doogie
10-25-2004, 12:37 PM
Hi guys!
I've been kind of lurking round here since I got my E34 a couple of months ago and I think this is the best place to ask the techish question I have.
I kind of fell into bimmer ownership by chance.... I needed to buy a car pretty fast for the money I had (£500 = about $900) I was faced with things along the lines of Ford Fiestas etc until I found an '89 520i E34 which was within my budget..... and I then spent about the same as I paid for it insuring it (!!!! no no claims bonus in my name for the last few years etc), and then £700 after a month getting it through it's MOT!!!! I am a bit clueless when it comes to car mechanics in general, but this is obviously the time to learn (I've had brand new cars up until I had to get this so dealer did anything under warranty)
So far I've had the work for the MOT done by a localish garage (ball joints, welding, throttle body cleanup etc etc) but I'm keen to do some work myself on it now to save money and learn some stuff. (I've fitted a CD changer (it didn't have the stock amp/ head unit etc when I got it, just some POS that I binned), and I've hardwired my iPAQ GPS connections in so I don't have to have the ashtray open and plugged into lighter socket)
The main problem I'm having at the moment as far as I'm aware of, is overfueling, which I understand is due to the temperature being reported to the ECU wrongly. When it was in the garage they gave me a list of things needing looked at and they mentioned this, saying that it was "Either the thermostat, the cable or the ECU that was broken" - I get a feeling that if I put it into the garage it'll mysteriously be the ECU needing replaced and that it'll cost me mega-bucks, plus I've got the hassle of taking it down there, getting the train back, picking it up next day or whatever etc etc.
I had the AA out the other day because I had a problem re-starting the engine and the AA man said it was overfueling probably due to broken temp sensor - the problem manifests itself as starting car from cold and driving short distance (eg 5 or 10 mins to school) then when stopped, not re-starting, either until left for a few minutes, and or accellerator being pushed to the floor.
From what I can see reading stuff (Haynes manual, web sites - I know I should get bentleys but think I need to get it off ebay for megabucks since it's not standard over here) I need to
Identify if I have a coolant drain plug or if I'll have to disconnect the hose
Buy/borrow a multimeter
Have car cold
Put pan under radiator and remove drain plug/ bottom hose
Remove temp sensor
Measure resistance.
If resistance is not within spec (I've got a link somewhere that tells me what it should be), I know I need to get a new temp sensor (where is the best place to get that in the UK - stealer, online, scrap yard etc?)
If within spec, check cable between temp sensor and ECU
If coolant is yucky, replace with new coolant/ use existing coolant to refill radiator.
Switch it on and make sure I haven't b0rked it! (and then repeat when I have the new temp sensor if that's what it needs)
Does that sound about right? Anything I've missed (except for don't drink antifreeze etc ;-))
The other problem I have is an occasional death of power steering.... only ever for a couple of seconds 4 or 5 times when I've been going round a corner. I know I need to check the power steering fluid level.... anything else obvious apart from that?
I also have the classic SI lights always on/ intermittent rev counter issue, which I've seen a million links about .... I've not pulled the cluster yet, but the place I work has PCB bath for cleaning up water damage etc, so hopefully if I have any NiCad leakage onto the board I'll be able to clean it up :D
Anyway, that's all for now... hopefully someone will be able to answer my questions if I haven't bored you too much!
Cheers
Doogie
I've been kind of lurking round here since I got my E34 a couple of months ago and I think this is the best place to ask the techish question I have.
I kind of fell into bimmer ownership by chance.... I needed to buy a car pretty fast for the money I had (£500 = about $900) I was faced with things along the lines of Ford Fiestas etc until I found an '89 520i E34 which was within my budget..... and I then spent about the same as I paid for it insuring it (!!!! no no claims bonus in my name for the last few years etc), and then £700 after a month getting it through it's MOT!!!! I am a bit clueless when it comes to car mechanics in general, but this is obviously the time to learn (I've had brand new cars up until I had to get this so dealer did anything under warranty)
So far I've had the work for the MOT done by a localish garage (ball joints, welding, throttle body cleanup etc etc) but I'm keen to do some work myself on it now to save money and learn some stuff. (I've fitted a CD changer (it didn't have the stock amp/ head unit etc when I got it, just some POS that I binned), and I've hardwired my iPAQ GPS connections in so I don't have to have the ashtray open and plugged into lighter socket)
The main problem I'm having at the moment as far as I'm aware of, is overfueling, which I understand is due to the temperature being reported to the ECU wrongly. When it was in the garage they gave me a list of things needing looked at and they mentioned this, saying that it was "Either the thermostat, the cable or the ECU that was broken" - I get a feeling that if I put it into the garage it'll mysteriously be the ECU needing replaced and that it'll cost me mega-bucks, plus I've got the hassle of taking it down there, getting the train back, picking it up next day or whatever etc etc.
I had the AA out the other day because I had a problem re-starting the engine and the AA man said it was overfueling probably due to broken temp sensor - the problem manifests itself as starting car from cold and driving short distance (eg 5 or 10 mins to school) then when stopped, not re-starting, either until left for a few minutes, and or accellerator being pushed to the floor.
From what I can see reading stuff (Haynes manual, web sites - I know I should get bentleys but think I need to get it off ebay for megabucks since it's not standard over here) I need to
Identify if I have a coolant drain plug or if I'll have to disconnect the hose
Buy/borrow a multimeter
Have car cold
Put pan under radiator and remove drain plug/ bottom hose
Remove temp sensor
Measure resistance.
If resistance is not within spec (I've got a link somewhere that tells me what it should be), I know I need to get a new temp sensor (where is the best place to get that in the UK - stealer, online, scrap yard etc?)
If within spec, check cable between temp sensor and ECU
If coolant is yucky, replace with new coolant/ use existing coolant to refill radiator.
Switch it on and make sure I haven't b0rked it! (and then repeat when I have the new temp sensor if that's what it needs)
Does that sound about right? Anything I've missed (except for don't drink antifreeze etc ;-))
The other problem I have is an occasional death of power steering.... only ever for a couple of seconds 4 or 5 times when I've been going round a corner. I know I need to check the power steering fluid level.... anything else obvious apart from that?
I also have the classic SI lights always on/ intermittent rev counter issue, which I've seen a million links about .... I've not pulled the cluster yet, but the place I work has PCB bath for cleaning up water damage etc, so hopefully if I have any NiCad leakage onto the board I'll be able to clean it up :D
Anyway, that's all for now... hopefully someone will be able to answer my questions if I haven't bored you too much!
Cheers
Doogie