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Big Al's Revenge: an OEM+, MTech1 325e restoration

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    Well boys and girls, I think I nailed down my overheating problem.

    I had a couple hours today so decided to get the radiator drained and old thermostat out so that when the new one arrives Thursday all I need to do is pop it in, refill and rebleed. I decided to take the old, known working one along with the new questionable one inside and do a little... experimentation...

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    New German one on the left, old Chinese working one on the right:



    New, cold and with closed valve:



    Old with closed valve:



    To test, you put the thermostats in a pot of water and bring to a boil. Around 180F (80C) the thermostat valve should open:



    Sure enough, the old valve opened:



    And the new one didn't:







    Needless to say I'll be testing the NEW new thermostat prior to installing, you'd be foolish not to (I was). It takes all of about 10 minutes to bring a pot of water to a boil to save yourself a ton of headache and a potentially overheated engine. Actually, I'm very relieved that this is all my issue likely ended up being. If the new thermostat had been good I'd have been a bit stumped.
    '86 325e Zinnoberrot /// '02 325ci Schwarz II /// '18 M4 Azurite Black Metallic ///

    Albie325 Build Thread | Albie325 COTM Jan 2021

    Comment


      So frustrating when new parts fail.
      1991 318iC
      1989 325i Field Rescue

      Comment


        Wow! Stumbled across this thread glad I did! Great write ups and detail! Thank you and looking forward to reading more. Just getting back into E30's mine has been in storage for the last 4ish years.
        1988 BMW 325iS

        Comment


          yea that's frustrating.

          Comment


            Originally posted by Beau B
            Wow! Stumbled across this thread glad I did! Great write ups and detail! Thank you and looking forward to reading more. Just getting back into E30's mine has been in storage for the last 4ish years.
            Glad you like it, welcome back! Time to get the ol' girl running again.

            As for the new part failure, yes super frustrating. I swapped in the new thermostat (after testing) and the car is running at the appropriate temperature thankfully.

            I got to work vac'ing the A/C system over the weekend and it isn't holding vacuum. I have a dye charge canister en route and will hopefully have time this weekend to root out the source of the leak.
            '86 325e Zinnoberrot /// '02 325ci Schwarz II /// '18 M4 Azurite Black Metallic ///

            Albie325 Build Thread | Albie325 COTM Jan 2021

            Comment


              Can't believe it's been a month since my last update, I've been tinkering with a few things to try and get everything right with the usual setbacks.

              I finally got my cluster back from BavRest, was very pleased with the aesthetics:



              I took Greg's advice and rather than refurbing the early model MotoMeter unit that came in the car, I had a really nice spare late model MotoMeter cluster that he recommended I use instead. Apparently their inner workings are better made and more reliable. Only thing I needed to swap in was the fuel gauge and my speedometer.

              Unfortunately when I reinstalled it, the odometer worked for about 4 miles and then crapped out. I had been having an issue with intermittent odo function for a while which is what ultimately led me to have the cluster refurbed in the first place. That and some dead SI board batteries. I had already replaced the gears twice myself in the past (first set was a bad batch from Garagistic) and it still was touch and go no matter what I tried. I took the odo out again, tinkered with it a bit, reinstalled it again, and still no dice. I think the magnetic motor itself was bad because the gears always turned easily when I spun them by hand.

              The cluster I had been using in the meantime had a well-working odo/speedo, so I swapped the new gears and painted needle onto it and adjusted the mileage to reflect the mileage I have on my car (otherwise it would have only showed ~72k). I have only driven the car for about 1/3 tank of gas since the timing belt/5-speed swap was completed so ended up just resetting the mileage to 95,000 miles even as it's a nice round number for all my maintenance intervals. I don't plan on selling the car so the "loss" of about 100 or so miles doesn't matter to me.

              Luckily this worked, and I finally have a fully functional cluster:














              I opted for red painted needles, chrome trim rings, and a full SI/cluster refurb. As luck would have it, the late model cluster I combined with the guts from my old one is actually from a Super ETA, with a slightly higher redline than the normal ETA tach. This actually works out perfectly since I have a slightly higher redline with the Conforti chip.

              The interior is now 100% complete, if only I had some cold A/C so I could drive the car in the 95 degree "fall" weather down here in NC...

              That's a write up for another day, stay tuned

              '86 325e Zinnoberrot /// '02 325ci Schwarz II /// '18 M4 Azurite Black Metallic ///

              Albie325 Build Thread | Albie325 COTM Jan 2021

              Comment


                After some trials and tribulations I think I finally have the A/C working again for the first time in at least 4-5 years.

                I started out by rebuilding the compressor. It's a Bosch/Behr "wingcell" type compressor. I know I talked about doing this awhile ago but there were some issues as you'll see. Figured I'd post up the process in case anyone else is thinking of doing this themselves. I did use one DIY that I found (there isn't much out there) but otherwise I didn't find much in the way of how these things work:

                https://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/s...ressor-Rebuild




                Needless to say it was full of gunk from sitting idle for so long:



                I first cleaned up as much of the exterior as I could to prevent it from getting into the compressor. Then I started to break it down.

                First, remove the center nut, I used an impact gun. Otherwise the pulley wants to spin:



                Next you'll have to pry the clutch plate off using two thin flathead screw drivers. There will be some metal spacers in there when it comes out, don't lose these:





                Next, use a flathead screwdriver to knock the center nut loose to remove the pulley. There's a washer underneath that has little lock tabs on it, bend the tab down first to loosen the nut. I forgot to and broke one off.





                Then just wiggle the pulley off, you'll be left with the clutch magnet underneath (black donut thing):



                The magnet is held on by 6 Phillips head screws. Also note the location of the compressor wire and resistor, it will have to line back up in the same position later on:





                Not sure what this little felt piece is but it just sits in that little groove on the faceplate, don't lose it:



                To remove the faceplace, there are 8 outer 10mm bolts, as well as 4 allen head bolts on the inside. As you'll see, these align with the holes on the inner compressor mechanism:



                Take note of that little arrow on the inner mechanism and mark it's orientation, it has to point in the same spot otherwise your allen head bolts won't line up with the inner 4 holes when you put everything back together.

                With the faceplate off, I screwed the center nut in a few turns and pulled everything out, yuck:





                Backside of the innards:



                Got everything cleaned up:



                And used the "proper" kit to replace all the seals.



                Make sure you lube the seals with A/C oil prior to install, and I also coated all components with some while reassembling. Depending on the refrigerant you plan on using, you'll need to find out the proper oil to use. I went with PAO oil as it's compatible with both R12 and R134a.





                One correction in the below photo, the central green O-ring on the right should instead be placed into the center divot in the faceplate on the left rather than on the shaft for installment.



                Much better:



                Orientation of the arrow to the body of the compressor, basically points towards the high side inlet:



                Don't forget to remove the low-side inlet plate, there's another O-ring there. I missed it the first time and had a leak at this location:



                Reassemble, and you're done (or so I thought):



                I ended up getting the compressor filled with oil (200mL in my case) and U/V dye, and vaccing down. It held -30mmHg vacuum for a few hours so figured I was good. I started to refill with refrigerant and the compressor kicked on, nice! However as the compressor heated up, I started losing pressure and it eventually kicked off before the system was full. WTF. I was pissed. I was about THIS close to just saying fuck it, no A/C for me when the next day a guy posted an ad on the R3V FB page advertising that he rebuilds A/C compressors and a bunch of other components. I'll include a link to his ad. Jay was excellent to work with, even sent me pics/vids of him testing the A/C clutch etc.

                He told me that he's now repaired several compressors that have recently been rebuilt (by Omega and a few other companies, not just DIYers) where the rebuild seal kits have undersized O-rings in a few spots. In my case, I think that as the compressor warmed up, the undersized seal allowed the gas to leak out and kept the compressor running, eventually burning out a needle bearing.

                Here's Jay's ad:

                https://www.facebook.com/groups/R3VL...8924346917627/

                I got the compressor installed:



                And after installing ANOTHER receiver/drier (my 3rd by this point), I got the system vacced out:



                I left the vacuum on for 2 days to makes sure this time it was completely sealed, and it was.



                Refilled, and am FINALLY blowing cold air. I will say the air is cool, not as cold as I remember it being for this car. I may have overfilled the system by a few ounces so I may take it in to have some of the refrigerant vacced out as my low side pressures are a bit high (~50PSI when it should be ~30)

                Here's a really good link for the refilling process:

                http://www.rtsauto.com/how-to-rechar...d-pull-vacuum/

                I kept the system R12 but have retrofitted everything to be compatible with R134a as well (R134a expansion valve, O-rings, parallel-flow condenser, and PAO oil in the compressor). If I ever have more issues with this system and need to evacuate it again, I'm just going to convert it fully to R134a as the R12 was very expensive.

                Sorry for the long-winded post, but Phase 2 of Big Al is in the books! The next thing will be paint, euro bumpers and MTech 1 conversion, which I need to save up for. I'm hoping to get it done sometime over the winter or early spring. In the meantime, I have a few other smaller projects/upgrades to complete which I'll get to here and there.
                Last edited by Albie325; 10-08-2019, 09:35 AM.
                '86 325e Zinnoberrot /// '02 325ci Schwarz II /// '18 M4 Azurite Black Metallic ///

                Albie325 Build Thread | Albie325 COTM Jan 2021

                Comment


                  Lots of good info on the compressor and A/C system. Thanks! Good work as always.

                  Comment


                    This build is insane. Awesome attention to detail! Love that you put info on the process along the way too, it's so helpful for others in the future.

                    I had the same issue with a brand new thermostat not opening! This was after putting a rebuilt head on the car. I was so pissed thinking I was about to have to take the head off again when it was overheating.

                    RISING EDGE

                    Let's drive fast and have fun.

                    Comment


                      I went 134a, and it never gets cold when it's over 90 degrees out, but it works.

                      Excellent job on rebuilding the compressor man!
                      I do things.

                      Comment


                        Thanks guys, I evacuated a bit of the refrigerant and things seem to be working much better.

                        Originally posted by Digitalwave
                        I had the same issue with a brand new thermostat not opening! This was after putting a rebuilt head on the car. I was so pissed thinking I was about to have to take the head off again when it was overheating.
                        I hear that, ever since the car overheated I've been neurotic listening to any little sound. Is it the head gasket??? Is the head warped??? I've freaked myself out and talked myself back down off the ledge at least 10 times since all that happened.

                        Speaking of which, now that I've been driving around with the windows up I've noticed a pretty pronounced "Getrag rattle" coming from the drivetrain. I'll have to get up under the car soon and make sure nothing else in the driveline loosened up on me. I hear a bit of a rattle when going over bumps so may not just be limited to the trans. I also noticed the swap parts I used didn't have a vibration dampener on the driveshaft, I may have to pony up for one if I can't find anything else rattling under there.

                        In other news, I got some pretty sweet keychains in the mail this week from Matt B:



                        Will be driving the F82 (have since gotten my little boo-boo fixed) up to CT followed by a wedding in Boston and a few days in Portland ME this week. Will be out of the garage for 2 weeks but hopefully I'll be able to take some nice pics in the fall foliage up there.
                        '86 325e Zinnoberrot /// '02 325ci Schwarz II /// '18 M4 Azurite Black Metallic ///

                        Albie325 Build Thread | Albie325 COTM Jan 2021

                        Comment


                          So since coming back from vacay I've been avoiding driving the E30 due to a "death knock" I've been worried about. The car drives and shifts fine, but after getting the engine warm I kept hearing a harsh rattle when coming off the gas in gear as well as a bad rattle when turning the car off. The shift knob also seemed to transmit more vibration than I was used to. Due to my overheating incident, my concerns were a spun rod bearing, some issue within the trans itself, or perhaps something within the drive train loosening up ( CSB, etc). My google searches didn't do much to ease my anxiety given the symptoms.

                          I spent last weekend under the car poking around and didn't find much. Removed all the heat shields and the driveshaft felt nice and tight, the CSB was as it should be. I hadn't replaced the trans mounts as they seemed to be in good shape but on second inspection they looked a bit warped, I think I over-tightened them. I decided to replace them with new BMW mounts:



                          This seemed to help the shifter vibration a bit but the death knock still remained.

                          After a bunch of hemming and hawing and resigning myself to the fact that I may need to do a bottom end rebuild or look for a new trans, I noticed that the knock also occurred when going over the speed bumps in my apartment complex. Some more poking around today and I noticed that the exhaust mount on the manual trans placed the exhaust tube a lot closer to the cross member than the mounting on the auto trans.



                          Tough to get a great pic but there was like 1/8" between the exhaust tube and the cross member, it was definitely hitting.

                          I bent the mounting bracket as much as I could and added a spacer which ended up giving me an extra 1/2" of room:



                          Started it up, took it for a long drive on a beautiful day, and no more death knock! There's still a Getrag rattle for sure, but it's nearly unnoticeable compared to the sound I was worried about. Very relieved to say the least. I really missed driving the car around and now that I have confidence that all is OK I plan on putting some miles on it in the coming weeks.

                          On a side note, I was looking around online for some Yokohama S-drives in 205/55/R15 for the Euroweaves I bought and was bummed to see they aren't making them anymore. Looks like the newer Advan Fleva is the replacement, anyone running these yet?
                          '86 325e Zinnoberrot /// '02 325ci Schwarz II /// '18 M4 Azurite Black Metallic ///

                          Albie325 Build Thread | Albie325 COTM Jan 2021

                          Comment


                            Originally posted by Albie325 View Post
                            On a side note, I was looking around online for some Yokohama S-drives in 205/55/R15 for the Euroweaves I bought and was bummed to see they aren't making them anymore. Looks like the newer Advan Fleva is the replacement, anyone running these yet?
                            First, congrats on finding the knock! I'm sure that was a HUGE relief.

                            Second, I can give some feedback regarding the tires. For the past year I ran the S.drives on my Ronals in 205/55R15. I'm now running the Advan Flevas on my RS001s in 205/55R15 (because like you said, the S.drives aren't available anymore). Initially the Advan Flevas felt a little soft to me compared to the S.drives. However, after driving around on them for a week I realized this was due to tire pressure. I had been running 36 psi on the S.drives and only 32 psi on the Advan Flevas. Yes, it's only a 4 psi increase, but it did make a noticeable difference. The Advan Flevas are fairly quiet, which is nice. They provide a good amount of grip. Turn-in is sharp (running 36 psi). Overall I'm happy with them. The S.drives seemed have have more blocked/square shoulders, but that's likely due to running 205s on a 7.5" wide wheel (Ronal LS) vs 205s on a 7" wide wheel (RS001).

                            Comment


                              mike.bmw now that you mention it I do remember seeing you running them on your new RS's (which I love btw, nice pickup!) Glad to see you're happy with them as most seem to prefer the Yokohamas to the Dunlop Direzzas which seem to be one of the few other options in that size. Maybe Santa Claus will be kind to me this year and I'll have the Euroweaves mounted up by spring...
                              '86 325e Zinnoberrot /// '02 325ci Schwarz II /// '18 M4 Azurite Black Metallic ///

                              Albie325 Build Thread | Albie325 COTM Jan 2021

                              Comment


                                Check out the Sport Comp-2 as well.

                                Sucks about the rattle man. I only heard about it recently from a friend of mine who was looking to use the g260 in a K20 swapped Miata.
                                I do things.

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