Supernaut Posted January 2 Author Share Posted January 2 May as well, while I'm in there. Dyslexic Viking, Jim Bell, Rust Collector and 5 others 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reb Posted January 2 Share Posted January 2 Bloo AnnoyingPentium and Supernaut 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supernaut Posted January 6 Author Share Posted January 6 Shall we remove the entire hub just to fit a backing plate? Picks up tin snips Nah. The caliper covers that area anyway! It's fiiiiiine. Rust Collector, Saabnut, Jim Bell and 3 others 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supernaut Posted January 20 Author Share Posted January 20 Swapped ends today. That strut came out without much of a fight. I'm getting ahead of myself. I still need to ask the mechanic neighbour to assemble my new struts with his grown up spring compressors. I'm stopping here before doing the passenger side. Rust Collector, Fat_Pirate, Back_For_More and 13 others 16 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supernaut Posted January 21 Author Share Posted January 21 Aha. The problems arrived today instead. I thought I'd at least loosen the bolts on the passenger side strut. The top bolt on the hub isn't budging. Â I soaked it in GT85 then crawled under the car and unclipped the linkage below the gear stick. Apparently you can insert two flathead screwdrivers in opposite slots and unscrew the plastic bearing it sits in. It won't budge either, plus I can't seem to reassemble things to potentially move the car elsewhere either. Joy. Â I'll look at it again another time. Had one of those moments where you just down tools and walk away from it. Rust Collector 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supernaut Posted January 24 Author Share Posted January 24 I decided to order a few more parts today. Items that, according to American E36 owners, should be replaced as soon as you buy one of these unless you have documentation saying they were replaced less than 5 minutes ago. A water pump, a thermostat and housing, upper and lower hoses, a drive belt, and a brass bleed screw. The radiator and fan are only late 2022 vintage so should be fine for a while. Â Considering this car has overheated at least twice in my ownership and still hasn't exploded its headgasket is remarkably lucky, but I don't want to push that luck any further. Especially considering everything I've seen online (I know, I know) says that if the temperature gauge on an old BMW goes 1 nanometre beyond the middle the headgasket is immediately toast. Rust Collector, GrumpiusMaximus, Dyslexic Viking and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supernaut Posted January 24 Author Share Posted January 24 Slow progress is still progress. Both struts out now. Definitely past due. The top bearings have noticeable play in them, and the front shocks just felt dead in the way it drove. This thing will be properly sorted once it's back on the road. It'll still look rough, but that's how I like my cars. Â I wish this flu would fuck off. I'm still dizzy an hour after doing that. CGSB, Jim Bell, GrumpiusMaximus and 9 others 12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JakeT Posted January 24 Share Posted January 24 Nice job. Waterpumps can give issues, but like you said Americans seem to change them with every oil change. If it’s not been done changing the viscous coupling is a good idea. Looking at it yours has an electric pusher fan though, so won’t overheat too badly if that viscous is weak.  BMWs with a six cylinder really love to crack heads if you overheat them, especially iron blocked ones. Usually a small overheat is okay though. Comma G48 is the correct coolant to use, and readily available.  With the suspension sorted it will be excellent to drive, and hopefully reliable too. Supernaut 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supernaut Posted January 24 Author Share Posted January 24 I've basically cooked this one a couple of times and it's still fine*. No signs of HGF anyway. It's a 1998 so quite late, likely all alu. The fan, coupling and rad are all from 2022 and still look brand new so I'll keep them for now.  Any tips on doing the plastic bearing directly under the gear stick? The Haynes book says to put two screwdrivers into opposing slots and turn it quarter a turn anti clockwise. Yeah... No. It won't budge. I have a replacement so I'm tempted to get violent.  My approach to coolant is quite simplistic. It's based on what colour it is... 🤣 Coprolalia, Jim Bell and GrumpiusMaximus 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supernaut Posted January 24 Author Share Posted January 24 In other news, Astra gonna Astra. 35-36mpg average with me utterly rinsing it out along twisty back roads. Heater like a log burner, and it just drives through everything short of actual off-roading thanks to the Davanti winter tyres I have on it. I also haven't washed it even a tiny bit since I acquired it in November. Â I just felt it was being left out, y'know. GrumpiusMaximus, Jim Bell, yes oui si and 6 others 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JakeT Posted January 24 Share Posted January 24 Ah nice, you should be fine in that case.  For the collar, it’s the same. BMW TIS recommends a special tool (obviously), however they say to turn anti clockwise from below, so maybe it’s clockwise from above?  Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supernaut Posted January 25 Author Share Posted January 25 I've been turning it anti clockwise from below already. As per the Haynes. I don't want to buy a special tool...! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supernaut Posted January 25 Author Share Posted January 25 Astra showed the first signs of trouble today. I did 5 miles with full throttle feeling like half. Shut down and restart sorted it. Throttle position sensor? I took the throttle pedal out and cleaned the tracks in the potentiometer and also speayed some carb cleaner down the throttle body. Seems fine again... For now. crad, Jim Bell and Rust Collector 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supernaut Posted January 26 Author Share Posted January 26 Parts have begun arriving! I so far have a set of front brake pads and calipers, thermostat and a thermostat housing. Â The mechanic neighbour has asked me to drop off all the strut parts over the weekend and he'll get them assembled... at some point. Saves me faffing about with spring compressors though. Â Â Since I cleaned the tracks on the potentiometer thing in the Astra's throttle pedal, the responsiveness is better than it ever has been. I'll still eye it with suspicion but it's behaving for now. Â I found out how much fun can be had with a 50mm prime lens and a wide aperture earlier, too. That trip reading is how far it's gone on the tank of petrol I put in it in September. It's somewhere just below a quarter now. However it does seem to average a real calculated mid-30s. Not too shabby. rm36house, mk2_craig, crad and 4 others 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JakeT Posted January 26 Share Posted January 26 On 25/01/2024 at 07:49, Supernaut said: I've been turning it anti clockwise from below already. As per the Haynes. I don't want to buy a special tool...! In which case I’d break it too. Effort for messing around is little!  E36 can do well for fuel range too, but a 65l tank will do that. If very gentle and on the motorway I can do 420 miles before the light comes on. Supernaut and rm36house 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supernaut Posted January 27 Author Share Posted January 27 Working from above with a screwdriver and a hammer worked! Smashed up old one removed: Â New one in. Â I have successfully removed the inch of vertical travel in the gear stick. Plus, 5th gear no longer occupies the same space as my left knee. Still nowhere near as good as the Astra's gear change, but Astra Gs do have oddly short-throw sporty gear changes. Even the diesels. JakeT, Lacquer Peel, GrumpiusMaximus and 8 others 11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supernaut Posted January 31 Author Share Posted January 31 Clutch delay valve awa tae fuck! No, I don't plan on doing burnouts / drifts regularly. I've read up on these enough to form an opinion that it may just generally improve the clutch feel when removed though. Â I'll be collecting my newly built struts this evening. Then I just need to fit them. Plus the new front brake calipers, and the water pump, the thermostat, the new radiator hoses, then bleed the cooling system and bleed the clutch too. Just a small list of things to be getting on with. mk2_craig, Lacquer Peel, Rust Collector and 9 others 12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supernaut Posted January 31 Author Share Posted January 31 Marina door handles, Sunny Jim, 320touring and 13 others 16 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrcento Posted February 1 Share Posted February 1 Yeah the 6cyl E36's are better on fuel than people expect. My old 328i could get low 30's on a run without even trying, Pretty sure mid, maybe even low end of the high 30's were easily achievable if it was babied down the motorway and never overtook anyone. So unstressed at that speed. It's around town where it gets a bit thristy (Wasn't uncommon to see 18mpg on mine around town, but generally if driven very gently it was more like 22mpg, which still isn't really that terrible for a 2.8L straight 6) Supernaut, JakeT, rm36house and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supernaut Posted February 1 Author Share Posted February 1 I'll do the other caliper later. At least both struts are in now. Â The discs look awful at first glance but they're fairly new. Just been sat outside without moving for a couple of months. A few good stomps should sort them, hopefully. mk2_craig, Tickman, CGSB and 6 others 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supernaut Posted February 1 Author Share Posted February 1 12 hours ago, Mrcento said: Yeah the 6cyl E36's are better on fuel than people expect. My old 328i could get low 30's on a run without even trying, Pretty sure mid, maybe even low end of the high 30's were easily achievable if it was babied down the motorway and never overtook anyone. So unstressed at that speed. It's around town where it gets a bit thristy (Wasn't uncommon to see 18mpg on mine around town, but generally if driven very gently it was more like 22mpg, which still isn't really that terrible for a 2.8L straight 6) Last summer I did two 600+ mile roundtrips in this. Indicated 75 on the motorway and it did a genuinely calculated 38-39mpg. Â Â As a side thought: this is going to be the freshest E36 I've ever experienced once I'm finished. Lacquer Peel, Sunny Jim, Mrcento and 2 others 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tickman Posted February 1 Share Posted February 1 Making good progress on this. Look forward to it hitting the roads again and putting a smile on your face. Lacquer Peel and Supernaut 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supernaut Posted February 1 Author Share Posted February 1 I'm pooped! Front struts: done. Front calipers: done and bled. Still need to crawl under it and bleed the clutch, but that can wait for another day. Â My excuse is that between doing each of the front calipers, I was enlisted to help reseal the lid on the septic tank. That involved lifting and shifting a couple of very heavy concrete slabs. Â Â In Astra news: the random limp mode has picked up in frequency. My sources (neighbour who is a mechanic) suggest the EGR valve is a common problem on them. Being a fancy TWINPORT model, it has a fucking water cooled EGR of course, instead of the far more basic version on non twinport engines. I've booked it in for diagnosis with the neighbour mechanic. He says either tomorrow or early next week. I unplugged the EGR this morning and that resulted in it only running for about 5 seconds at a time. So that's not a goer. captain_70s, Dyslexic Viking, Coprolalia and 9 others 12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supernaut Posted February 2 Author Share Posted February 2 A productive day has been had. I mastered uploading images to the CNC machine at the men's shed this morning. I shall stain it green tomorrow. It's not small. 250mm x 250mm. Â Â Â Â Â Â Oh, also: https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/1162428052119236758/1203009717140586526/VID_20240202_151422.mp4 Â Rust Collector, CGSB, Matty and 7 others 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stuboy Posted February 2 Share Posted February 2 5 hours ago, Supernaut said: Â Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supernaut Posted February 4 Author Share Posted February 4 I made a start on dismantling the cooling system this afternoon. Shroud and fan off, and belt removed. Â I remembered that the viscous coupling I fitted in 2022 wasn't brand new, but was second hand. Brand new one ordered, plus a water pump pulley because the one in there had actual chunks missing from it! Â It's only money... 320touring, Matty, Rust Collector and 3 others 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matty Posted February 4 Share Posted February 4 26 minutes ago, Supernaut said: It's only money... That's the spirit! Supernaut 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supernaut Posted February 9 Author Share Posted February 9 I hate working on cooling systems. That's a new water pump in now, though. The new thermostat housing was utter dogshit, that cracked when I tightened it against the block. I re-used the much sturdier old one and just fitted the new seals and thermostat. Â After lunch I'll put the pulley on, plus the belt. Then the new radiator hoses. One of which is too long! Â When I drained the radiator, rather less coolant than I expected came out. I checked it before I drove it up here from Stirling in September and it was fine! It was only up to the lower hose. However that hose began dripping before I'd even fully loosened the jubilee clip. I reckon I found the leak then. That's also the new hose I have that's exactly the right size. rm36house, CGSB, Coprolalia and 5 others 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supernaut Posted February 9 Author Share Posted February 9 Done. Ish. I just need to put some coolant in it. I have a 5L bottle of premix. I thought I had concentrate. I'm only 5.5L short. Yep, it takes 10.5L. Â The aftermath of pulling the water pump... Â It now has new: - water pump and pulley - thermostat - couple of hoses - drive belt - viscous coupling captain_70s, JMotor, aldo135 and 14 others 17 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomtation Posted February 9 Share Posted February 9 Sounds like some good progress! I do like a straight 6, sounds gorgeous and so smooth 😎 Supernaut 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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