IT'S ALIVE!!! MWAH-HA-HA-HA!!! Just a question, for anyone, it only sucked up about 8 quarts of coolant before it went to overflow...Bentley says it needs about 11.1. Is this normal? I bled the system, and everything seems alright...famous last words...took it for a drive, and the heater worked, with no coolant warning light on the Check panel. Dad said I'd need to add more as I drive it more over the next few days...
Did you drain the block and the heater core in addition to the radiator and associated hoses? Did you bleed the system as per the Bentley manual and the bleeder screw? It can be difficult to get all air bled out. I've had a mechanic or two suggest 'burping' the coolant system - with it running and the bleeder cracked, open the throttle to 5 or 6k rpm's (coolant's gonna spray out all over) and shut the bleeder before you let the revs drop back. Engine should be warmed up, don't rev a cold engine to that high a rpm. Just quickly open and close the throttle, don't keep it at high revs - not that important to get it exactly to that high a rpm, you can't see the tach outside the car anyway.
You can't get every ounce of coolant out of the motor and heater core no matter what you do. Just be attentive and make sure you have full heat on defrost. Check the coolant level a few times over the next few days. I usually go to 2krpm when bleeding if it has heat, otherwise, what MG said.
Chris. Loved reading this thread. But man I really hope you washed your computer down when you were done!!! It probably has grease, oil, coolant, small pieces gasket, etc in the keys by now! It now probably looks like the one Paul uses! Unless you have one of those keyboard condoms!
LMAO! Not even the hospital next door uses condoms on their keyboards. I guess they don't believe in safe typing...
Congrats! You've just proved that you can fix anything on your E30 (well, except change the OBC light bulb) (that's harder than a silly timing belt). I don't know WHY you would have removed the rad, but glad you got it all back together again regardless.
The hardest part of these sorts of projects is the patience part. Plodding along, figuring things out. Yeah, Paul can do it in "2 to 3 hours" and Chris took, umm, 2 to 3 days, but he did it. It is easy to have expectations of oneself that the project "should" go faster than it does.
First rule of any project: Estimate the longest time it could possibly take you to complete the job, then...... quintuple your time estimate. Then, you stand a remote chance of getting it done within the adjusted-projection time frame.
BTW, the first one I ever did included doing crank and cam seals, and took a couple days. The second took about 6 hours with no seals.
Show off! lol...thanks for the kind words, you guys! I truly appreciate all of your support. And Botond, thanks, but I've already changed the light bar in the OBC
Naturally... So, now there's a squealing noise coming from under the hood, and some flunky noises every time I load up the steering rack. Sounds like a loose steering pump belt. @&#%$ I can't really do anything about it...I'm going back to campus on Saturday, and don't have the time to fix it up. But some warm remarks: again, thank you everyone for your encouragement! This was a greatly satisfying experience--not just getting to know my car on an extraordinarily deep level, but also being a part of this wonderful car culture. I'm going to make an appointment for my parents to take it to the shop for an adjustment while I'm gone at school...lol how anti-climatic.
It will take you very little time to tighten the belts. I'd do it if I were you. Not doing it can lead to premature belt failure.
It was my understanding that it's best to replace belts if you remove them, and even if it isn't the case, it's a smart idea to do so.
Congratulations! I was going to look up the Roundel story on changing the belt in my iX a couple of years ago, but it looks like you didn't need any help! I remember being amazed by the notched belt tensioners; of course, I had to clean twenty years' worth of grease off mine before I saw how they worked. Zu kuhl! Churman engineering! Now you have the smug satisfaction of hearing somebody else mention the Baby Six "rubber band" motor and saying, "Timing belt? Piece o' cake. . . ."
Haha, yeah, I feel like I've ascended to some sort of higher level of vintage BMW knowledge...lol And regarding the grease, Satch, I probably shaved a half-pound off my car's curb weight...a special thank you goes to the makers of Simple Green And P.S., my dad said he would look at the belt issue...he's generally more mechanically inclined than I am, through his 60-ish years of experience
Really Quick... So, I'm back home, and just to fill everyone in, my dad and I needed to swap cars for my first two days of co-op...turns out the squealing got worse, until it finally stopped in the BJ's parking lot...I checked it out, and the power steering pump pulley actually FELL OFF my bad...def didn't tighten it enough with that whole "OMG THIS PROJECT IS FINALLY OVER" state of mind... I just checked it out, and <knock on wood> nothing was damaged...just lost two of the bolts/washers...everything's back in place now, and she's hummin' like a charm. I still think the belt's a smidge loose, but it doesn't squeal when the engine's running. To adjust the tension, which bolts do I need to loosen? I don't want to screw up the adjustment pinion gear and bracket teeth (if I haven't already)...
IIRC, there are 4 things to loosen. The nut on the adjuster (part 15) and the bolt at the base of the rack (part 11 that goes through part 12). Don't go too loose on 15 or you will end up stripping the teeth on the adjuster rack. The other two are bolts that the pump pivots on. Since there are so many bolts, you will have to see for yourself, but you can always loosen all the ones you suspect allow the pump to pivot. Just remember to tighten them all back up again! http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do?model=BB13&mospid=47326&btnr=32_0213&hg=32&fg=15
Cool man, just took 'er out for a spin, and everything seems nice and functional I don't want to hold my breath...lol...got a big trip planned for next weekend, so I'm keeping the wrenches handy. Thanks for the tips, as always. So I also took a stop over at the local independent shop, and I'm going to schedule an appointment to have my clutch replaced. Because God and all of humanity knows that I don't have the schedule or the stomach to do another huge project right now. I'm gonna keep the DIY down to changing the oil and checking tire pressure for now...lol Pictures of this project to come soon...
