RichardKs wanderings: Insight or in-stinked? Smokin! (advice request)

[RichardK]

Really hope this permacloud lifts soon…

[Jim Bell]

Pic a nic basket for the refined hooner. 

[RichardK]

Boots come in pairs, right?

Cheaper than buying rattlecans for:

New boot is getting paint protection film for the boot rack clamps (was part of the original kit) and also this area. The boot weighs less than some 1980s car ashtrays, I swear - aluminium.

[RichardK]

MOT passed! Condensation kindly left enough headlight clear it seems - poor thing hasn’t been used since September and lives outside.

Also the underneath is apparently better than I thought - I thought the jacking pads may be questionable but apparrently they just need a cleanup and new underseal.

[Andyrew]

Just realised my boss has A1 RTK on his volvo that came on it when he bought it. 

I was wondering why it looked familiar!

[RichardK]

If said boss doesn’t have RTK initials and would like to part with the plate for a reasonable sum, you have my attention. Dad bought the A4 plates when the scheme started in 1991/2 justifying having A4 (cheaper) over A1 because we work with paper… It would make me very happy to have A1.

Bonus reason: it’d go on the Tavria.

[Andyrew]

Not his initials, he puchased the car from his sister when she bought something new or possibly gave up driving (hes in his 70s) and the car was painfully cheap for a volvo v70 with about 30k on the clock iirc . the plate was already on it so it may be her initals, I Can certainly ask when i see him next for you. 

 

 

[RichardK]

Thankyou - it would be very much appreciated, as a very random chance thing, too. I’ve had A4 for 30 years and the fun of having an A-reg Chevette with a private plate in 1992 has yet to fully wear off!

[RichardK]

“Oh bollocks” said Pooh.

”Fucking stinky buggery bollocks”

“I told you that waterpump was noisy”, chided Piglet.

”Get in the sea you irritating little Cameron fellater” replied Pooh.

It was only a mile from home and I have a new waterpump already from when I bought the car. Glad it survived enough for an MOT first, very decent of it. It was noisy, and I just didn’t want to deal with it yet.

[RichardK]

Tomorrow I will have the annoying tool needed to get the fan off and this will be sorted. Swearing aside I'm totally fine with it - the water pump's been growly a bit for a while and never looked bang-on straight when running so I didn't drive the car often or rev it hard; the MOT tester needed to rev it. I got a couple of joyful runs where I let myself hoon it a bit, parked up and then went out to to a short trip - as soon as it started I'm like "this sounds wrong", but it took a mile before a mechanical sad noise and much rattling. Got home, with a "wounded animal" trail of OAT, whipped off the airbox and hoses, the pump bearing has collapsed.

Could have failed during MOT. Could have failed at 70mph on a motorway. It failed almost on the driveway and there's no collateral damage I can see.

And my 3-series gets to live - either I get to enjoy it or sell it to cover the MX-5. Want to keep it because it's rather lovely, even with the shabby bits.

[Supernaut]

That rot on your MX-5's boot lid looks very familiar.

I had a Mk2 MX-5 back in 2012-13 and it was going in exactly the same spot. It got so bad the numberplate lights were held in with duct tape.

 

 

Also, I think you should keep the BMW. An E36 with a 6-pot is a lovely thing to have. I may be biased though.

[grogee]

1 hour ago, RichardK said:

Tomorrow I will have the annoying tool needed to get the fan off and this will be sorted. Swearing aside I'm totally fine with it - the water pump's been growly a bit for a while and never looked bang-on straight when running so I didn't drive the car often or rev it hard; the MOT tester needed to rev it. I got a couple of joyful runs where I let myself hoon it a bit, parked up and then went out to to a short trip - as soon as it started I'm like "this sounds wrong", but it took a mile before a mechanical sad noise and much rattling. Got home, with a "wounded animal" trail of OAT, whipped off the airbox and hoses, the pump bearing has collapsed.

Could have failed during MOT. Could have failed at 70mph on a motorway. It failed almost on the driveway and there's no collateral damage I can see.

And my 3-series gets to live - either I get to enjoy it or sell it to cover the MX-5. Want to keep it because it's rather lovely, even with the shabby bits.

Those are the FTPs I like - within limping distance of home and no roadside shivering/calling in tow rope favours. How bad is wasserpumpe on these?

[320touring]

1 hour ago, RichardK said:

Tomorrow I will have the annoying tool needed to get the fan off and this will be sorted. Swearing aside I'm totally fine with it - the water pump's been growly a bit for a while and never looked bang-on straight when running so I didn't drive the car often or rev it hard; the MOT tester needed to rev it. I got a couple of joyful runs where I let myself hoon it a bit, parked up and then went out to to a short trip - as soon as it started I'm like "this sounds wrong", but it took a mile before a mechanical sad noise and much rattling. Got home, with a "wounded animal" trail of OAT, whipped off the airbox and hoses, the pump bearing has collapsed.

Could have failed during MOT. Could have failed at 70mph on a motorway. It failed almost on the driveway and there's no collateral damage I can see.

And my 3-series gets to live - either I get to enjoy it or sell it to cover the MX-5. Want to keep it because it's rather lovely, even with the shabby bits.

Be careful removing the bolts - use penetrating fluid - I've seen them snap off, and that's just a world of pain.

Also be careful if you need to remove the thermostat housing - they get brittle with age (especially the plastic ones). The fan but is a left hand thread too.

When bleeding it, a 2L bottle with the bottom cut off is your best friend. Pop it in the top of the radiator and fill it right to the top so you get a higher head of water to push the air out.

Hopefully not teaching you to suck eggs - this is just stuff I wish I knew when I had to do the job on an E36 the first time 😁

[RichardK]

I'm not looking forward to bleeding it at all! Once the fan is off I'll douse everything in wd40 and leave it a while - don't think I have a metal stat housing.

No rush, anyway. Sated my tinkering need by swapping the MX-5 bootlid and fitting the rack with 3M film under the clamps. Wiring kit hasn't arrived yet so that thread remains open 😕

 

 

[RichardK]

7 hours ago, Supernaut said:

That rot on your MX-5's boot lid looks very familiar.

I had a Mk2 MX-5 back in 2012-13 and it was going in exactly the same spot. It got so bad the numberplate lights were held in with duct tape.

 

 

Also, I think you should keep the BMW. An E36 with a 6-pot is a lovely thing to have. I may be biased though.

Are Mk 2s steel or aluminium? The new lid looks good so I have /crudely/ used some spare paint protection film under that lip and will fill it with more waxoil in the cavity.

Ultimately it's a 14 year old cheap (well, not that cheap, but I'm trusting my 2.5K 2.0 Sport with 100K miles is more appealing than a 2K 138K 1.8 without LSD). I hope I get two years and some nice trips out of it!

The BMW - I really like it. Right engine (well, some argue 328 is better but I like it being chilled), manual, good colour. My gut feeling is spend a grand or so on bodywork now, hold fast, five years time the E36 convertible will be as desired as an E30 is now. Need to get back onto chasing up good secondhand trim.

[Schaefft]

The nut for the fan blades will be an absolute pita, I've bent my "specialty tool" trying to losen the one on my E39 (trying to losen it clockwise of course). They are apparently known to do that...

[RichardK]

i expect that - I'm thinking I might remove the radiator and see if that gives enough clearance to remove pump and fan. I bet the bolts for the pump are behind the VC unit though...

[RichardK]

I wonder how many people bother to wire that in...

[RichardK]

Christmas Eve apparently. Having lost a day to feeling like crap from the booster jab, today seems very different. The tool arrived for the viscous fan, so...

Which reveals...

[RichardK]

So how did this bastard of a job go?

Fan came off with just one pull and then spinning, easy as.

10mm pulley bolts, same.

Pump nuts? Yep, you've guessed it, easy...

Remove pump? Two of the pulley bolts into the threaded holes, spin, pump is pushed out. Needed a crowbar to nudge the last mm - longer bolts would make that redundant.

Pump shaft bearing totally shafted.

New pump - pushes in just enough to show a couple of threads. Fit nuts, tighten crossing over, done.

Remove belts and clean contamination - think I will replace as they looked recent but feel crunchy.

And now paused as I need a pulley - the old one is chipped around the edges. But done in an hour or so total and totally furious with myself for not doing it sooner.

[RichardK]

Due to Christmas timing, the BMW's fixes won't be finished until next year, but:

New water pump (fitted), new pulley, new fan VC, new drive belts. Total just under £100 excluding the coolant that I'll finish refilling when I've put the pulley on, as the VC and fan shroud can be done with the top hose refitted. Nearly all parts Febi apart from the longer belt being Continental.

Also grabbed one replacement boot strut for the Mazda 323, which has already had my thumb thanks to the weak struts. Very annoying design with special brackets, making them a pig to get hold of for a reasonable/predictable price.

[RichardK]

Sun came out!

Shopping got:

Kirk:

Khaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan:

Got annoyed waiting for aux belts so used an old one to start refilling the coolant and bleeding the system; for all the horror stories it went well and got full heat across the whole radiator, good flow, and clean coolant.

The engine-driven fan is not critical on these anyway, but I really want the new viscous coupling for that "vrrrrr" on first startup.

Tiny haul:

[RichardK]

Hey, the sun was out!

Went to check on the Jag and jetwash under the MX-5 sills for another check and potential waxoil if the weather isn't horrible.

I don't think I need worry too much.

 

[stripped fred]

I love pop up headlights but I do like the look of these mk5's, very smart.

[garethj]

Looks good!  One of these in good condition is a rare thing 

[RichardK]

"You'll never get a hardtop for your MX-5 for £500"...

just thought I'd open the box for pics.

Wait. What's that under the plastic base?

HAH! Wonder if it has the fitting kit.

[RichardK]

Parts arrived as post unclogs; from Autodoc, the Febi viscous coupling for the BMW fan (feels totally different to spin at the bolt) and the left gas strut for the Mazda 323 boot which arrived damaged. Just a plastic bush on the pivot but still irritating.

And... a fitting kit for an MX-5 hardtop. These are supposedly "rare" or rather, very expensive, so it made sense to get a cheap one that showed up.

At the same time washed under the deck trims, applied some paint protection film (part of the kit but I added some for a couple of holes that have a gummy sticker that detaches) and some waxoil spray.

Still waiting for the long aux belt for the BMW so I still haven't finished that job.

I like the side hooks. The cost of the kit is presumably in the large plastic mouldings.

I am missing a short wire, which is $22 but as much again to ship. It is purely for the heated rear window on the hardtop.

[RichardK]

The belt arrived at last!

Look at that shiny VC coupling for the fan. Febi pump & coupling = no exposed threads, very neat.

A/C working and aside from a quiet rumble from a tensioner or pulley for the A/C when the compressor isn't engaged, it seems very happy indeed. Even put in a new air filter but the old one was almost new looking.

Left or right?

[RichardK]

Jeremy Vine says cars kill five people a day.

We're well behind quota...

OTOH this van flew up behind, overtook when I slowed for a vehicle using a right turn filter, nearly wiped them and me out when they realised they had no room, then overtook on double whites approaching a roundabout.

KW20 but didn't get the rest - otherwise it'd be reported, it was either stolen or stealing the way it was being driven...

Dangerous out there...

The BMW enjoyed the run - first time I've redlined it a few times, as it always felt iffy with the failing water pump.

No sign of leaks, running super smooth.

Not shown: the LED reversing lights are absolutely epic in this dark grim weather, could see everything very clearly indeed.

 

[RichardK]

Bye bye

More time to play with