DasFrogger

[dasfrogger]

I was just curious to see what parts you used. I did this last year and also deleted the heater core bypass valve. I found some coolant residue on the carpet so I might look into installing a simple bypass using 1/4 inch hose and T fittings, that shouldn't effect heat too much.

Might be mistaken but I think you mixed up two of the hoses. To my knowledge the valve cover goes to the throttle body and ICV goes to the intake boot.

Aside from that it looks like a good job.

Let me know how your bypass works out. I'm interested in finding a way to reduce likely hood of catastrophic heater core failure.

I'll swap the hoses around, maybe that'll help things - thanks for the advice!

Took the 318is to the Rivertown Gear Busters spring run yesterday. My 2002 could have made it, but it needs a little work and I haven't had the e30 out yet. The RGB is primarily a 2002 (and 70's era BMW) group, but we had a pretty interesting mix this year since 3 guys with 02's brought different cars.

Met at FUEL! coffee in Cincinnati for cars and coffee then set off to the hills of Kentucky for a spirited drive. a few hours later we ended up at Hoffbrau house for beers and eats. It was a beautiful day and great to catch up with old friends and to give the motor a chance to sing all the way to 6k.

The 318is did great. Ran over 250 miles, a lot of which was thru the hills in 2,3,4 all at high RPM.

[Slowered318]

Sounds like a quality time (regardless e21 or e30). I always make a stop at Hofbrau Beerhall for a boot and schnitzel when I'm in Miami, it's great. Hope to make the drive down south through Kentucky, Tennessee and Georgia one of these years. Timing is crucial as I don't have A/C in the 318, I don't want to be stuck driving at night because it gets too hot during the day.

I have all the parts to build the bypass, two 64118367832 and a 64218367834. Gotta get some other projects out of the way so I can do a proper before/after. I'm thinking the heater output will be reduced slightly or completely, really not sure so I would hold off if I were you.

[dasfrogger]

Sounds like a quality time (regardless e21 or e30). I always make a stop at Hofbrau Beerhall for a boot and schnitzel when I'm in Miami, it's great. Hope to make the drive down south through Kentucky, Tennessee and Georgia one of these years. Timing is crucial as I don't have A/C in the 318, I don't want to be stuck driving at night because it gets too hot during the day.

I have all the parts to build the bypass, two 64118367832 and a 64218367834. Gotta get some other projects out of the way so I can do a proper before/after. I'm thinking the heater output will be reduced slightly or completely, really not sure so I would hold off if I were you.

It's always a good time getting out on those roads. It's a blast ripping thru the backroads with 8 other cars.

You're getting close to out of time for Kentucky. Once mid june hits it's pretty rough and it'll be late september before it's nice again. My 73 2002 doesn't have AC, and ithasn't been terrible, but not a lot of fun.

Good luck with the bypass. Looking forward to hearing how it works out

[dasfrogger]

I recently got a new job (the reason for the e30 purchase) and am now having to commute downtown and park in a parking garage. Today was my first day and I didn't enjoy it one bit. My problems are:

1) lumpy idle (not the end of the world, but it really bothers me)
2) sometimes its very difficult to select a gear, especially 1st and 2nd, especially after it's been sitting for awhile.
3) the clutch goes all the way to the metal and the only way I can get it there is by using the big toe part of my foot. My toe didn't feel great after the weekend and driving in dress shoes was the least fun today. I don't really care if that sounds like a wuss problem. It's not comfortable to operate the car and something's gotta change.

I'm hoping that bleeding the brakes and clutch slave will solve my gear selection issue and that it's not my slave cyl on it's way out. I'll plan to bleed this weekend and update.

To solve my clutch/uncomfortable foot issue I figured I'd try a DIY clutch stop mod. Did about 20 minutes worth of research and I was off to Lowes. $4.85 later and I was back home ready to start.

So here's the exploded parts. Part numbers from Left to right below the picture - everything purchased from LOWES.

+ SoftTouch Felt Pads #0053801. 1.5" round, light tan felt, adhesive back
+ Elevator Bolt 3/8-16 x 1-1/2
+ Nut, 3/8"-16 #67341
+ Lock Washer 3/8" #61816

Got out to my car and found that the carpet one of the PO's had glued in over the stock carpet obscured the  view of the clutch stop.

Peeled back the nasty overlay carpet to find even nastier original carpet...and the location of the clutch stop.

I cut a hole in the overlay carpet to expose the stock clutch stop

Removed the stock clutch stop with a Phillips head screw driver. gave no resistance and came out in a few seconds

A comparison shot


I threaded the nut all the way up the Elevator bolt and then slipped the lock washer on after it. Twisted the elevator bolt in by hand till it couldn't turn any more then turned the nut down by hand till it was finger tight.


Picked myself up off the ground and started the car right up no problem. Did a quick test drive around the block and no problems using clutch. Too much traffic around my house to enjoy a testdrive so I'll go for one tonight.

Preliminarily it feels really really good. Way easier to shift and foot position is better too. I could probably back the bolt out a little more to minimize clutch travel, but for a driver this is really nice. Very happy with this mod, it yielded great results (so far), and was truly plug and play. Best $4.85 I've spent in a long time.

[dasfrogger]

This is a good news / bad news post.

First the good: took my e30 to my first autox a few weeks back. I ran the bottom of my class, but improved my time 10 seconds from the first run to the last and was pretty happy with that.



Video of my runs here: http://youtu.be/xZUjW9ByuBQ?list=UUtFavXCB4mNmZdXlN-0eeYA


I've had the car 2000 miles so far with only one issue (other than the idle) - It ate a waterpump on the interstate 72 miles from home. I was coming home from Indianapolis on July 6 and i heard a noise like i had run something over and trapped it under my car. I couldn't figure out what the problem was, but the car still felt fine and had good power. I had dark glasses on and couldn't really see the dash lights, but luckily a few minutes after hearing the noise i saw the check engine light was on. Immediately noticed every other warning light had come on and my temp was in the red. Thankfully I was able to safely merge into a rest area within a few seconds of noticing the problem. Had i been a few miles down the road i'd have been stuck in a construction area with no shoulder for a few miles. Pulled into the rest area with a trail of coolant behind me. The car proceeded to puke coolant from the waterpump for about 15 minutes.

Took a look around and noticed that the belt had snapped. I'll bet that's what I heard under my car.

Even though by a fluke I had a full tool set, jack and jack stands I didn't have any spare belts and no way to get to a parts store that would more than likely be closed on a holiday weekend sunday night. Bit the bullet and had it towed home.


New water pump, thermostat and all three belts and we're good to go. I was worried about the head but everything looks good. Had a shop check it and they gave it a thumbs up and I haven't noticed any coolant in the oil. I dodged a bullet there!

[deansweet]

A construction zone in Ohio?! Say it ain't so?!

Good to hear you didn't warp the head.
What area are you from? I live in the Springboro, Ohio area.

[dasfrogger]

I'm in Louisville, KY.

I actually bought my car from a fellow a bit north of you between xenia and yellow spirngs. For whatever reason A lot of my cars (current and former) have come from that area - e21 from xenia, 1600-2 from yellow springs, 318is... i tried to buy a pair of 2002's up there a few months back too!

[dasfrogger]

Small update - still chasing the idle issue.

Swapped ecu last night with no success. No change when removing fuel pressure regulator, idle control valve, or both. No change in idle quality by adjusting idle speed screw either. At this point it's gotta be injectors, coils/wires, or timing/cam issue.

Does anyone know how long it takes an ecu to learn a new O2 sensor? I still need to replace with a good one (even though it didn't make any change in the idle quality.) I plan to use a good m20 sensor and splice m42 wire harness. Seems like sensor is the same and need to save as much dough as I can.

At this point it's gotta be injectors, coils/wires, or timing/cam issue. I need to get my mutstang injectors rebuilt and installed. I plan to install the valve cover gasket this weeknd and will check the condition of the timing chain and sprockets as well as if the cam timing is out of spec.

[dasfrogger]

over the holiday weekend i broke down and swapped out the old O2 sensor with a new unit from autozone. 77 bucks later and the idle smoothed out pretty well with the AC on (big improvement) and a little bit with the AC off. If anything i'm hoping for an extra MPG or two from the repair.

This past weekend I changed the oil, bled brakes and clutch, and replaced fuel injectors with Mustang 19# units. I had been having problems shifting from neutral to first intermittently when the transmission was cold and figured the first step would be to bleed the system. hooked up the magic bav auto pressure bleeder and went to town. got a lot of air out of the system and flushed some nasty nasty fluid. Shifts a bit better now from N to 1, but still not what it's supposed to be. I'll probably do a trans fluid flush sometime soon for the peace of mind and then will do shifter bushing (and probably guibo and trans rear seal while I'm in there)

I'd been dragging my feet on having my injectors cleaned, but i finally got them sent out and carved out some time to do the swap. I'm glad i did, i'd just had the injectors out a few thousand miles ago when i did mess under the intake and they were super nasty again. I'm not sure if it's placebo or just the fact that the injectors are fresh and clean, but i feel like the car has a little more power down low than it used to. Driving in 1st/2nd in my parking garage (or other low speed situation) is a lot more comfortable too -doesn't seem like the engine struggles anymore. All in all it's a pretty cheap mod and i'd recommend doing it if you want a project or if you're doing mess under the intake and are in there anyway. I used MEPEH from R3V to do mine and it only cost 20 bucks for the service...super deal. Link to his thread is below.





So still trying to chase the idle issue. At this point i'm thinking timing. still need to pop the valve cover gasket off to inspect. Part of the issues is how the exhaust rattles, and at this point i'm almost wondering if the idle isn't actually that bad and the exhaust rattle is amplifying the problem. 



Injectors cleaning service: http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=266477&highlight=injector+cleaning