QuoteDave_G My first thought with something like this would be a bad ground somewhere. Is there much rust on the car? Sometimes a rusty ground connection can wreak havoc with the electrical system. The car does not have much rust. The battery ground point and the point to the oil pan are both looking solid. Far more solid than my own car I'll pull out the Bentley to find the ground pointby Earendil - Technical Forum
I'm trouble shooting a few ghost issues. I'm open to pointers! First, when running at night with the headlights on, the lights will sometimes dim a bit for a second then come back. I believe this is actually effecting the whole car powerwise. My first thought was voltage regulator, but in the two times mine has failed, it just failed outright without pre-failure symptoms. Second thouby Earendil - Technical Forum
For reasons I can't go into on an iPhone while in a meeting, a clamp is an incomplete substitution for ampressure regulator. The clamp only increases resistance in the line, which has the effect of changing the pressure. But if the pressure from the pump, injectors, or manifold changes, the equation for pressure changes, and that set resistance with the clamp will no longer be accurate.by Earendil - Technical Forum
I will also be watching this one with interest, as mine also has the same behavior. Though I suppose if mine goes the way of a track car, full blast hot or cold is about what I'll wantby Earendil - Technical Forum
And sorry about the typos. Computer is down and all communication is via my iPhone. Typing AND proof reading is difficult at best for multi paragraph postsby Earendil - Technical Forum
But get some sleep first!!!by Earendil - Technical Forum
QuoteFlyboy Hi Guys, its 3am here, and I am in front of PC, can't sleep, this is driving me insane, I even have a killer headache, Lord knows how I am going to make it through this day. Ok, update, I have rechecked everyhting, nothing seems out of place. I tried a little experiment, I got the better half to crank, while I was in the back with the seat and access cover out, so I could getby Earendil - Technical Forum
Well, perhaps I'm wrong. 3 of the most experienced e30 guys just went against me. And I won't claim to have studied any sort of schematic, that lite tid bit came from experience. I once had a failing/dirty CPS that disabled the car from starting, but it never had trouble driving for hours on end. But you could literally turn the car off and try and restart it and it would fail. This wenby Earendil - Technical Forum
Quotealanrw Does the ecu get a run condition from the crank position sensor? If the ecu is not getting that signal, it thinks the engine hasn't caught and will shut down the fuel pump, no? alan The crank position sensor is used on start up only. The ECU will not provide a spark until it gets a reading. However, once it has, and the engine fires off once, the CPS is no longer used. If thby Earendil - Technical Forum
Okay, I'm trying to follow the current conditions. The car has both spark and an abundance of gas? And both are present in the cylinder? Also, sometimes it starts but does right away? If the answer to the second question is "no, it never starts", check the voltage on the battery. I had a slow starting condition(crank 5-8 times) that was cured by replacing the faulty battery. Evby Earendil - Technical Forum
QuoteArcheo-peteriX If it is a loose wheel bearing, you can quickly tell by raising that corner of the car and checking for play. Grab the wheel at 12 o'clock and 6 o'clock and see if you can feel any play as you attempt to move the top and bottom hands back and forth. Usually a bad wheel bearing will make a howling noise and still feel tight so it could also be a stuck caliper. Theby Earendil - Technical Forum
My dad's new 1991 ix (too many upcoming threads will start this way) has what I believe to be a wheel bearing issue. In a right hand turn with good sideways force, there is a grinding sound that is audible, and almost physical. Sometimes happens in a straight line, and never in a left hand turn. Classic wheel bearing, aye? But here is something I didn't expect, braking causes the sameby Earendil - Technical Forum
My sunroof is a hand crank(like a party in my car everytime I open her up!). But my dad's new 1991 ix has a motor. The seller claimed it was broken, but had a working used motor to install. No problem I thought. However, today I tried to operate it for the fun of it, and low and behold it worked! However it works rather slow, and sometimes needs help. I'm wondering, is this really the mby Earendil - Technical Forum
Okay, if I were you I would look VERY carefully at your U-Joint. Mine went bad last year and caused intermittent vibration. Why? Because the metal was starting to tear. Sometimes hard acceleration would knock it into the torn notches, causing and unbalanced state. During engine braking the pressure would knock it back into it's "normal" spot, causing the drive shaft to balance outby Earendil - Technical Forum
Quoterkj QuoteArcheo-peteriX QuoteMichiel 318iS Allright! Customize my friend! But please, don't dust yourself with compressed air this time o Nope; going to get a proper set of coveralls so my street clothes don't need dusting Have you started yet, or is there any news?? Read the title of the thread ;-)by Earendil - Community Forum
Wow! That sounds awesome! I love working with wood. Yeah okay, stop smirking, you know who you are. Good luck!by Earendil - Community Forum
Quotealanrw Hmmm, once upon a time, apps would have an option to show the program where the data files were. That way, you could move the data wherever and just browse to show the program where the data is now. alan And iTunes can be set up this way. It has to do with how it was initially set up. Either iTunes can keep track of the data, or you can keep track of the data for it. If the formeby Earendil - Community Forum
QuoteFlyboy QuoteEventually I'd like to get a head unit in the car that would receive a usb flash drive so I could have all my music on a few flash drives and leave the cds at home. Rick, no need to spend the extra cash, you get those little gadgets that plug into the cigar lighter and accept a stick and transmit on the FM band, so the music plays through your current car radio. I boughtby Earendil - Community Forum
Quotenomis3613 Alan, Dave, Earendil: thanks for your help. The guibo was replaced as part of the recent "un-Frankensteining", but yeah I guess that doesn't mean I should write it off. The guibo was replaced to fix a previous driveshaft vibration problem, the new shaking definitely also feels like driveshaft vibration. But since that would be purely based on road speed, I'mby Earendil - Technical Forum
QuoteCab Treadway That seems to be the progression lately. Cars -> photography. Not sure why, maybe we just like gadgets. I used to be, and still am, proud to note the order in which I made my first 3 major purchases using hard earned cash. Apple Laptop age 18 Canon DSLR age 20 BMW E30 age 21 (Yes, I didn't own or have a car until I was of drinking age, go figure...) Those 3 sby Earendil - Community Forum
We picked up the ix last night. I had tested the mid diff by shacking up the rear. The front were able to drag the car a few inches while the back wheels didn't spin an inch more than the front. Dave, when you say that you leave the bearings to others, is it due to the prohibitive cost of the tool, or the difficulty/time? It could be that the parents are willing to buy the tool and partsby Earendil - Community Forum
In Theory, the car may be able to absorb/dampen certain vibration frequencies. This would, in theory, make it appear as if it was confined to a particular speed, when really you are just hitting a frequency that the car is completely unable to dampen. Blurry mirrors sounds like a drive shaft frequency to me, not something as slow as say a wheel. I just went looking for a thread that doesn'by Earendil - Technical Forum
QuoteDave_G Cut it out, you guys, you're making me blush. Keep blushing. You deserve the praiseby Earendil - Community Forum
QuoteFlyboy Only until he hits midlife crisis, then he will be back, probably with questions and advice on a newly aquired e30 convertable no less, I will probably see him on the bike forum too then. My midlife crisis car will be an E46 or e90 M3...but I have a long number of years before that time comes An e30 sounds like a good midlife crisis car, but I'd be happy if there are stillby Earendil - Community Forum
When I move to the Seattle area, maybe I'll consider Everett. You people seem friendlyby Earendil - Technical Forum
It's going to be a done deal soon. I'm on a one way trip to Seattle, should return with an E46! It's not perfect, but it's a smidge better than my E30 Pictures to follow when I return home.by Earendil - Community Forum
The seller, not wanting to touch the car in anyway shape or form, decided to just sell it to me for real cheap. I'll fix it up and sell it to the parents after some routine maintenance. May end up doing my first wheel bearing job on it! I'll make a full report later. For the time being I'm on my way to Seattle to buy a bimmer for myself! See otherthread for detailsby Earendil - Community Forum
The intent would be to flip it after some repairs. I have a buddy with no more time or desire to work on his 91 ix. He asked me to go over it and figure out what's wrong with it so he can make an honest sale (he's a good guy). I've been trying to figure out if the major components are good, which was going great until I did a compression test. I didn't realize there was two waby Earendil - Technical Forum
Bottle caps went on fine, but I didn't drive with them. The 14" studded ones he had looked like an identical internal set of dimensions, and I did drive around on those. Nothing seemed fishy or off!by Earendil - Technical Forum
QuoteBob in Everett They have an illuminated ring around the lamp...you probably do not want them. Bob in Everett And more importantly, angle eyes are not stock on E30s. There are stock fitments, but they are aftermarket and were made years after the E30 left the production line. Someone can correct me if I'm wrongby Earendil - Technical Forum