Today I did something to my car (volume 2)

job seeker

JohnBoy26 wrote: »

Because it has Dual & sequential ingnition. The 1.8 I vtec only has 4 spark plugs.

Yes,

Also, the Honda Jazz also has the same I-DSI engine and takes 8 plugs as well.

joujoujou

Yesterday installed adaptor harness to use steering wheel controls with aftermarket stereo. Plug and play. Was quick enough with swapping looms to even avoid radio reconfiguration afterwards!

Decided to replace front speakers with 2 way separated system I took off the old 'rolla. Had speaker spacers (bought together with aforementioned harness) so not really very difficult. :cool:

Apologies I took no photos as frequent heavy rain showers turned my priorities to finish the whole lot as quickly as possible. Even though the job completed at 8:30 pm. :eek:

Next - auto dim rear view mirror (have it already), just have to make an adapter to put it on windscreen. :rolleyes:

Plans - self folding wing mirrors (in the post), but did not yet find out what sort of controller would I need to make them working.

More plans will be unveiled soon.

breadbin

Well spent a good part of the day outside with the car. Was fantastic weather for a change!

I replaced the rear passenger caliper, I had done the drivers one around Christmas as it needed doing and never got round to doing this one until now. Got my rebate off Toyota too for the old ones!

Changed the oil and oil filter. Air filter and main headlight bulb too. I had bought a pair of car ramps and I have to say they are a dream to use for things like the oil.

Lastly I tried changing the spark plugs. I say tried, I fell at the first hurdle. I got the cover off ok, got the coil pack out fine. I even bought a little tool to make sure it would work but for the life of me I couldn't turn it. I grabbed it with a big plumbers wrench but it was so tight. I was afraid of smashing it.

I have a long 1/2 drive socket and an extension and a breaker bar that should work. Should it be that tight?

I'm only remembering now the engine was hot when I was doing it. I might try it again when it's cold! I've visions of me breaking the spark plug and bits falling into the cylinder! That'd be my main worry.

wotzgoingon

No it should not be that tight. Who ever was there before you over tightened them.

James Bond Junior

Failed the NCT on a bonnet catch not closing this week. Decided to go at it but couldn't see what was wrong and there was a panel in the way which I couldn't remove. Think I will wait until I am getting the cooling system overhauled and get it down as the front end will be dismantled.

Loosened the front bumper with a view to taking it off and realigning it. It is sagging at the front, a common fault if the bumper shocks are hit. Got halfway there but the ground I was working on was just too wet and I needed axle stands really. Going to try again when the weather improves. My garage is too narrow to work in unfortunately. The way things are going at the moment I can't see the E36 being ready for road for summer this year as I just can't justify spending money on it at the moment.

breadbin

wotzgoingon wrote: »

No it should not be that tight. Who ever was there before you over tightened them.

So is there any danger of me messing something up here? I was thinking I could spray a bit of WD40 in there. Would that help? I'd rather not but what's the alternative?

wotzgoingon

breadbin wrote: »

So is there any danger of me messing something up here? I was thinking I could spray a bit of WD40 in there. Would that help? I'd rather not but what's the alternative?

You will have to be careful as they are not very strong and last thing you want is it to break while still in the engine. I doubt it was a garage that fitted those spark plugs before you as tight is tight when fitting them, in other words just tighten them a very slight bit.

Sorry I have no tips on how to get them out. I'm sure someone else will come along with good advice.

vintagevrs

Wd40 sounds like it would do no harm, give it a squirt and let it sit for the night.

*I am not a mechanic and this is not professional advice!

Toyotafanboi

I think they are actually easier to remove when the engine is hot.

commited

A long time since I've picked up the tools but I did some work on the 530i today. I'd noticed that my MPG had been pretty poor recently but didn't give it a huge amount of thought. That was, until I was on a 2 hour journey up to Belfast recently in 0c temps and I had pretty much zero heating and I realised that the thermostat must be toast. Anyone who's done this job on a 6 cylinder petrol BMW with electric water pump will know that it's pretty nasty (I did it to my 335i with waterpump and it was not enjoyable). I bought a Behr thermostat recently but have been putting off the job, turns out on a manual car it's a piece of cake as there is no trans cooler
Full access was available from below and it took less than 30 mins:


Since I had the car on axle stands, I replaced front wishbone that was looking a bit sorry for itself with a TRW replacement. TRW were OEM for the e92 so assumed they were here too, turns out it was Lemforder. Still should last well as TRW make quality parts!


Decided to change the oil & filter too while I was at it so 6.5 litres of Fuchs Titan GT1 on a recommendation from a pal and an OEM filter later and that was done.

Took it out for a shakedown run and the thermostat has made a huge difference, 44.8mpg average over 44km which was a mix of motorway and suburban driving keeping up with traffic etc. Pretty amazing for an 272bhp 3.0 petrol, I usually would have got around 35-37mpg for a run like this so I reckon the thermostat has been stuck open for some time.

vintagevrs

That's unreal mpg, nice work

JohnBoy26

breadbin wrote: »

Well spent a good part of the day outside with the car. Was fantastic weather for a change!

I replaced the rear passenger caliper, I had done the drivers one around Christmas as it needed doing and never got round to doing this one until now. Got my rebate off Toyota too for the old ones!

Changed the oil and oil filter. Air filter and main headlight bulb too. I had bought a pair of car ramps and I have to say they are a dream to use for things like the oil.

Lastly I tried changing the spark plugs. I say tried, I fell at the first hurdle. I got the cover off ok, got the coil pack out fine. I even bought a little tool to make sure it would work but for the life of me I couldn't turn it. I grabbed it with a big plumbers wrench but it was so tight. I was afraid of smashing it.

I have a long 1/2 drive socket and an extension and a breaker bar that should work. Should it be that tight?

I'm only remembering now the engine was hot when I was doing it. I might try it again when it's cold! I've visions of me breaking the spark plug and bits falling into the cylinder! That'd be my main worry.

Be careful, the last thing you want is to damage the threads on the head.

breadbin

Well I had a brainwave of putting some WD40 in and letting it soak overnight. It was pitch black out and I had a torch but didn't I drop one of the coil pack nuts into the engine, behind the alternator. Was looking for ages but I eventually got it. I taped a whiteboard magnet onto a bit of bike brake cable housing! Panic over;)

I'll see if I can get them to come out in the morning!

CJhaughey

breadbin wrote: »

Well I had a brainwave of putting some WD40 in and letting it soak overnight. It was pitch black out and I had a torch but didn't I drop one of the coil pack nuts into the engine, behind the alternator. Was looking for ages but I eventually got it. I taped a whiteboard magnet onto a bit of bike brake cable housing! Panic over;)

I'll see if I can get them to come out in the morning!

If WD fails try Coca Cola, the phosphoric acid is remarkably powerful on seized plugs

skibum

My €450 bangernomic 2001 1.4 astra estate died after nearly 2.5 years of service, I was left high and dry needing a replacement car asap, saw a 2002 1.4 astra estate on adverts.ie, https://www.adverts.ie/car/opel/astra/2002-opel-astra-reduced-moving/14692432
contacted the seller, hopped on the dart to fairview and came home with it for roughly the same price as the last one...
It had a months tax and nct, wasn't in bad shape, but needed a few bits to get it through the next nct, I raided the dead astra for parts:
Headlights
Tyres ( new one had ****ty chinese ditch finders, replaced them with Uniroyal rainexpert3 )
Windscreen wiper mechanism
both door mirrors.
Indicator stalk
Various bulbs.....

Also swapped out the faulty radio, damaged grill, rear load cover, petrol cap, rear headrests and various interior trim bits.

Put it in for the nct early and it passed...

It's got a bit of an oil leak, getting mechanic to have a look at it, overall very happy with my latest bangernomic purchase....

vintagevrs

I had a small weep from underneath the power steering reservoir that's been there for ages and had some time to do it recently.

Undid a bolt on the power steering pump that let the fluid out. Then undid the clamps and bits and pieces holding the reservoir. The two pipes connected to it were held on my these little clamp things, not jubilee clips. Got them off, cut an inch off the end of each pipe and then reattached everything with new clips and filled with new fluid. Hope that's it sorted but won't know for a few weeks.

Took it for a test drive to make sure all was well with the steering. Hadn't driven the car in about 5 days and everything going great, until I get up to a little "speed" and there's a bang and I look in my mirror to see parts of car on the road.

I had removed the undertray and some other plastic bits for access and figured I'd reattach them if the test drive went well. I didn't count on the aerodynamic on these pieces. With the speed one got pushed into the front right wheel, which in turn ripped it out and took the fecking wheel liner with it. FML

Pulled in and picked up what was left and thankfully the wheel liner is not damgaged, or any parts of the car. Small bit of plastic trim was completely destroyed though so will have to source one of those. Lucky and unlucky all in one.

Lesson learned for me.

James Bond Junior

vintagevrs wrote: »

I had a small weep from underneath the power steering reservoir that's been there for ages and had some time to do it recently.

Undid a bolt on the power steering pump that let the fluid out. Then undid the clamps and bits and pieces holding the reservoir. The two pipes connected to it were held on my these little clamp things, not jubilee clips. Got them off, cut an inch off the end of each pipe and then reattached everything with new clips and filled with new fluid. Hope that's it sorted but won't know for a few weeks.

Took it for a test drive to make sure all was well with the steering. Hadn't driven the car in about 5 days and everything going great, until I get up to a little "speed" and there's a bang and I look in my mirror to see parts of car on the road.

I had removed the undertray and some other plastic bits for access and figured I'd reattach them if the test drive went well. I didn't count on the aerodynamic on these pieces. With the speed one got pushed into the front right wheel, which in turn ripped it out and took the fecking wheel liner with it. FML

Pulled in and picked up what was left and thankfully the wheel liner is not damgaged, or any parts of the car. Small bit of plastic trim was completely destroyed though so will have to source one of those. Lucky and unlucky all in one.

Lesson learned for me.

Give bmw classic parts a try on the BMW website. If still too dear, PM me, I'll see what I can do.

vintagevrs

James Bond Junior wrote: »

Give bmw classic parts a try on the BMW website. If still too dear, PM me, I'll see what I can do.

Thanks for that

I checked eBay and can get the part for 25 quid. There's a fella local to me who breaks e30s and he's got some stuff set aside for me already, he should hopefully have this part too to add to the list.

James Bond Junior

vintagevrs wrote: »

Thanks for that

I checked eBay and can get the part for 25 quid. There's a fella local to me who breaks e30s and he's got some stuff set aside for me already, he should hopefully have this part too to add to the list.

No problem at all. Anything new, just ask. Does your man break e36's?

vintagevrs

James Bond Junior wrote: »

No problem at all. Anything new, just ask. Does your man break e36's?

Think he has parts for e36s as well yeah. I'll give you his details if you're looking another contact for the odd part. Think he's active enough on FB so you may know him already.

James Bond Junior

vintagevrs wrote: »

Think he has parts for e36s as well yeah. I'll give you his details if you're looking another contact for the odd part. Think he's active enough on FB so you may know him already.

Please do, looking for a few small bits.

crasy dash

Seeing as it was the first good day(do not have a garage) down this way in a while and I was off work today a couple of small things got done.

Bought a new battery for the a4 so put that in changed a faulty seat belt receiver as the microswitch had failed in it.

Moved onto herselfs car the 308 and changed the oil and filters as it was that time of the year again.

Gave both interiors a good scrub and hoover after being destroyed by the kids lately.

No pictures as I was too busy having fun playing with the tools lol.

joujoujou

Grinding noise from rear wheel after breaking and warm brake after few kilometres of travelling led me to conclusion that more than likely there's caliper's sliding pin (or two) seized. Quite common fault on E12's.

And yes, that was it - one pin totally stuck. Taken out, cleaned, greased and reinstalled. Had to replace brake pads, one of them looked just horrible. :eek:



Sorted. :cool:

CJhaughey

New genuine droplinks on the Impreza, Packed the arb bushes out with a small section of timing belt, nice and tight now.
Oil and filter change, and throttle body clean and idle relearning.
Very easy to work on the boxer engines everything is easily accessible.

Hal1

That's a pretty good tip for the arb bushes. Ever going to install poly bushes or are they too firm?

vintagevrs

joujoujou wrote: »

Quite common fault on E12's.
:

I thought you were rocking an old 5 series there for a sec....then I copped

Top Dog

Started tearing it apart. :eek:

Start this morning ...



And how it looked about 5pm before I started tidying stuff up

Hal1

That's a small intercooler wow.

Top Dog

Hal1 wrote: »

That's a small intercooler wow.

Kinda piddly looking alright isn't it

At least you can't see it on the other car as the grille is hiding it. :pac: An upgrade in the future is a definite possiblity and pretty cheap too.

CJhaughey

Hal1 wrote: »

That's a pretty good tip for the arb bushes. Ever going to install poly bushes or are they too firm?

I don't like Polybushed ARB's, they shake your teeth out.
Rubber is fine for road use especially on rough roads.
I have used TB's to pack many many bushes and they last as long as a new bush does, not sure about genuine but spurious last at most 2 years IME.
Used timing belts work great, you can use a little piece underneath or a loop over the top, sometimes I have to cut a small section from where the ends meet on the bush to allow me to squeeze it up but usually a flat section works fine.