Messages

1

For Sale / Part out: 1991 318i alpine

« on: November 27, 2012, 02:27:17 PM »

Hey I'm interested in the front bumper

if it's easier for you pictures can be sent to 2034707728 but I'll be keeping an eye out here as well

thanks!

2

Engine + Driveline / Still having Temp issues...bleeding woes inside

« on: June 19, 2012, 05:07:12 PM »

Tried bleeding it two more times and it seems that everything is running fine now. It appears that every time I try to bleed this car the first time or so is a failure but it ends up more manageable the next day. Oh well.

3

General Topics / Anyone with a Mark D M42 chip willing to give a quick review?

« on: June 19, 2012, 05:05:24 PM »

I've been reading up on the 91 and 93 octane chips that Mark makes for this motor and I was hoping I could hear some reviews from people who have been running their cars chipped for a long time now. A lot of the reviews I've seen have only been after a few hundred miles and I'm curious to see how they're doing in the long run. I'm more interested in performance, breakdowns/reliability and so forth more than gas mileage.  

Appreciate any feedback, thanks ahead of time!

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Engine + Driveline / Still having Temp issues...bleeding woes inside

« on: June 16, 2012, 05:51:12 PM »

Hey Dave, thanks for the reply as always

Refering to the comment about the system having to be pressurized, does this mean that you reapply the cap to the expansion tank whenever you start the car again? I feel as if I've seen guides that both do this and those that do not...

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Engine + Driveline / Still having Temp issues...bleeding woes inside

« on: June 15, 2012, 05:59:05 PM »

Hey, back again with some more things to add to my neverending list of temp issues.

My car was running pretty well for about a month or so but lately my temp has been rising and climbing so I decided to try giving it another bleed. I tightened the hoses and did a pressure check and it looked like I was leak free. I pulled into my driveway (car is warm), jacked up the front, filled to the "cold" line, loosened the bleeding screw and started the car. (Heat is on full blast)

My temp started spiking but I wasn't too worried, I just kept watching the air come out and refilling the coolant when it got low. As I was holding the revs up all of a sudden a geyser of coolant began spewing out of my coolant "fill hole". I turned off the car and watched the uber-hot coolant bubble back down. I tried to bleed again but it just kept repeating the same eruption.

 All my hoses are hot, my temp gauge gets pinned all the way to the right, no hot air coming from my vents, and now I have smoke coming out of my bleeder screw. I suspect this is from coolant sneaking in from one of the eruptions from the radiator tank.

Any ideas? Should I just be a man, keep chucking in buckets of coolant to replace the neverending spills and ignore that terrifying temp gauge? Or am I missing something? I've just recently (<2000 miles) replaced the thermo.

Thanks as always everyone

More info...

Tried bleeding again, car just keeps heating up too much. The return hose to the radiator didn't get hot. I'm starting to suspect a bad waterpump or something up with my heater valve.

6

For Sale / F/S: Complete 1991 Alpine 318is Partout!

« on: April 18, 2012, 12:15:31 PM »

I have created a monster

Please do lock this thread. Thanks to everyone who replied. I'm sorry I haven't been around much, the car got sold to the crusher awhile ago and I sort of forgot about it between getting my new car up to scratch and my new job.

7

WTB/WTT / WTB (CT) : Alpine II Fender and Bumper

« on: April 18, 2012, 12:11:27 PM »

Hey everyone

I'm looking for an Alpine II passenger fender and front plastic bumper (no valence, just bumper).

I'm located in Danbury/New Milford CT. Local transaction very preferred. Easiest way to get a hold of me is by phone or email.

rskunic@sbcglobal.net
2034707728
Feel free to text me pictures if that's the easiest way for you to do it. I'm really only interested in near mint parts.

Thanks ahead of time
-Ryan

8

Engine + Driveline / Weird idle Issue when warm?

« on: February 26, 2012, 08:44:41 PM »

Could be the catalytic converter plug. Against the fire wall in the engine bay there should be a collection of wires, they might be under a case. All the wires should be bundled together except one, a single male-female white plug. For 318's with a catalytic converter it should be unplugged and vice versa.

There's a sticky at the top of this sub-forum about it with a diagram but it's very easy to find.

9

Off-topic discussion / What was your first car?

« on: February 25, 2012, 05:25:16 PM »

[/IMG]

'00 Impreza RS , don't really have any modded pictures other than the V5/6 wing.



Hell of a car in the snow, I whipped around the worst New England could offer on cheap chinese sport tires. Met an untimely end on a freak rainy day.



I stick to "cheap" sporty cars now lol

10

Engine + Driveline / SOLVED!!! More temperature issues...it's gotten worse

« on: February 25, 2012, 05:19:20 PM »

I know what you mean! Having been part of both a M42 and a M20 rebuild at some point I've noticed a lot of pros and cons between them. In my opinion the 4 cylinder has a lot of great ideas thrown in (Oil filter housing, lots of engine bay space, etc) but nothing really that makes it a clear choice over the 6. For a 20+ year old car my 318i does handle very well, but I've always questioned whether a stock 325i could really be that much more clumsy in corners due to the extra displacement and cylinders.

Also, this could have been my own silly errors, but when doing my head gasket no matter how hard I tried the timing skipped on my M42 at some point and I had to spend a lot of time getting it back right. Sure, the chain looked and sounded great for its age but as you said Dave a belt isn't that much more of a hassle in the long run...

M20 also gets points for the noise level. When I started my first 318 I was surprised at how loud it was! Now I know that it's just normal for this engine. First time driving the one I had now even I was paranoid about every little "tap" and "tick". I guess the benefit of all of that is a really tough DOHC motor. 200k and smooth as butter, both on this engine and the one in my old 318is.

11

Engine + Driveline / SOLVED!!! More temperature issues...it's gotten worse

« on: February 25, 2012, 03:18:54 PM »

A great suggestion, though I ended up doing mine on a flat surface my friend just bled his M20 with the front end jacked up a bit. He said it made it go much smoother than previous attempts. The M20 has a pretty cool bleeding system as well, at least on the later years. The bleeder screw is right on top of the thermostat housing.

12

Engine + Driveline / SOLVED!!! More temperature issues...it's gotten worse

« on: February 25, 2012, 02:25:43 PM »

Hm, it does seem likely that my pump may have been air locked. It definitely showed all the symptoms of that, as coolant didn't seen to be going anywhere in the car earlier this week. When bleeding it this time I followed these instructions to the letter:

http://www.esatclear.ie/~bpurcell/318ismaintenance.html#bleed

The coolant was just the usual 50/50 mix every time. I cleared that bleed passage when I originally installed the new thermostat. It was pretty nasty previous to that. I didn't drill into the thermostat, however I was considering doing that if I ended up taking the thermo out again. As of right now it seems like I have great flow throughout the system. Both hoses get hot, as opposed to only the driver side one previous to this last bleeding attempt.

Basically I've decided that the M42 is a very simple engine to bleed. It just takes patience and a lot more coolant than you would expect for this tiny 1.8L.

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Engine + Driveline / SOLVED!!! More temperature issues...it's gotten worse

« on: February 25, 2012, 01:31:49 PM »

Finally fixed it...I think.

This morning I began with the intention of removing the thermostat in order to go to emissions. It wasn't what I had wanted to do but I was out of time to try anything else. On a whim I started the car to see what it would do after sitting for a few days. To my surprised it began heating up as it normally should after a cold start. Inspired by this good sign I began bleeding the system again. After an insane amount of coolant and at least half an hour of idling gigantic air bubbles began to come out. Even better, the car wasn't over heating, my heat was working, and the coolant level had finally evened out where it was supposed to.

With everything looking good I got the courage to go and drive to emissions. Not only did I make it there without overheating or leaking, but I passed emissions as well! It got better. The sheet I got from the emissions guys said they read an engine temperature of 189.6 degrees F. This was a near as you could ever really get to the intended temperature of my 88 deg C (190 deg F) thermostat.

Conclusion: coolant systems are awful and difficult to diagnose. Thank god my head is fine. And Wahler make great thermostats.

Thanks again for all the help everyone!

14

Engine + Driveline / SOLVED!!! More temperature issues...it's gotten worse

« on: February 19, 2012, 11:16:15 AM »

Awhile ago I posted about my engine either running ice cold or overheating depending on whether I was moving or sitting still. Believing it was a bad thermo I purchased a new Wahler 88 degree and went to put it in last night. Removing the housing I found out that the previous owner had taken out the thermostat for some unknown reason.

I put in the new thermostat and started the car up. I began the process of bleeding the system and noticed the car was getting hot. I suspect I have a bad fan clutch as well so I wasn't particularly worried/surprised. I turned the car off. After letting it cool down I bled it some more. This time it got hot much faster than ever before. I killed the engine and steam/bubbling noises were coming from around the thermostat housing. I noticed that the hose coming off the housing on the driver side was hot but the passenger side hose was cold.

This morning I went to give it another try. I bled it some more and once it got hot I turned the car off. There was little steam or bubbling this time. Same as last time: one coolant hose hot, the other cold. After cooling down I took it for a small drive to see if it would be at the right temp while driving. It wasn't. As it got hot I turned around my road to go back home. Suddenly the temp gauge went insane and started going all over the place. Parked it, listened to the coolant system steam and gurgle. Went to make this post.

What the heck is going on guys?

15

Engine + Driveline / Need thermostat, where/what to purchase?

« on: February 10, 2012, 10:07:21 AM »

I bought the $12 Vernet 92degC unit on this page from Pelican Parts.  Good prices, free shipping for orders over $75.  Shipping times are average, what with UPS and all.

Keep an eye out for their discounts, maybe someone will post one.

Awesome, thanks for that. I wasn't sure on what temp to go with so that clears that up.