1995 e34 540i/6 *m60b44* - Return to Some Kind of Glory

[marshallnoise]

Compression test numbers

Here are the plugs after 800 miles or so.
20160130_151836_zpspieit4im by Paul Abbott, on Flickr

Dry compression test numbers:
20160130_152627_zpsanxdyrrz by Paul Abbott, on Flickr

20160130_153608_zpsoowu8zbp by Paul Abbott, on Flickr

20160130_153825_zpsfqhabytd by Paul Abbott, on Flickr

20160130_154053_zpstcznh608 by Paul Abbott, on Flickr

20160130_154332_zpskzn9njgi by Paul Abbott, on Flickr

20160130_154506_zps2ssplt3g by Paul Abbott, on Flickr

20160130_154649_zpsawshbtny by Paul Abbott, on Flickr

20160130_154831_zpsk4ampp77 by Paul Abbott, on Flickr

Wet compression test numbers:
20160130_155428_zpslzdw7huh by Paul Abbott, on Flickr

20160130_155617_zpsf6na23qr by Paul Abbott, on Flickr

20160130_155748_zpsgs4dswiz by Paul Abbott, on Flickr

20160130_155912_zpsqq44tbkr by Paul Abbott, on Flickr

20160130_160048_zpsvstzwgc3 by Paul Abbott, on Flickr

20160130_160221_zpssgns5eeg by Paul Abbott, on Flickr

20160130_160357_zpscgwahrmu by Paul Abbott, on Flickr

20160130_160534_zpszhalwjac by Paul Abbott, on Flickr

[marshallnoise]

Ahhhhhhhh!!!!

So the new temp sensor is doing the same thing as before. I feel comfortable with my temps, but I am pissed at this gauge.

I went out there after the car sat a day and shot this video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJShegtwa64

To me, this reeks of air expanding under release of pressure.

To remedy the trapped air in the system, I went out and decided to pull vacuum on the cooling system pressure testing radiator cap I have last night. I had success. I wound up having to add about a half gallon to the system after turning on the aux pump and heater valves. I squeezed and squeezed all the hoses I could, etc. The level wouldn't go down any more and I was satisfied that I had removed all the air I could.

I got out this morning, fired up the car, got about 2 miles away and the ****ing coolant was boiling over and coming out of the radiator cap. The upper hose was hot, the lower hose was hot and the heat was making it's way up to the coolant temp sensor location on the radiator itself.

I have about had it with this car.

To add insult to injury, the muffler had decided to brake away from it's hanger and fall down. I will buy a Flowmaster and install it in it's place for giggles.

[marshallnoise]

I have been reading about the expansion tank and I MIGHT have an idea what my problem is. A lot of the e39 guys have been using Evans NPG coolant which is supposed to remove the pressure build up in the system. So I have decided to do the same thing. The main thread-starter said he removed his o-rings from his expansion tank since his system was running such low pressure. I have followed suit. Effectively, I have been treating the expansion tank like an overflow tank by removing the o-rings from an old expansion tank cap to make sure it is venting to atmosphere.

The e39 expansion tank is much different than the e34 expansion tank though. The e34 expansion tank doesn't have a bleed screw while the e39 expansion tank does. So in order for the "self-bleeding" to work properly on the e34, it requires some pressure to build up to purge the system of air as that is the only way the system can be purged.

I have a brand new cap that I can install tonight, take it for a spin and see what gives.

Oh, and after I cut off the fucking muffler. Heard some clips of these cars without the muffler and I was impressed.

[marshallnoise]

So I cut off the muffler.

This is why.
20160209_174521_zpsu5sf3kxk by Paul Abbott, on Flickr

20160209_174511_zpsfcpth4gz by Paul Abbott, on Flickr

20160209_175121_zpsylnav3eg by Paul Abbott, on Flickr

This was a terrible idea. LOL! Holy shit it is loud.

Going to look for a suitable replacement STAT.

[marshallnoise]

Some adventure on the ride to work today, and from if I am honest.

Car needle got way into the red. But drove just fine. Finally threw an engine code right before getting to work with a 1223. That is, ta da, coolant temp sensor. So I ordered some new ones, both.

On the way home the car drove just great. I have noticed some weird patterns with the gauge though. If the engine is at 2000 rpm cruising along in any gear, the needle is dead center. If I have to accelerate and drive over 70 mph, the needle goes up. If I am idling for a long time, the needle goes up. I think I have to pull the whole cooling system apart, throw a brand new water pump on and endoscope all that I can.

Also, the car threw another code (probably because of cutting the exhaust) right before getting home. 1221. That's Oxygen sensor 1. I am going to get universals and splice them in. I am sure they are due. Old car, sat for a good 3 years or so (minimal driving).

Sigh.

[Walter]

It's crazy how similar my E34 is to yours in condition, purchase price, ect. I just tackled the intake manifold gaskets/PCV this weekend, and valve cover gaskets 2 weekends ago.

Doing oil pan gaskets and idler pulleys soon.

Not currently dealing with the same cooling system issues though, so good luck with that!

Definitely learned a lot reading through this thread so far. Thanks.

http://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/showthread.php?2274962-E34-540i-6-Speed-Project-Mach-5

[marshallnoise]

It's crazy how similar my E34 is to yours in condition, purchase price, ect. I just tackled the intake manifold gaskets/PCV this weekend, and valve cover gaskets 2 weekends ago.

Doing oil pan gaskets and idler pulleys soon.

Not currently dealing with the same cooling system issues though, so good luck with that!

Definitely learned a lot reading through this thread so far. Thanks.

http://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/sh...Project-Mach-5

Thanks for the encouragement and the link. I will definitely give it a once over. I have all my new cooling system parts on hand so I will be getting after it this week.

[marshallnoise]

Cross post from Bimmerforums:
Before I went to the gym, I pulled out the thermostat, made a gasket out of "The Right Stuff" and sealed her back up. I topped off the coolant and drove to the gym. No problems. Except for the coolant gauge starting off about 3 needle widths past the blue on a dead cold motor. And no, it's not that hot out. But, I haven't replaced the coolant sensors yet.

I come back from the gym and look under the car. No coolant on the ground. Pop the hood and the reservoir looks right.

I decide to head out on a 5 mile loop or so to make sure the car is running ok, with no thermostat. I don't get but a mile into my journey and the car's needle pegs. I look in the rear-view mirror and I am bellowing coolant out the back like crazy. I pull over and pop the hood. Coolant is steaming out of the expansion tank cap. I feel the upper hose and it is warm, but the radiator is not that hot in that corner. Go over to the passenger side, the hose near the thermostat housing is hot, but the hose next to the radiator was cold. The radiator on the passenger side was ice cold too. The expansion tank is bubbling like crazy at this point and it's perfectly clear to me something is seriously wrong.

I finally got the car home and it's going to stay there until I can pull the whole cooling system out and do a full inspection.

I am just simply baffled...

Oh, and to prove I am mechanically inclined and not a complete freaking idiot, I replaced my wife's 2000 2.0 Jetta's timing belt, water pump, thermostat, thermostat housing, coolant temp sensor and radiator last weekend and had no issues. Zip. Zilch. Nada.

[marshallnoise]

So I pulled the radiator out of the car and still had green coolant (mock me later) filled to the brim in there. I dumped it out and turned on the hose going both directions and it flowed effortlessly. This tells me the radiator is not the issue. I will dig deeper tomorrow.

[marshallnoise]

I pulled off the crank pulley and belts last night as well as got the old water pump out.

The old one is on the right and the new one is on the left.
20160224_205342_zpskcea3mn2 by Paul Abbott, on Flickr

The impeller was intact and seemed just fine. There was a little more noise in the old one but no rocking movement. It spins just slightly easier than the brand new one too. I can't see how this was the failure point in the system as the thing still functions.

I did wind up flushing the crap out of the whole car from every angle and portion of the system. The heater control valves were removed and the heater core flushed. The coolant crossover pipes were flushed to the back of the coolant manifold which fed into the heater core and then into the expansion tank. Then I went the other way. Then I flushed from the block water pump entry point which should run through the cylinder heads and block. Every which way I could, I ran water through it. Its all clean and I get plenty of flow from the hose.

The next step I am going to take is to blow out the engine with a leaf blower (high volume, low pressure) and dry out the block the best I can. Then I will run an endoscope through as much of the engine as I can and see if anything strange is going on.

EDIT: I think I have figured out the flow of the coolant manifold that crosses the cylinder heads.

e34 Coolant Manifold Flow - Final_zps8byoqpyf by Paul Abbott, on Flickr

I am going to remove the coolant manifold and make sure it is clear, regasket it and then see if I can shove some water through the motor again. Should make it easier to blow dry too.

[marshallnoise]

Waylaid

It's been a banner month for car related stuff at my house.

• My wife's 2000 Jetta needed a new water pump, timing belt, radiator, thermostat, coolant temp sensor, coolant neck, coolant (one weekend, gone)
• The 540i has been a perpetual pain in the ass, as noted in this thread
• My 1997 4Runner had it's driver side front left mounting nut pull through the sheet metal, for a second time

This weekend is all about fixing the 4Runner since it is currently the daily driver. Here is a snippet of that progress.

So I took the plunge today. I didn't take a lot of pictures, but I am in the process of putting in some 2003 Acura TL-S seats.

Since I live in San Diego, I ditched the rear seat heater. The way I figure it is that the value of the truck has diminished enough so far that who ever gets this vehicle AFTER me, if I decide to sell it, will not care about originality.

The idea is this: chop out the existing front support (that was easy with a sawzall), use 1.25" thick wall square tube for the seat mount frame, cut off the stock seat mounting junk, and weld 1.5" square stock to the seat rails while cutting out one side (creating a u-shape) to slip over the 1.25" square tube. Then I will bolt the seat to it.

The one thing I haven't figured out yet is how to mount the new frame to the floor. The floor is not flat, at all. I have pounded a little bit to flatten it on three sides, but the void that the heater blower/rear heat left is about 2". I might have to weld some more square stock to the back inner corner to make up the difference.

I am debating getting some 1/4" flat stock and running bolts through my new frame from the bottom rather than welding the frame to the floor.

Here are the seats. I am gonna wire up power to them too. And about where they will sit. I am stoked.

Oh, and here is a link to my thread at yotatech for retrofitting other seats into a 4Runner with existing mounts. The seats I used were from a 4th Gen Prelude. Good seats, sit nice and low. Hopefully I am not breaking any rules for cross forum posting.

95 Prelude Seats into 3rd Gen 4Runner - YotaTech Forums

Edit: Got rid of pics of the 4Runner Seats. No idea where they are anyway.

[marshallnoise]

I managed to get the car back together last night. Not enough to start it. But I did the following:

• Remove coolant manifold from the back, clean and install new sensors
• Use high volume, low pressure air from a leaf blower to blow out the block/cylinder heads
• Ran endoscope as far into the motor as I could; didn't see any blockages
• Reinstalled coolant manifold
• Install cross over pipes
• Install new water pump
• Install heater solenoids and commensurate hoses
• Install expansion tank
• Install crank pulley and belts
• Reinstall radiator

I might have some time tonight to get some more coolant, install the Volvo fan setup and the intake and see if things are cured. I hope to God it is.

[atl530i]

Just read this thread. Good work so far. Hopefully you get those cooling issues figured out. I noticed that since you reused your valley pan gasket so maybe that could be leaking?

[marshallnoise]

Just read this thread. Good work so far. Hopefully you get those cooling issues figured out. I noticed that since you reused your valley pan gasket so maybe that could be leaking?

Thanks for giving it a read. I didn't reuse the gasket specifically. I just reused the pan and used new sealer, The Right Stuff. So far, good as hold on everything else I have used it on.

I also got the car put back together and bled. I need to take it on a cruise, but I am at least getting flow through the radiator now and the e-fan is triggering! I enlarged the bleed hole in the expansion tank and it seems to be working better.

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[marshallnoise]

Went for a ride. It's getting warm again. When I put coolant in the thing, it took a full 3 gallons. It puked about a 1/3 of a gallon out again. So then I topped it off. It puked a bit more and blew off some more coolant just before getting home.

The e-fan is working fine and I am getting flow through the radiator. I am going to let it cool over night and see what happens to the levels in the expansion tank. Oil is still oil in the sump. Coolant is still coolant in the expansion tank.

I may have to pull the heads off and get them tested. If I am going to go to that trouble, I am just going to put together an m60b44 hybrid. I am getting sick of this shit. Lol!

On another note, I pulled an 01 e39 sport steering wheel from the yard and installed it. Holy crap that makes a buge difference in the feel of the car. Much sportier. I don't have a horn or airbag at the moment and of course the controls don't work on the steering wheel, but the feel alone is worth it.



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