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I made it to Florida and back without incident and I know a lot more about that car now. I think I was really lucky that I got such a good car for the price in such a hurry. Making a fast purchase like that is a good way to get in trouble. With that said, I will have to admit that my wife is now calling the car "bummer" instead of the more proper "bimmer."
There are a few
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John Yust
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Car Talk
Quick report from FL.
I got an amazing 30.2 mpg at 80 mph on the way here. That's 7.79 l/100 km for the metric users. I'm amazed!
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John Yust
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Car Talk
I got to drive again tonight when I took it to the gas station and car wash. It feels good on the road with the fresh alignment and balance. I was a little worried about that when I drove it before I bought it. It felt like it didn't know where it was going and there was some shaking in the steering wheel on acceleration. All that's gone now and it goes right where you point it.
The
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John Yust
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Car Talk
I did it. I own that car now. I have to admit to being a little freaked out, but it's mine.
The body is good and solid - never wrecked. No explanation for the airbag cover being bent like that. It was a little more worn down than the pictures showed, but they came down a little on the price (then they put it right back to me on "taxes and paperwork fees").
It needs a few litt
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John Yust
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Car Talk
I noticed that too and that's the first thing I'll be checking on when I look at the car. I suspect there's a chance that somebody hit something with the car and set off the airbags. I'll be looking for signs of damage on the front of the car. I don't mind a repair job as long as it's done well. I'm hoping to find a lot of clean and straight metal when I look un
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John Yust
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Car Talk
The '94 Saturn my wife has been driving finally cashed in its chips last week. I'm thinking of replacing it with this E34. What do you think? The asking price is $3495.00.
It's a high mileage car, but it looks like it's been kept in good shape. My shop owner buddy tells me he doesn't see a lot of these with transmission problems, and BMW is one of the makes h
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John Yust
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Car Talk
I hope you mind if throw my two cents in too.
That Hamilton is a nice looking watch. It's a real classic. The Tissot's not bad looking, but I think that Hamilton is a beauty.
John
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John Yust
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Community Forum
I replaced my bulbs with LEDs which is cheap and fairly easy to do. I asked about it on this forum and the thread is here:
I hope that takes you directly to the thread, but if it doesn't, go look on page 5. The subject has LED OBC Backlight in it.
I couldn't find it with a search for some reason.
John
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John Yust
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Technical Forum
QuoteDave_G
OK, all you folks with power antennas that still work, please answer me this: Does your antenna extend whenever you turn the car on, or only when the radio is turned on?
Mine works with the radio, not the ignition switch.
Look up your wiring diagram here:
You'll probably find that the body shop switched the red and white wires on your antenna. When you switch them bac
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John Yust
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Technical Forum
Quoterkj
Hi Michiel, and Guys. I'm okay but a tree came down on our two bimmers, Janet's car got the worst of it but mine's not pretty either....
Glad you're OK. Sorry about the cars.
John
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John Yust
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Community Forum
QuoteFerdinand
Just to be clear on this, my problem was with the tail lights not the brake lights. But the theory is similar for both.
Yeah, I jumped in and started melting solder before I noticed that difference. Luckily I figured it out before I got everything put back together, so I melted the solder on pin 24 too. Unfortunately, that didn't fix my brake warning light. Now I have
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John Yust
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Technical Forum
QuoteEarendil
I'm not going to argue... but can I question?
Of course. Question authority, but not your mother. That's a sticker my wife put on the refrigerator years ago. The kids all ignored it, but what are you gonna do?
QuoteEarendil
My direct experience with these comes as a child who rode in the backseat of one for many years,
Oh no! You were raised by hippies!
I
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John Yust
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Technical Forum
QuoteEarendil
We'll be able to find at least ONE 14" tire for some time to come. But there won't be anything but cheap no-season tires because no one spends good tire money on a volkswagon vanagon
Now Tyler, I just can't let you get away with this comment. The tires a VW Vanagon (and the old VW Microbus) uses are anything but cheap no season tires. Those of us who have ol
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John Yust
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Technical Forum
Simon,
I am probably even cheaper than Peter. I had a stuck window motor when I first got my car. I fixed it by opening up the motor and cleaning and lubricating it. In mine, the bearing at the bottom of the motor was stuck to the shaft. I pulled it off, cleaned up the shaft with some sandpaper, packed grease in the bearing (which appeared to be a sintered bronze bushing that would absorb oil
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John Yust
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Technical Forum
Happy Canada Day!
I used to go to a VW bus campout that a bunch of Canadians attended. After I broke out a keg of homebrew they made me an honorary Canadian for the duration of the event. I still have a little maple leaf sticker in my bus they gave me.
Here's to Canada Day!
John
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John Yust
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Community Forum
Congratulations.
I'll get in on the toast to the new family.
You're going to be busy for a few years, but the time will fly.
John
Hey! Didn't mean to say the same thing as Peter, but I guess the experience is common.
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John Yust
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Community Forum
I guess I should look at the Community side a little more often. I just saw this today.
Sorry to see this happen again, Peter. I know what you're up against. I've been out of work a few time over the last few years too. What you say about ageism is true. I did a lot of work on my resume to try to make it as hard as I could for anybody to figure out my age from it (53). All employers
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John Yust
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Community Forum
Yes, I like that car even better now than I did before. The new clutch makes a huge difference in how it drives and it seems to shift better too, even though I didn't do anything that should have had any effect on that.
I have 80 miles on the new parts now and everything's fine. I think I'll celebrate again. I hope you'll join me again, Peter, and everybody else too. Let
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John Yust
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Technical Forum
The deed is done. I started Friday and finished today (Monday). It was a big job, and the description of what you have to do to replace the bearing in the Bentley is really just an outline. I was lucky to have one essential tool or I would still have a pile of parts in the driveway. That tool is a small bearing separator. Like this:
You have to tighten the separator into the snap ring groove
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John Yust
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Technical Forum
That's a very cool shot.
I got a kick out of some of the comments. Lots of them, no doubt meaning to be complimentary, called it a lucky shot. It's true that some good luck is usually involved in something like that, but there's also the artistic eye and skill of the photographer that made it happen. The luck would have gone to waste without that.
John
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John Yust
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Community Forum
Quoterkj
Quotealanrw
Quoterkj
[
Anyway, the eta still pulls factory compression and runs way better than its miles show; strong as the dickens... I have a pair of 1986 325es cars and one day I'm switching back to the mellow beast
What? Are these good cars?
alan
Probably not, but I like em
The trans input shaft bearings only last about 250,00 miles.
All the parts are here
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John Yust
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Technical Forum
Quoterkj
One thing Tyler left out, is when you're going back in with the tranny you don't want to move the box around too much before it hits the pilot bearing; you'll bend the disc and have a chattering clutch. Especially in reverse!
There is one trick to getting the pilot bearing out of the back of the crankshaft; melt a candle in it. Don't ask me how it works but it doe
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John Yust
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Technical Forum
QuoteEarendil
Tips and tricks:
1. I had two 12", two 6", a 3" and an elbow. At one point or another I was using all but one of those pieces.
2. The top two nuts can be reached without an elbow if you jack the front of the engine up, thus lowering the transmission. If you have a partner, have them watch the intake manifold and firewall for pinching while doing this.
3. Y
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John Yust
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Technical Forum
So far nobody has said anything that completely freaks me out. I was planning to remove the exhaust, I have many feet of extensions on hand, and I'm on friendly terms with the shop in my neighborhood where they work on lots of BMWs. The one thing that worries me is getting the transmission back in. I'll be working in a gravel driveway with a piece of plywood to roll the jack on. I'
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John Yust
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Technical Forum
Has anybody here replaced the input shaft bearing on a Getrag 260, 5 speed manual transmission?
My front bearing is shot and I think I'm going in to replace it. It doesn't look like it's too bad of a job, but if you know something about it that I might need to know before I dive in, please let me know now. Sitting in a chair reading procedures in the Bentley Manual is one thing
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John Yust
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Technical Forum
I was able to reach the top bolt from above by using an offset box end wrench. It actually wasn't too bad that way. It took me a while to figure that out.
John
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John Yust
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Technical Forum
After I fixed my wires the second time I figured out that they were rubbing on the guibo. I ran them though a very loose wire tie on my shift linkage to hold them up and I haven't had any more trouble. I think there's a clip up there somewhere that's supposed to hold them up, but it doesn't seem to work very well.
John
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John Yust
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Technical Forum
Editing failed:
The Motronic manual says 2.5 bar with the vacuum line disconnected, 2 bar with it connected. I got 2 bar connected, like the Motronic manual said I should. The Bentley says you should get 3 bar and doesn't say anything about the hose being connected or not. I think I trust the Motronic manual on this one.
John
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John Yust
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Technical Forum
QuoteFlyboy
But it looks promising, when I ran the pump, the gauge was climbing through 2.5 bar, then the fuel started squirting out and I stopped the pump. Book says 3 bar.
So, will try and get a proper T piece fabricated up today and test the fuel pressure tonight.
It will be interesting to see what you get. The Motronic guide you found for us says 2.5 bar, but the Bentley says 3 bar. I no
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John Yust
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Technical Forum
My collection (besides the E30):
1965 VW Deluxe Microbus with the sunroof (aka 21 window bus). Owned it since 1980. Purchased with 135,000 miles. Currently at about 460,000 miles.
1965 VW Crewcab Pickup. Bet you didn't know they made those. Owned it since 1990. Lots of miles and lots of rust.
1965 VW Deluxe Microbus without sunroof (15 window bus). Purchased a couple of years ago from
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John Yust
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Car Talk