December 10, 2009 08:18PM
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Registered: 14 years ago
Posts: 110 : portland |
so I put the cabrio up in the air, pulled off the lip, belly pan and fan shroud, take a closer look and found something I had been expecting, but not wanting to find. leaky rack, split boot. all this to do a thermostat.
what to do. the rack WORKS fine, and doesn't leak "much" reboot/rebuild it and hope for the best? [home.comcast.net] carpe diem and do an E36 swap? i sure like the idea of that bolt-in kid from zionsville. [www.zionsvilleautosport.com] which rack? if i read right, the ratio is the same on all, but the '95 M3 is the one to get. thoughts? experiences? share! '93 190E 2.6 » days '92 318ic » weekends '85 280TE » resto Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/10/2009 08:18PM by ducatipaso. |
December 10, 2009 10:32PM
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Admin
Registered: 15 years ago
Posts: 600 : Portland, OR |
December 11, 2009 08:40AM
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Registered: 14 years ago
Posts: 110 : portland |
yeah its the boot at the end. It's damp in there. There's fluid and crap on stuff.
It doesn't appear to be leaking TOO much. Maybe just reboot it and call it a day. I'll take some pix. The rack has maybe 15k on it. Tops. It was replaced with OEM a while back. '93 190E 2.6 » days '92 318ic » weekends '85 280TE » resto |
December 11, 2009 11:23AM
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Admin
Registered: 15 years ago
Posts: 600 : Portland, OR |
December 11, 2009 11:26AM
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Registered: 14 years ago
Posts: 110 : portland |
i need to figure out where the leak is coming from.
it's definitely wet under there. tonight ill do some cleaning and take pix. time for some maintenance. considering ive had to do nearly nothing under the hood of this car for 11 years, time to bust some knuckles. '93 190E 2.6 » days '92 318ic » weekends '85 280TE » resto |
December 11, 2009 12:41PM
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Registered: 14 years ago
Posts: 110 : portland |
after doing an assessment, here's the plan:
the rack is not losing much fluid out the ends, therefore is not bad [yet] so, remove both tie rods, replace along with a new pair of boots the reservoir and lines down to the rack are leaky. this has caused the wetness in the area so, drain the rack, replace both lines, and the reservoir if needed refill with oem fluid however, my original plan was to replace the thermostat so, i have to do the tstat install still drain the coolant, remove the fan, r&r the thermostat with new oring and gasket all the drivebelts need to be replaced, so replace them too along with the idler pulley refill with oem coolant time to start sourcing parts and get busy also noted, lower control arms, motor mounts as well as some dampness on the passenger side of the engine near the AC '93 190E 2.6 » days '92 318ic » weekends '85 280TE » resto Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/11/2009 12:42PM by ducatipaso. |
December 11, 2009 12:53PM
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Registered: 14 years ago
Posts: 110 : portland |
December 11, 2009 01:50PM
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Registered: 14 years ago
Posts: 110 : portland |
note to self: parts list
thermostat - have gasket - have oring - have coolant - 3 belts - $10 ea idler pulley - $40 fan shroud rivets - $1 for 4 tie rod boots - $9/pair tie rods - $25 lemforder, $55 OE rack hoses - $27 and $32 reservoir and cap - $22 clamps - $2 each fluid - any thoughts on lemforder vs oe tie rods? '93 190E 2.6 » days '92 318ic » weekends '85 280TE » resto Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/11/2009 01:52PM by ducatipaso. |
December 11, 2009 09:01PM
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Registered: 14 years ago
Posts: 110 : portland |
fock the special tools to remove the fan are like $35/each
any recommendations on how to do this without buggering it up? '93 190E 2.6 » days '92 318ic » weekends '85 280TE » resto |
December 11, 2009 09:16PM
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Admin
Registered: 15 years ago
Posts: 584 : Vermont, USA |
You can remove the fan with just a 32mm open-end wrench. Since this is one of the only times you will use this tool (*), and big wrenches tend to be expensive, IMHO it's OK to buy a cheapie for this job. I think I got mine at NAPA. The fan will want to turn, but you can usually break it loose just by whacking the wrench with a hammer. A sudden impact is what you're looking for here to break the nut free before the fan can turn. Remember the fan has LEFT-HANDED THREADS. Make sure you're turning it the correct way (backwards from normal). (*)I have found two other uses for my 32mm wrench: the nut at the base of the steering column (which sometimes needs to be tightened to eliminate clunking), and the low-pressure connector on the A/C compressor. __________ Dave '91 325iX |
December 11, 2009 09:37PM
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Registered: 15 years ago
Posts: 1,538 |
Another cheaper option is to visit the local bicycle shop and pick up a head wrench. They come in various sizes and configurations;some with a variety of jaw opening sizes |
December 12, 2009 12:03AM
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Registered: 14 years ago
Posts: 110 : portland |
yup I figured out the bike shop thing
less than $20 for a headwrench '93 190E 2.6 » days '92 318ic » weekends '85 280TE » resto |
December 12, 2009 12:06AM
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Admin
Registered: 15 years ago
Posts: 600 : Portland, OR |
December 12, 2009 09:00AM
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Registered: 14 years ago
Posts: 110 : portland |
December 12, 2009 06:08PM
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Registered: 15 years ago
Posts: 1,869 : Amagansett, New York |
Where did you get the rack from, from what you say it seems that you bought a new one from Bmw. You can't always go by mileage but that is a small amount of mileage for it to start leaking but how much time has passed since it was put in? Its been my experience once they start leaking it's not long till they really start leaking. Rick |
December 13, 2009 06:50PM
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Registered: 14 years ago
Posts: 110 : portland |
well, the dealer installed a reman. dunno if that's good or bad.
the leakage appears to have been coming from above the rack, so i might have caught this in time. what a damn mess in there. ugh. thanks to daniel for use of BF wrench. its really gross in there. shows how nasty things can get if you don't open up an engine bay for a long time did some cleanup. I need to degrease in here for real and figure out where that's leaking from. tstat housing. love the crust. cleaned up and everything reinstalled I'll order belts and hoses tonight, next up is the steering stuff '93 190E 2.6 » days '92 318ic » weekends '85 280TE » resto |
December 13, 2009 08:52PM
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Registered: 14 years ago
Posts: 110 : portland |
woot hoses and belts ordered. need to score an idler pulley.
rockauto has em. '93 190E 2.6 » days '92 318ic » weekends '85 280TE » resto |
December 14, 2009 11:00AM
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Registered: 15 years ago
Posts: 797 : Ottawa |
It's a good thing I waited to ask this question, otherwise I would have ended up looking dumb.
I've been scratching my head all this time wondering why the heck you'd bother with struggling to remove the fan and all the belts simply to replace a thermostat. On my car, a 325, the thermostat housing sits right up on top of the engine, easily accessible without removing any of that other stuff. I didn't realize yours is a 318 and that the thermostat is buried like that. Nice job getting things all cleaned up. |
December 14, 2009 12:00PM
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Registered: 14 years ago
Posts: 110 : portland |
thanks. i got more to do, too. its gonna be a long week.
'93 190E 2.6 » days '92 318ic » weekends '85 280TE » resto |
December 14, 2009 12:51PM
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Registered: 15 years ago
Posts: 1,869 : Amagansett, New York |
Well, I had a rebuilt for Bav go bad a months after it was put in but I had a year warranty so at least I got the rack replaced for free When I was shopping for a rack, the one good place I used to go to said they gave up on older Bmws because no one would spend a little more money for a good factory done rack....too bad, most if not all of the rebuilds are crap and rebuilding your own is definitely the wrong way to go! Rick |
December 14, 2009 02:05PM
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Registered: 14 years ago
Posts: 110 : portland |
well, if this one craps out, I'll do an E36 swap. in the interim, I'll get the leakage cleaned up and keep an eye on it. we dont drive the car much.
'93 190E 2.6 » days '92 318ic » weekends '85 280TE » resto |
December 15, 2009 12:40PM
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Registered: 15 years ago
Posts: 1,869 : Amagansett, New York |
Good luck, make sure the hoses are dry also, the return (non pressure side) lines are always leaking by the pump. That leak tends to make a mess of the engine bay. |
December 15, 2009 03:16PM
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Registered: 14 years ago
Posts: 110 : portland |
I'm replacing both lines and the reservoir
'93 190E 2.6 » days '92 318ic » weekends '85 280TE » resto |
December 15, 2009 08:43PM
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Registered: 14 years ago
Posts: 110 : portland |
quoting myself from elsewhere:
20:38 [@ducbox] i have been verbin the noun all evening 20:38 [@ducbox] verb = cleaning 20:38 [@ducbox] noun = e30 engine bay et al 20:39 [@ducbox] what a mess 20:39 [@ducbox] what jagoff at bmw decided to use rubber goods in the power steering system that is permeable by power steering fluid? 20:39 [@ducbox] the hoses, the boots, they all go bad 20:39 [@ducbox] eats that shit for lunch 20:39 [@ducbox] then oozes out 20:40 [@ducbox] and slowly deposits a black funk in your engine bay 20:40 [@ducbox] underneath your intake and airbox 20:40 (@ducbox] /rant anyhow, I put a couple hours in with some zep citrus. I'm sure I'm not alone amongst this crowd in saying that I hate working on a dirty, greasy engine bay. no thanks. this is good shit there's a lovely goo under the airbox thanks to the leaky ps system looking better found the reman sticker on the rack next up... remove power steering reservoir, hoses I'm going to fix all the engine bay stuff first, then dive into the tie rods last at least this way i can drive it for a bit to see how much is coming out of the rack itself after everything is cleaned up i might postpone the tie rod job until i have lca bushings in hand, too '93 190E 2.6 » days '92 318ic » weekends '85 280TE » resto |
December 16, 2009 11:58AM
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Registered: 14 years ago
Posts: 110 : portland |
guys, take a look at this motor mount
I'm thinking it's replacement time. They're $88 each. The car has 139K on it. I read somewhere that an E28 533i mount is an oem+ performance upgrade. thoughts? '93 190E 2.6 » days '92 318ic » weekends '85 280TE » resto |
December 16, 2009 12:36PM
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Registered: 15 years ago
Posts: 1,869 : Amagansett, New York |
That motor mount doesn't look bad but replacing these after 100k+ miles is certainly a good idea, I usually do all three if I'm in there! Yeah, people think they can use anything on the return lines for the power steering That rack sticker looks like a ZF factory rebuild, can't get any better than that. From what I hear they are no more... |
December 16, 2009 12:40PM
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Registered: 14 years ago
Posts: 110 : portland |
there are 2 engine and 2 trans mounts right?
the engine mounts for the M42 are $88 each (!) the trans mounts are $10 each $180 vs $200 might as well run the gamut i hope that none of the leaking was coming out the end of the rack. would be nice to have that factory zf rebuild last a decent amount of time. '93 190E 2.6 » days '92 318ic » weekends '85 280TE » resto Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/16/2009 12:41PM by ducatipaso. |
December 16, 2009 12:57PM
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Registered: 14 years ago
Posts: 110 : portland |
December 16, 2009 08:35PM
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Registered: 15 years ago
Posts: 1,869 : Amagansett, New York |
Yes, I count the transmission mounts as one. You should get a good long life out of that rack |
December 16, 2009 09:35PM
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Registered: 14 years ago
Posts: 110 : portland |
well, I will prolly place the order tomorrow. i hope that i caught this boot in time and that once i get the tie rod assy off the rack I can clean it up and reboot it and keep it in good working order for a long time.
'93 190E 2.6 » days '92 318ic » weekends '85 280TE » resto |