Today on my Bimmer I...

Originally Posted by hornhospital

Eddie is learning to work on these by himself, but he's still relying on me to make sure it works first time, every time. If it strands him, there'll be a trust issue with the car that I may not be able to overcome. Eddie is a college professor, and is a great friend. I don't want him mistrusting my work.

Strange. I hear what you're saying, but if Eddie is a reasonable person and a decent friend (as I suspect he is), I wouldn't worry about him getting angry or mistrusting you if something on his ancient BMW goes bad while he's behind the wheel. It's an old car - breaking is what they do best. As long as you don't do something egregious like service the brakes and forget to put fluid in, I really wouldn't worry about the rest. Although he's using you as a teacher, I'm sure he knows that there are limitations, both of you as a mechanic, and of his car to stay in one piece.

Aaaaaand in other news, in the time it took me to type the above paragraph, I now have some cat puke to clean up... Yay!

Originally Posted by drivinfaster

turn the radio up?? get bigger speakers??


df

until the pulley bearing gives up and tosses the belt and i lose the fan/alt/and water pump in one fell swoop

Originally Posted by ZeGerman

Aaaaaand in other news, in the time it took me to type the above paragraph, I now have some cat puke to clean up... Yay!

Ewwww..... Good luck with that.

Karl I know your pain

I am in the process of a valve cover gasket job... Then it'll be running like a dream again (no more leaks)

Went snow drifting.... Didn't hit anything.

I wanna snow drift!

Then take your car out of the garage for a bit!


Got chased out of a few lots by campus public safety. Summer tires barely had any grip, it was a low speed chase


Franklyn, I think it's time I come by and bolt up those winter wheels!

Well, as for today I did nothing but drove to work and i had to run for some errands. Tiring, jeez!

Originally Posted by ZeGerman

Strange. I hear what you're saying, but if Eddie is a reasonable person and a decent friend (as I suspect he is), I wouldn't worry about him getting angry or mistrusting you if something on his ancient BMW goes bad while he's behind the wheel. It's an old car - breaking is what they do best. As long as you don't do something egregious like service the brakes and forget to put fluid in, I really wouldn't worry about the rest. Although he's using you as a teacher, I'm sure he knows that there are limitations, both of you as a mechanic, and of his car to stay in one piece.

Aaaaaand in other news, in the time it took me to type the above paragraph, I now have some cat puke to clean up... Yay!

I'm not worried about him being mistrusting or being mad at ME (we've known each other for almost 25 years...lots of water under the bridge in that time). I'm worried he might give up on the car. He was so mad at it at one point, before we got it running, that he was calling it his ex-wife's name and cussing a blue streak at it.


Oh, YUM! Cat puke! Better than my daughter just did. We went out to eat at the Chinese place near here. She was acting kinda queasy and didn't eat much. We got to the car and she bails out the door, throwing up. She repeats the performance again just after i back out of the parking spot, and once more just after we pull into traffic and stop at a traffic light to make a left turn. You should have seen the people in the car next to us at the traffic light! It woulda been hilarious if it wasn't so gross. Now she's fine.... I don't get it. (no, she's not preggers).

Originally Posted by cj.surr

Then take your car out of the garage for a bit!


Got chased out of a few lots by campus public safety. Summer tires barely had any grip, it was a low speed chase


Franklyn, I think it's time I come by and bolt up those winter wheels!

Can't when the clutch hardly works!

Sent from my ADR6400L using Bimmer App

You barely need a clutch to tool around in the snow.

Today on my Bimmer I walked past it and contemplated doing work, sort of like I have every day this week, and decided I was too effing tired. Must....do.....Sunday.....

Had new Michelin tires installed and the car aligned, changed the spark plugs, changed the oil, and added power steering fluid.

The tires are Michelin MXV4, 205/60R-15, stock size, also had a four wheel alignment done. Care rides much better and the shimmy is gone.

I think the Bosch two-prong plugs I pulled out today were the original plugs. No oil or anti freeze signs, looked old, but nothing really alarming. The new plugs seem to have improved how the car runs, although it still has the rough idle and a check engine light.

Changed the oil myself. Used Mobile 1 synthetic, only because past experience shows it will clean some gunk out of an engine.

The power steering fluid was low, pump was making some sounds and giving some feedback at the wheel. The added fluid cured all that, but I guess I should start looking for a power steering fluid leak.

I bought this car with just over 100k miles on it and no maintenance history. Seems as though there wasn't any maintenance done by the previous owners.

A couple of things...

1) I hope you know that you are NOT supposed to add power steering fluid to the power steering reservoir. It's counter intuitive, but our power steering systems require automatic transmission fluid (ATF). If you have power steering fluid in there, you need to do a full drain/fill with the proper ATF.

2) You need to use an OBD2 scanner to reset your check engine light (in most cases it will not go out on its own). Get the code before you clear it, so you know what caused it in the first place. If it comes back, scan it again and fix what's wrong.

3) What kind of plugs did you install?

Originally Posted by ZeGerman

A couple of things...

1) I hope you know that you are NOT supposed to add power steering fluid to the power steering reservoir. It's counter intuitive, but our power steering systems require automatic transmission fluid (ATF). If you have power steering fluid in there, you need to do a full drain/fill with the proper ATF.

2) You need to use an OBD2 scanner to reset your check engine light (in most cases it will not go out on its own). Get the code before you clear it, so you know what caused it in the first place. If it comes back, scan it again and fix what's wrong.

3) What kind of plugs did you install?

!) No, I did not know that. ****. Guess I know what I will be doing tomorrow night.

2) I have one on order.

3) BKR6EQUP

Thanks.

Today i ripped the tranny out after taking the intake manifold off to get a better grasp on the starter bolts and as the tranny came out my shredded up clutch crumpled and fell to the ground now to get the pressure plate and all off and install my new clutch system then its off to some much needed maintnence.

Sent from my SGH-T679 using Bimmer App

Got a CEL when I cranked up the car to head home from work. Stopped at Autozone and scan says cam position sensor.
Fits the symptoms. It's running but idle's not great, there's a slight hesitation and it's down on power.
Was just thinking yesterday the car was really running great, no issues. Eff me for that.

While I was looking at how to get to the cam sensor I noticed I've got a coolant trickle coming down the side of the reservoir. Double eff me.
Now I know what I'll be doing this weekend...............

Originally Posted by Turbo_Prop

!) No, I did not know that. ****. Guess I know what I will be doing tomorrow night.

Yep, it says "ATF ONLY" right on the cap.

Originally Posted by dc_wright

Now I know what I'll be doing this weekend...............

Well that stinks. At least both items are fairly minor things.

Originally Posted by dc_wright

Got a CEL when I cranked up the car to head home from work. Stopped at Autozone and scan says cam position sensor.
Fits the symptoms. It's running but idle's not great, there's a slight hesitation and it's down on power.
Was just thinking yesterday the car was really running great, no issues. Eff me for that.

While I was looking at how to get to the cam sensor I noticed I've got a coolant trickle coming down the side of the reservoir. Double eff me.
Now I know what I'll be doing this weekend...............

practicing your golf swing??


went to upload the pics from my riping apart of the parts car, aaaaand it looks like the sd card bit the dust...

so went to the store and got another one and also found a new flash drive. it's a v12 vantage, and the lights flash when interfacing!!


so not a total loss.



df

what kind of parts car did you buy?

Originally Posted by Eight Thirty

what kind of parts car did you buy?

The kind that has parts.

Lol! That's the best kind.

I thought private parts was the best kind

Sent from my Nexus 4G using Bimmer App

black 99 328i, hit hard in the front.

tan interior.
no 18 button obc.
premium sound.

but it ran fine up until point of impact...

forget the mileage, but i have the paperwork.

no front end parts were salvageable
looks like the rear control arms got tweaked from the tow @ the accident scene

no keys or tools, either.

it's almost all apart now. just need to get the seats out. driver side is 3" too far back to get the nuts, and the passenger side is 1" too far up to get the bolts....

gonna play with a battery and some wires and see if i can make some magicx happen...


gotta go to work....have a bmw habit to support....




df