What did you do to your other car(s) today?

[328dabi]

I was able to source a pair of front and a pair of rear mud flaps for my car finally. The rears came in today and I must say, quality of accessories has really gone down the toilet. The mudflaps for the F30 and Honda Civic are cheap hard plastic, and very thin. My f30 flaps I never installed and sold them on eBay and my wife didn’t want the flaps on her civic either so those are sitting on eBay. The E28 flaps are far more durable, and far higher quality than either of the other cars. Night and day in quality of materials and attention to detail. They are thicker, heavier, offer much better protection/coverage, and won’t crack if hit. Now I just need the front pair to come in so I can install them all. Also, ease of installation is far better with the E28 flaps as well. Just a superior design all around. 

[gadget73]

A month or so ago I replaced the rear air springs on the Mark VII because the rubber was failing and leaking through the cracks.  New ones also were sinking, finally spent some time with the magic diagnostic potion, aka soapy water in a spray bottle.  The solenoid on one side was leaking if moved.  I had used the O rings that I normally use but it seems the new aftermarket ones have a slightly larger hole where the solenoid goes so my O rings didn't seal. I swapped to the larger ones that came with the air springs and managed to force it together. Tried on the other side and no dice.  Ended up with one fat and one normal O ring. Hopefully that will take care of the problem but its going to have to sit a few days to confirm. 
 

[328dabi]

Some pics of the Schmutzfanger’s. I almost don’t want to open these.  
 


 


 

 

[328dabi]

Finally had some time to install the mud guards. 
 


 


 

 

[e24mpwr]

It's been kind of amusing to get to know another car platform.  



 

I've never seen this car platform device before! Any tips or tricks on using them properly? Seems like it would have saved me a lot of time the other day jacking up my Q5. Seems like flat level ground is of the utmost importance with these? Also can relate to the design differences lately working on my Audi and 4runner.

Sorry - I apparently don't have notifications set up right in my panel.  As another member said, this is a QuickJack (the 5000TL model, to be exact).  They're kinda pricey (used for $1K - $1.4K and new about $2K), but boy does it beat jacks/stands - probably similar time to get in the air for me, but super-stable and a lot of height that would skeeve me out on stands.  In an additional bonus, they work great on this pebbly piece of crap driveway the new-to-me house we bought a year or so ago has.  Stands don't love it, but regular floor jacks are outright dangerous - the wheels bind on the pebbles and so the jack can't roll properly as it elevates the car.

Here's my shake test:

Highly recommend the QuickJack.  I've always wanted a MaxJack for the additional height, but that wouldn't give me the ability to do stuff in this driveway.  To your other question, I'm not sure there's any solution to getting your car off the ground safely on anything other than slightly non-level ground.  The QuickJack might tolerate that better than jacks/stands, but i wouldn't recommend it.

To give me some basic capability in this stupid driveway, I also picked up the HF Badlands "Offroad" jack:  

[gadget73]

Put the used decent front air springs from my wrecked Mark VII on the diesel Continental. The ones on the car had cords visible through the extremely shot outer rubber coating.  I think they were original from 1984. 

New ones are a higher spring rate thanks to a different profile base.  Doesn't really affect the ride, but it has less brake dive and I'm not mad about that. Best I can describe the change is if I had adjustable front struts and turned the compression value up very slightly. 

[Aldo525]

Brand (full) new cylinder head in my M30B34 e24. Engine had a loud ticking noise which was not eliminated by adjusting the valves and Cyl #5 lost intake valve stem (remove the pieces some time ago when checked valve clearance) and suspect a piston/valve slap??....fortunately no internal damages, just a stuck valve (must to disassembling the old head to verify yet) making the "doesn't let me sleep" ticking sound. A good cleaning, checked everything and the new head is on. Now the sound of the silence over the engine compared to the older "sewing machine".

Old cylinder head


The new....


All piston was OK, all STD 91.97 built 07/84 (car is 08/84)


And the new one installed

[Mike W.]

Woo Hoo, piano tops, 10:1 compression, an extra 35HP. Makes a world of difference.

[gadget73]

I'm assuming the other design is flat or dished with lower compression? 

Put a lot of miles on the Mark VII.  New Jersey to Raliegh, NC to Norfolk VA back home. Overall averaged about 22 mpg, used zero oil, and had a random exhaust rattle appear and vanish again.  Sounded like its in the area of the catalytic converters, not sure if one broke apart, a shield cracked loose, or maybe a hanger issue.  Have to take another look at it. Overall not bad for a 34 year old car with 240k miles on it. 

oh, and I got a stone chip in the glass. Have the magic goo to fix that and its not rainy today so maybe after work. 

[Archslave84]

Replace Fuel pressure regulator, Ignition switch and new battery. 
 

 

[Mike W.]

I'm assuming the other design is flat or dished with lower compression? 

Yeah, flat top is around 9.3:1, the deep dished ones that came on US spec 535s were 8:1 and look like below. A big difference.

[Aldo525]

Woo Hoo, piano tops, an extra 35HP. Makes a world of difference.

 

 

I hadn't noticed that piano shape...... What I did notice when checking Realoem was that the Swiss/Swedish version of an E24 635csi uses an 89 mm piston... not the 92 mm one like mine, that is, for those countries a 635 was actually always a 633
 

[Aldo525]

Replace Fuel pressure regulator, Ignition switch and new battery. 
 


 

Remove and re-place that piece!!!....there is NLA very hard to find. Left side is still over there, right side (hottest side because the exhaust) is always lost or broken without replacement.

[328dabi]

I'm assuming the other design is flat or dished with lower compression? 

 

Yeah, flat top is around 9.3:1, the deep dished ones that came on US spec 535s were 8:1 and look like below. A big difference.

Just to clarify, The piston pictured is specifically for an M106  powered 745i Turbo. I’m guessing they look the same. 

[Mike W.]

Yeah, flat top is around 9.3:1, the deep dished ones that came on US spec 535s were 8:1 and look like below. A big difference.

Just to clarify, The piston pictured is specifically for an M106  powered 745i Turbo. I’m guessing they look the same. 

In the picture, to my eyes they appear to be identical. Given that they are the same compression ratio the crown probably is the same shape, but there might be other not so visible differences.

[gadget73]

yanked the lower intake from my Mark VII. The stock one flows kind of poorly and I've suspected it could do with fresh injectors for a while.  I had a better intake and fresher injectors so I decided it was time.  Got it apart last night, gasket surfaces prepped and cleaned, its ready to go back together now. It got late and I ran out of ambition so I figured "ready to assemble" was a good place to stop for the night. 

[gadget73]

Lower is on, everything that can be connected is.  I had a stupid moment and forgot to install the thermostat housing before dropping the intake on, and of course realized it after I put the torque wrench down. I forgot how much of an SOB it is to do a thermostat on a Ford 302, especially in a Fox chassis car.  Both bolts are blocked by things.  If the PO hadn't changed them over to socket key cap screws that i could use a ball end Allen wrench on I'd have never gotten it. As it was it probably took me at least an hour to put in two stupid bolts. Also whoever invented self-stick thermostat gaskets deserves a medal because doing that job without one would have sucked even more.

 PO had not trimmed one of the hoses that I needed to replace and that took a lot of effort to get removed too. Waiting on a rubber grommet for the PCV valve that should be in today and I'll pick up two hoses that are 5 minutes to do with the upper removed or a lot of cussing with it installed. 

Upper intake is easy to install, once thats on it needs an oil change and the coolant filled so that should be tonight.  I was able to leak check the fuel system last night and it had no issues. 

Last time I did this job I don't remember it being this miserable, so either this time it was legitimately worse, its been long enough that I forgot the details, or I'm just older now and less entertained by this sort of task. 

[gadget73]

Done.  Pinging is gone, which was the primary goal here. It may make a little more power but I haven't driven it enough to really be sure of that. Claims for that intake on an otherwise stock engine is about 10 hp so its not going to make that much difference. Idle is definitely smoother too.  The AirLift coolant tool continues to rock. Vacuum the system down and it will verify no leaks without putting any coolant in.  Open the valve, it fills up, no air pockets. Its one of those tools that makes me smile whenever I use it. 

[Mike W.]

E39 love. They're nice cars, the drivetrain is dynamite, but they do have weaknesses. We've had some rain already. And I noticed the wife's Touring was getting condensation on the windshield. Which means it's leaking, which I thought I fixed a couple of years ago. I knew what it was, even figured out where. The door vapor barriers. If the vapor barrier isn't sealed to the door, the sheetmetal, water leaks inside. Into and under the carpet where there is ~2" of foam that can hold lots of water. Even better is the low point is under the front passenger seat where there's a fuse/junction box with a bunch of high amp wires, fuses and connections. And which will turn into a spectacularly ugly rusty mess if ignored.

So I tore the doors apart again, the rear is more difficult with the rollerblinds in it which are mounted to both the door and the door panel. And proceeded to try to reseal them with new butyl tape caulk, this time getting it really hot instead of mildly hot, so it sticks to the poly foam vapor barrier which nothing is supposed to stick to! A heat gun this time, not just a blow drier.

And replaced the hatch struts. Again. We'll see how the cheapies from Amazon do as the correct (expensive) ones only last 3-5 years. Early review is it's more of a spring than a shock, open it up and stand back and let it fly, as opposed to the old ones which would fall on top of your head.

[vinceg101]

E39 love. They're nice cars, the drivetrain is dynamite, but they do have weaknesses. We've had some rain already. And I noticed the wife's Touring was getting condensation on the windshield. Which means it's leaking, which I thought I fixed a couple of years ago. I knew what it was, even figured out where. The door vapor barriers. If the vapor barrier isn't sealed to the door, the sheetmetal, water leaks inside. Into and under the carpet where there is ~2" of foam that can hold lots of water. Even better is the low point is under the front passenger seat where there's a fuse/junction box with a bunch of high amp wires, fuses and connections. And which will turn into a spectacularly ugly rusty mess if ignored.

So I tore the doors apart again, the rear is more difficult with the rollerblinds in it which are mounted to both the door and the door panel. And proceeded to try to reseal them with new butyl tape caulk, this time getting it really hot instead of mildly hot, so it sticks to the poly foam vapor barrier which nothing is supposed to stick to! A heat gun this time, not just a blow drier.

Man, I hate that job. A requirement when you replace those window regulators for the 1002nd time. Removing and installing all that ugly butyl is the nastiest job; it gets everywhere except on the surfaces where you need it. I ruined a pair of jeans the first time I did it.

[MLastovo]

Man, I hate that job. A requirement when you replace those window regulators for the 1002nd time. Removing and installing all that ugly butyl is the nastiest job; it gets everywhere except on the surfaces where you need it. I ruined a pair of jeans the first time I did it.

Come on Vince, you are holding back.
Tell all about the currently hated job that is very relevant to the ‘today’ part of the topic.

Your Faithful Friend,
D.

[vinceg101]

Man, I hate that job. A requirement when you replace those window regulators for the 1002nd time. Removing and installing all that ugly butyl is the nastiest job; it gets everywhere except on the surfaces where you need it. I ruined a pair of jeans the first time I did it.

Come on Vince, you are holding back.
Tell all about the currently hated job that is very relevant to the ‘today’ part of the topic.

Your Faithful Friend,
D.

Okay fine (Mike should in sync with this one). Although the only thing I did 'today' was diagnose this issue.
I'm chasing down a brake issue with the E39 at present and am about to embark on a possible (and hopefully THE solution).
Thanksgiving morning as we headed out of the driveway and halfway down the block, the brake pedal became very soft and while it stopped the car at the first stop sign, the pedal continued to travel almost to the floor. Same thing happened at the second stop sign, so immediate turn-around (careful not to spill the Brussels sprouts and Julian pie) and return to driveway. Transferred it all into the Honda and off we went.
Next day checked it all out:
-Brake fluid full and clean
-No visible leaks anywhere in the system
-No warning lights, ran code scanner with no returns
-Pedal firm when engine off, when running, pedal will travel to floor
-Ran voltage test on battery (9 year old Bosch AGM) since it ran down the week before and I had put it on the charger for an afternoon, but fine since. 14 volts while running, at rest it was a tad weak when cold.
-Current Master Cylinder is #3 for this car and was installed in 2018 after it *failed (there is back story to this but it's failure was suspect)
-Current ABS Controller is #2 and replaced around 2014 shortly after I bought the car when it failed and locked the car up (and took out the first MC which surprised my mechanic at the time)
-Vacuum Booster is original as far as I can tell (24 years, 240K miles. However it might have been replaced in 2014? I have to check the records)
-DSC Pump is original as far as I know (same)
-Replaced the front brake pads & rotors with a fluid flush in October but normal operation since then

General consensus from the Brain Trust is pointing to (another) bad Master Cylinder. Which is maddening. But most recent (as of this morning) opinion is there are two very short pieces of rubber brake hose in just behind the ABS Controller that I need to look at. Seems that they can fail and/or leak. When they do leak, air can get into the system and could track with my symptoms. Turns out yes my are weeping, so this moves to the front of the line. I ordered the replacements (luckily these are inexpensive, +/- $30 for both) and their replacement is on-deck for Saturday (oh yeah, the car stranded in my driveway at the house with all my tools and gear up at The Hangar; means I have to make a road-trip Saturday morning first). It will require at least a rear wheel bleed (these hoses are for the rear lines). Yay me.

Of course, this could turn out not to be the issue, in which case it's off to the nearest mechanic Monday morning.

I guess I'm replacing the battery as well since The Peanut Gallery suggested I was on borrowed time with it. So off to Costco for an Interstate replacement at some point. I really (really) don't want to put more money into this car since I'm eyeballing a replacement, but I guess I have to start and stop in the meantime (within reason).

[austin8753]

Come on Vince, you are holding back.
Tell all about the currently hated job that is very relevant to the ‘today’ part of the topic.

Your Faithful Friend,
D.

Okay fine (Mike should in sync with this one). Although the only thing I did 'today' was diagnose this issue.
I'm chasing down a brake issue with the E39 at present and am about to embark on a possible (and hopefully THE solution).
Thanksgiving morning as we headed out of the driveway and halfway down the block, the brake pedal became very soft and while it stopped the car at the first stop sign, the pedal continued to travel almost to the floor. Same thing happened at the second stop sign, so immediate turn-around (careful not to spill the Brussels sprouts and Julian pie) and return to driveway. Transferred it all into the Honda and off we went.
Next day checked it all out:
-Brake fluid full and clean
-No visible leaks anywhere in the system
-No warning lights, ran code scanner with no returns
-Pedal firm when engine off, when running, pedal will travel to floor
-Ran voltage test on battery (9 year old Bosch AGM) since it ran down the week before and I had put it on the charger for an afternoon, but fine since. 14 volts while running, at rest it was a tad weak when cold.
-Current Master Cylinder is #3 for this car and was installed in 2018 after it *failed (there is back story to this but it's failure was suspect)
-Current ABS Controller is #2 and replaced around 2014 shortly after I bought the car when it failed and locked the car up (and took out the first MC which surprised my mechanic at the time)
-Vacuum Booster is original as far as I can tell (24 years, 240K miles. However it might have been replaced in 2014? I have to check the records)
-DSC Pump is original as far as I know (same)
-Replaced the front brake pads & rotors with a fluid flush in October but normal operation since then

General consensus from the Brain Trust is pointing to (another) bad Master Cylinder. Which is maddening. But most recent (as of this morning) opinion is there are two very short pieces of rubber brake hose in just behind the ABS Controller that I need to look at. Seems that they can fail and/or leak. When they do leak, air can get into the system and could track with my symptoms. Turns out yes my are weeping, so this moves to the front of the line. I ordered the replacements (luckily these are inexpensive, +/- $30 for both) and their replacement is on-deck for Saturday (oh yeah, the car stranded in my driveway at the house with all my tools and gear up at The Hangar; means I have to make a road-trip Saturday morning first). It will require at least a rear wheel bleed (these hoses are for the rear lines). Yay me.

Of course, this could turn out not to be the issue, in which case it's off to the nearest mechanic Monday morning.

I guess I'm replacing the battery as well since The Peanut Gallery suggested I was on borrowed time with it. So off to Costco for an Interstate replacement at some point. I really (really) don't want to put more money into this car since I'm eyeballing a replacement, but I guess I have to start and stop in the meantime (within reason).

if those hoses are weeping, i would say that means air can introduce itself into the system. would be feeling confident that this solves your dilemma.

on the topic of e39s... my daily driver M5 has been down since September with a snapped differential mount on the subframe. i returned from a cross country road trip on Wednesday evening (33 hr drive straight through) and on Thursday, was right back to work ripping the e39 apart.

the bushings were hammered (and compromised from oil saturation, due to an earlier failed pinion seal left unattended), i removed the rear subframe and changed the differential and subframe bushings and had the differential mount welded and reinforced. since the exhaust was off, i decided this was the ideal time to replace the clutch that had been slipping since i installed a new set of Michelins. someone drove this car like an asshole. definitely wasn't me. definitely.

clutch and flywheel were replaced with a stock replacement. opted for Powerflex street bushings for the subframe and differential.

anyway, did the whole job in a day. i'm tired and sore. off to BKbimmer's for dinner...

Untitled by e30austin, on Flickr

Untitled by e30austin, on Flickr

Untitled by e30austin, on Flickr

Untitled by e30austin, on Flickr

Untitled by e30austin, on Flickr

Untitled by e30austin, on Flickr

[gadget73]

New quick struts on the truck, KYB Gas-A-Just. Easy job, probably took longer to try to heat the garage enough that my fingers wouldn't go numb as it did to do the job. Also found the knock in the front end, one of the sway bar endlinks was broken but in a way that I couldn't see until the wheel was off and I shoved down on the spindle to get the new strut in. Pair of new endlinks and no more suspicious noise up front.  Also confirmed my recent check that the rest of the parts up there are still fine. 

New struts got rid of the highway speed vibration too.  Guessing the very dead dampers were letting the wheels oscillate. 
 

[vinceg101]

if those hoses are weeping, i would say that means air can introduce itself into the system. would be feeling confident that this solves your dilemma.

These two hoses were indeed the culprits and their replacement was the solution. In fact one came apart in my hand as I started to replace it; confirming these were problem (or at least one of the problems).
The only stain on this whole incident was that I was not able to accomplish the replacement by myself. For a host of reasons including the car's location, lack of toolage, impending weather that week, and that infernal heat shield (which can only be removed completely from below) caused me to call in the cavalry and send it off to the mechanic to finish the job (of course, it still wasn't confirmed there were other issues, but in the end it was). These look deceptively simple to replace but the lower connections are a bitch; I was told that this is exponentially more difficult in the V8 cars.

on the topic of e39s... my daily driver M5 has been down since September with a snapped differential mount on the subframe. i returned from a cross country road trip on Wednesday evening (33 hr drive straight through) and on Thursday, was right back to work ripping the e39 apart.

Indeed that IS an impressive scope of work for one day. Well done.

[austin8753]

if those hoses are weeping, i would say that means air can introduce itself into the system. would be feeling confident that this solves your dilemma.

These two hoses were indeed the culprits and their replacement was the solution. In fact one came apart in my hand as I started to replace it; confirming these were problem (or at least one of the problems).
The only stain on this whole incident was that I was not able to accomplish the replacement by myself. For a host of reasons including the car's location, lack of toolage, impending weather that week, and that infernal heat shield (which can only be removed completely from below) caused me to call in the cavalry and send it off to the mechanic to finish the job (of course, it still wasn't confirmed there were other issues, but in the end it was). These look deceptively simple to replace but the lower connections are a bitch; I was told that this is exponentially more difficult in the V8 cars.

on the topic of e39s... my daily driver M5 has been down since September with a snapped differential mount on the subframe. i returned from a cross country road trip on Wednesday evening (33 hr drive straight through) and on Thursday, was right back to work ripping the e39 apart.

Indeed that IS an impressive scope of work for one day. Well done.

bummer you weren't able to finish it up on your own, but at least you have it back operable again. i modified a couple wrenches specifically for doing that job. either way, it ain't a fun one, and they are a tad more annoying on a V8 powered car.

[e24mpwr]

Was last weekend, but did rear brakes on the family Mazda, and it was the first run of my "offroad" jack:

My driveway is pebbled, which makes regular jacks legit dangerous, so was really happy to have something that worked so effortlessly.  I doubt I'll ever need it actually offroad (at least I hope so), but it's giving me freedom to get stuff done while my garage is still consumed with chaos from our move about 18 months ago.  (I also have a QuickJack, which works great on the pebbles, but is a bit of a production to get out of the garage to use)

The rear calipers were a bear to compress, even with the correct tool and the proper plate.  Still not sure why, but everything seems great. 

Next up:  Front brakes on the family Volvo.    (and the X5 needs an oil change...)

[jimoreno]

Finally drove out of the garage the 2012 X5 (was in it since October) that I finished replacing the N63 engine with a new one from BMW (Not bad for $4,300 plus core charge of 2,400). I grossly underestimated the amount of work that an engine this complex is but after two and a half months (with a 2 week vacation from Type A flu) plus working by myself doesn't help either. Was able to remove the whole subframe with the engine using a Vevor 7,000 lbs. hydraulic lift (quickjack copycat) and their 1,100 lbs. hydraulic lifting table. The old engine was burning so much oil that some of the exhaust manifold ports were blocked at least 40 to 50%. Did a bunch of other stuff since I was there like all coolant lines, MAF's, MAP's, ignition coils (the engine comes with new plugs), transmission oil and filter with ZF8 Lifeguard, front wheel bearings, left half axle, turned all rotors, new Brembo ceramic pads all around, replaced the headlight lenses (this one took several hours as you have to cut the old lens out and clean the groove for the new lens) and to wrap it all up I also installed the H&R lowering kit. Looks so much better now!

 


 

 

 

[Mike W.]

Gettin' the E39 ready to head down to Sandy Eggo. Sunday heading back from the Kids I lost a tire. Blew I guess, absolutely no symptoms until the familiar clop, clop, clop where I went straight for the shoulder. It wasn't flat, it was absolutely trashed. Much of the outer side was no longer attached to the bead portion. Looked like I'd been driving on it for a week and as far as I know it was no more than 200 yards.

Local tire shop, actually general shop that also does tires, managed to get a replacement and mounted etc in 2 days. A mere $260. Good work, nice people, but no bargain. General Gmax 07. Not a cheap tire, but not Michelin prices either. But they do take care of me. The service writer knows my name, first and last when I walk in, doesn't treat me like an idiot, yanked the 50 pound lump out of the trunk, installed the new tire on the car and did everything but dust off my suit. Err, T shirt, but whatever. Still overpriced, but they do give good service.

[e24mpwr]

Finally solved a long-running issue in my S52-swapped E30. Or, my shop did. Kinda...

Since the site just dumped the longer post I wrote (thanks CloudFlare?), I'll shorten it to say in the two years I've had the car I've had issues where it goes from running great to no fuel pressure.

It's been a bit of an odyssey with a few chapters, but most recently I had a Walbro pump put in the original assembly, and it had been running great.

Until it didn't.

My shop diagnosed it as this:


No problem! I had a used-but-nice spare assembly I'd bought early on in this saga when I noticed new ones were $600+ ( ). I went to the garage and got it out, only to find this:


Unfortunately, making an ~9mm-->12mm jump between the pump and the hard line with something that is rated for submersion and ethanol is not easily found. They came up with this:


They're not thrilled with it as a long-term solution, so in the meantime I'm going to get another assembly so we can do something permanent.

...and run the E30 like a scalded cat...