Messages

1

General Topics / This is harder than i had hoped

« on: November 17, 2007, 09:09:43 PM »

[rant]
Hi everyone. so I've had the car for a month or so, i have to say its been sort of frustrating. i cant enjoy the car because all the little things that are wrong with it are annoying/worrying me. i did stop the leak into my trunk which was exciting, but i had timing chain noise from 2800 to 3500 rpm so i replaced the tensioner, and I'm having trouble telling if the engine sounds any better. It still seems too loud.
 Also, my rear rotors were binding a little so i figured they were warped and I decided to replace the rotor and pads. I did the drivers side, but the pads are so thick they are touching the rotor even when I'm not braking. That pissed me off, i couldn't tell if that was normal or not, but there are not springs to keep the pads off the rotor, which seemed odd. Also, i got my new tires mounted at midas and they used an impact wrench to put the lug nuts in, so i couldn't get the passenger side wheel off to replace that side's rotor and pads :mad: so my brakes still make a zzsssing noise that i can hear inside the cabin, it sucks. do people think as my pads wear down this will go away? should i take a picture to explain what I'm talking about?
[/rant]

   Basically I'm discovering that fixing cars is a lot harder than just replacing parts, which is what i previously assumed based on building radio control cars and fixing lawn mowers. sorry to be a huge newb , but generally if i tell people I'm frustrated about this stuff they are just like "oh, thats too bad. anyway, blah blah blah"
    Hopefully this winter i can get stuff sorted. like the mess under the intake, which is gross and probably hiding a vacuum like, judging by my occasional hard cold starts. OH - and that stupid plastic pipe under the intake manifold was leaking for a while, but then decided to stop for some reason. So i should probably replace that too. okay sorry, rant is actually over now. thanks for providing me an outlet. i hope everyone else's m42 adventures are rather more successfully adventurous than mine

2

Engine + Driveline / Wierd hissing noise

« on: October 28, 2007, 10:27:03 PM »

hey guys thanks for getting back to me. I'll just get the whole tensioner, and hope for the best with the fuel pump. and I'm very glad the 318is is more visceral, my friend has a e39 540 which he loves, but I've always found it very beautiful but a wee bit boring. (I've never driven it 'spiritedly' though).

silverblades- i looked at the belts, and they looked fine, although i don't really know what to look for per se. I always thought belts squeaked, I've never heard of them hissing. how should i check them though?

3

Engine + Driveline / Wierd hissing noise

« on: October 27, 2007, 02:46:17 PM »

sorry to post again, but i didnt want to start a whole new thread. I can hear my fuel pump if im sitting in the car and its idling, its not very loud though (not as loud as when its first pressurizing the car when the ignition is on, which is does quickly) its kind of loud if you listen under the gas tank while the car is idling. i have never had an e30 before so i dont know if this is normal noise or indicative of immediate catastrophic failure, etc.

4

Engine + Driveline / Wierd hissing noise

« on: October 27, 2007, 02:31:49 PM »

Hey guys so i've really enjoyed living with the e30 for a couple weeks now. unfortunately last weekend it failed inspection, my muffler decided the night before i got it inspected was a good time to open up a rust hole. i tried to fix it with cold weld and a sheet metal patch, but it didnt work, and when the cold weld heats up it smells absolutely awful (at least i hope thats what the smell is...)
      anyway, the main point of this thread (which has nothing to do with my exhaust) is that i have a hissing noise coming from the engine, i can only hear it if standing outside the car while its idling. i used a screwdriver butt against my ear to try and figure out where it was coming from. they valve train sounded fine, and it didn't seem to be coming from the chain either.
    I think maybe its a vacuum leak? but the car idles fine, no hesitation when driving or anything.
    any ideas?

Also- i know this isnt related buy why does pelican parts sell a timing chain tensioner spring seperately from the tensioner piston? does the piston come with a spring or do i have to buy both of these parts? could i just buy the spring and put it in my old tensioner? thanks.

11-31-1-743-187-M40
11-41-1-706-809-M9

5

General Topics / sorry, im a forum noob

« on: October 14, 2007, 12:35:31 PM »

sorry i forgot in my previous post to mention that the abs and brake lining check light don't come on when the key is just turned to ignition, im assuming someone did this because they were on all the time. the brakes work fine, i should check the pads though. my question is how can i turn these back on? also, the drivers side door lock doesn't work , i saw that pelican had a door lock repair kit, has anyone used this? thanks guys.

6

General Topics / made it

« on: October 14, 2007, 12:21:47 PM »

Hey guys, so the car ran like a (slightly out of balance) top all 200 miles of the trip! I washed and waxed it, although i did a pretty bad job and used too much wax, so it doesn't look that good. the wheels are also filthy, after i clean it up i'll post some pictures. can i use armor all wheel cleaner on them or will that mess them up?
  I need to go buy some tools and jack stands so i can check and fill the diff fluid, but im having serious trouble locating redline fluids at any stores near me. do you guys buy everything online? Also, i think i have a limited slip, and i was wondering what tools i need to check the diff fluid, and where the drain and fill plugs on the diff are. oh, and the same for the tranny, i would like to drain and re-fill that as well. i would just check my Bentley, but its not getting here until Thursday, and i want to drive my car before then.
  I decided that the car is going to be a DD beater, because it would take so much work to make the body nice again. it wobbles a bit on the highway because of the accident, but its not too bad.
   oh and i put some ATF in the power steering reservoir and it immediately worked, and hasn't left and toxic puddles when its been parked, so that was good news.
   sorry my posts are so essay like, i'll try and make them shorter in the future.
cheers.

7

General Topics / picking it up tommorow night

« on: October 11, 2007, 07:03:55 PM »

Hey guys, let me just say thank you for being positive about this! i was pretty sure people were going to be like "ahahahhaha your an idiot for buying that car its in terrible shape" etc. etc. so it was wonderful to hear people be excited for me.
   Im picking the car up tommorow, I succesfully got it registered which was nice. I was wondering if you guys have any advice on stuff to bring or to do before i leave.

    Im bringing some oil, antifreeze/distilled water, duct tape and bungee cords to keep the battery from falling out of the rusted out battery tray, and some brake fluid. i was thinking about getting some ATF for the power steering, but after reading a bunch of threads about that scene, it sounds like running the power steering dry isnt that awful for it. My really big question is should i check the transmission fluid and differential fluid before setting off?
 
    Im worried all the diff fluid has leaked out. how terrible would it be to drive 200 miles with little or no fluid in there? ive never checked diff fluid and dont have any tools yet, so i dont know if that would work out.
   anyway, im really excited, i just hope i make it back!

P.S. i have to get tires for it, i was thinking about sumitomo HTR T4's, has anyone used these?

8

General Topics / I bought an iS today, hooray!

« on: October 07, 2007, 12:58:58 AM »

Hey guys, I've newly joined this forum, but I've been scoping around for a while, and I'm a member of e30tech.com also. So i bought a 91 318iS today. it's pretty beat, but I'm pretty excited about it. it's roughly infinitely cooler than my current car, an automatic 96 cavalier that i inherited from my grandma, which is teal.
  The car is black with a tan vinyl interior, which is in pretty good shape, although there is water under the drivers seat, so something is leaking. The worst part about this car is that it was involved in a bad enough accident to get a rebuilt title. The car got hit pretty hard in the back (and not as hard in the front), and was fixed pretty ghetto-ly.
   because of the ghetto fix its pretty rusty back there, and if you look at the body you can tell there's a fair amount of filler involved.
    It hasnt been maintained very well, the guy just didnt care about it too much.
   The best part about it is that it only has 125k on it. I got it fairly cheaply, it wasnt exactly a steal cause the car is in such dicey shape (oh and the steering rack is shot. and it needs 4 new tires. and the diff is disgusting, and therefore may need to be rebuilt soon.)
  I drove it around though, and revving it to redline was pretty tremendous. I felt bad for this car, and want to make it better. its like a cool dog at the animal shelter. its almost certainly going to be more trouble than its worth, and your heart wants it even though your brain is like "dont do this!!!!".
   basically no sane person would have bought this car, but cavalier-ing around was killing me. im excited about this car, and really glad to have this forum as a resource. cheers guys. Ned.

i dont know if my attachments worked. here's my photobucket site. dont mind the name.....

http://s187.photobucket.com/albums/x275/poopypants1233/

P.S. what do you guys think i should do with the car? DD beater? resto project? is the body too shot to make normal again?