift knob as well.

This was a lot of work to fix fluid leaks; I sure hope I can get this thing leak free on the 2nd try.

[G FORCE]

So I've sealed the timing case again and the lower oil pan 2x (I stripped one of the bolts grrr) and those leaks seems to be sealed up. However, I still have one dripping down by the AC bracket. While clean oil makes leaks difficult to track down, I *think* it is coming from the timing chain tensioner bolt. I did not take this out or replace any seals or crush washers. I've replaced everything else so this is the next step? From my research, it's a simple remove, decompress slightly, and reinstall. Does that sound correct? The chain guides were in good shape and there is no timing chain rattle. I'd be tempted to just take it out and replace the seal but for $40 I'll just replace the tensioner too I suppose.

I'm also fighting with burping the cooling system. I so hate this cooling system. I've ran it, elevated, bled it, squeezed hoses, rinse repeat, etc. It's just being stubborn and will just take persistence...

[G FORCE]

Anyone have any ideas on the cooling system? I've bled this thing 10x, elevated heater on, to the point where just pure coolant comes out and no bubbles. Both radiator hoses are getting hot and pressurized. The temp hovers between 1/2 and 3/4 depending on load. Before all the work, it would never get above 1/2. I even replaced the new thermostat 2x thinking it might have been bad but same result. Brand new radiator because the previous one had stripped bleeder screw threads and a leaky expansion tank seal. I read somewhere that the sensor and/or ground could cause odd readings? I really don't know what else to check.

[mike.bmw]

Anyone have any ideas on the cooling system? I've bled this thing 10x, elevated heater on, to the point where just pure coolant comes out and no bubbles. Both radiator hoses are getting hot and pressurized. The temp hovers between 1/2 and 3/4 depending on load. Before all the work, it would never get above 1/2. I even replaced the new thermostat 2x thinking it might have been bad but same result. Brand new radiator because the previous one had stripped bleeder screw threads and a leaky expansion tank seal. I read somewhere that the sensor and/or ground could cause odd readings? I really don't know what else to check.

M42s are a pain to bleed. Sounds like you're doing it the right way with the front end elevated and the heater on. It's possible there's still an air pocket trapped somewhere. When it's cool, have you tried filling coolant into the large radiator hoses? Does it feel like coolant it getting to your heater core when the heat is on?

From what I remember, there are two coolant sensors next to each other under the intake manifold. One is for the gauge, the other is for the ECU. I can't remember if the connectors are the same. And even if the connectors were the same and you swapped connections by accident, I'm not sure what the readings on the gauge would be hooked up to the ECU's coolant temp sensor.

[G FORCE]

Thanks Mike. I have added water to the radiator hoses manually before and there is water on both sides when cool. The heater gets hot and it seems that water is circulating but there still must be air. I cracked the bleeder screw this morning after a couple days of sitting and some air escaped but it did not make difference in the running temperature.

You are correct, there are 2 sensors under the intake manifold. While I do not remember if they were different connectors, they are different colors so that would be hard to mix them up but it's worth shining a light in there and looking.

[G FORCE]

So I've got the coolant bleeding issue mostly fixed. I've had a 318is before and it wasn't as much a PITA to bleed as this one! It gets to slightly over the middle mark now at times but it has been around 100* here +/- and had the AC on so I'm ok with that.

The thing that I'm trying to troubleshoot now is the shifter has a lot of movement in when driving. It's not related to the engine RPMs and is stable when revved but it correlates to the crappy roads here. When driving and the chassis is absorbing the road, it wobble around in gear. I rebuilt the shifter with an ECS kit and it tightened up the shifts and pattern itself but that wobble is there. I replaced motor mounts, the transmission mounts and the flex disc on the driveshaft. I do notice the typical rear end clunk sometimes so I know the rest of the driveshaft needs to be rebuilt so I'm thinking that's where the problem lies?

[G FORCE]

Question: is there an oil gasket behind the timing case that meets the block and head?

[mike.bmw]

Check out this diagram on RealOEM. I'm not sure if you are referring to #3 or #10.

https://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/sho...diagId=11_4308

[G FORCE]

That helps a lot, Mike. Thanks! Well, in regards to #3 and #10, I didn't pull the timing components cause they looked great so I didn't replace either gasket. My luck, it's probably one or both leaking >.< . I'm acquiring a new daily driver so it'll give me an opportunity to dig back into it. Those two require the head to be removed, correct?

[G FORCE]

Got under the car again today to check out the drive line and it looks like the rear u-joint has some play. Carrier bearing is fine but I suppose I'll be in the market for a new drive shaft.

I added some dye to the oil to see where the leak is coming from and it seems like it's right around the AC bracket bolt. I pulled it out and add a bit of Right Stuff to the threads (same stuff I use for all oil gasket dressings) but I'm not sure how it's really supposed to seal.

On more positive note, I did install a Supersprint catback exhaust! No more holey muffler.