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The Car Thread ... !
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I didn't even realize I could ignore other users. That's great. Now back to talking about real automotive endeavors.
The weekend before last I set about doing an "Inspection 1" maintenance routine with my BMW. Rather than taking it to the dealer, I decided to go at it myself. It's a pretty involved process, but I figured I could handle it.
The initial plan was to do the following:
* Cabin air filter
* Engine air filter
* Wiper blade inserts
* Differential fluid change
* Transmission fluid change
* Brake fluid flush
* Power steering fluid flush
* Oil change
* Drill/tap/re-sleeve oil drain plug hole
* Valve adjustment
That's about $6-700 worth of fluids, parts, and tools. I started on Friday night. Getting it on jack stands with the wheels off was quite an ordeal. Just not an easy task with a low vehicle.
Drained the diff fluid, only to find it looked brand new. Replaced the drain & fill plugs with new and filled it with fresh Royal Purple 75w140 fluid w/ traction modifier. Trans fluid was just as easy, and also looked pretty good. Brake fluid was darker, but not horrible. Got that flushed pretty well.
Saturday I started pulling the engine apart. It's no small task just to get the valve cover off. Measured all of my valves and found only one that needed adjustment. No biggie. Swapped a shim and I'm good to go. Then I rotate my engine a bit so I can inspect the Vanos for a common problem and what do I find? Broken Vanos tab.
Sunday I spend a lot of time doing research, then dig in a bit more. Order some parts, line up some tools to rent, and get my damaged oil pump disc ready to send off for machining. Spent the rest of the week ordering crap and reading on the fixes. $760 for the hub, $150 to machine the damaged disc, $150 for a solenoid upgrade, $250 more for seals and anti-rattle upgrades, $100 worth of BMW parts, seals, and crush washers, new belts (the old ones are looking rough, fresh NGK IX Iridium plugs, and a few more tools. I figure this fix is costing me $1300-1400 on top of the maintenance stuff.
Fast forward to yesterday, and my replacement hub comes in. Do my anti-rattle treatment, reinstall the disc in the vanos, and do a little more tinkering.
Tonight I replaced my cam bolts with new bolts from Lang Racing using blue thread locker. Also drilled, tapped, and re-sleeved the oil drain plug hole with the TimeSert kit. Captured a sample of the oil when I drained it to send off to Blackstone Labs for analysis.
Tomorrow my last couple parts come in and I get to button everything back up. Vanos hubs go back on, fresh bolts, more thread locker, valve cover & vanos gaskets, and so-forth. Going to dump a quart or two of 10w40 through the engine to flush out any cleaner or metal shavings that may have gotten introduced from the top end work of the drilling & tapping operation. I think I'm good on the latter as I coated my bits with white lithium grease to trap the shavings.
Looking forward to driving the BMW to work on Thursday. Been sitting for almost two weeks now.
The weekend before last I set about doing an "Inspection 1" maintenance routine with my BMW. Rather than taking it to the dealer, I decided to go at it myself. It's a pretty involved process, but I figured I could handle it.
The initial plan was to do the following:
* Cabin air filter
* Engine air filter
* Wiper blade inserts
* Differential fluid change
* Transmission fluid change
* Brake fluid flush
* Power steering fluid flush
* Oil change
* Drill/tap/re-sleeve oil drain plug hole
* Valve adjustment
That's about $6-700 worth of fluids, parts, and tools. I started on Friday night. Getting it on jack stands with the wheels off was quite an ordeal. Just not an easy task with a low vehicle.
Drained the diff fluid, only to find it looked brand new. Replaced the drain & fill plugs with new and filled it with fresh Royal Purple 75w140 fluid w/ traction modifier. Trans fluid was just as easy, and also looked pretty good. Brake fluid was darker, but not horrible. Got that flushed pretty well.
Saturday I started pulling the engine apart. It's no small task just to get the valve cover off. Measured all of my valves and found only one that needed adjustment. No biggie. Swapped a shim and I'm good to go. Then I rotate my engine a bit so I can inspect the Vanos for a common problem and what do I find? Broken Vanos tab.
Sunday I spend a lot of time doing research, then dig in a bit more. Order some parts, line up some tools to rent, and get my damaged oil pump disc ready to send off for machining. Spent the rest of the week ordering crap and reading on the fixes. $760 for the hub, $150 to machine the damaged disc, $150 for a solenoid upgrade, $250 more for seals and anti-rattle upgrades, $100 worth of BMW parts, seals, and crush washers, new belts (the old ones are looking rough, fresh NGK IX Iridium plugs, and a few more tools. I figure this fix is costing me $1300-1400 on top of the maintenance stuff.
Fast forward to yesterday, and my replacement hub comes in. Do my anti-rattle treatment, reinstall the disc in the vanos, and do a little more tinkering.
Tonight I replaced my cam bolts with new bolts from Lang Racing using blue thread locker. Also drilled, tapped, and re-sleeved the oil drain plug hole with the TimeSert kit. Captured a sample of the oil when I drained it to send off to Blackstone Labs for analysis.
Tomorrow my last couple parts come in and I get to button everything back up. Vanos hubs go back on, fresh bolts, more thread locker, valve cover & vanos gaskets, and so-forth. Going to dump a quart or two of 10w40 through the engine to flush out any cleaner or metal shavings that may have gotten introduced from the top end work of the drilling & tapping operation. I think I'm good on the latter as I coated my bits with white lithium grease to trap the shavings.
Looking forward to driving the BMW to work on Thursday. Been sitting for almost two weeks now.
I didn't even realize I could ignore other users. That's great. Now back to talking about real automotive endeavors.
The weekend before last I set about doing an "Inspection 1" maintenance routine with my BMW. Rather than taking it to the dealer, I decided to go at it myself. It's a pretty involved process, but I figured I could handle it.
The initial plan was to do the following:
* Cabin air filter
* Engine air filter
* Wiper blade inserts
* Differential fluid change
* Transmission fluid change
* Brake fluid flush
* Power steering fluid flush
* Oil change
* Drill/tap/re-sleeve oil drain plug hole
* Valve adjustment
That's about $6-700 worth of fluids, parts, and tools. I started on Friday night. Getting it on jack stands with the wheels off was quite an ordeal. Just not an easy task with a low vehicle.
Drained the diff fluid, only to find it looked brand new. Replaced the drain & fill plugs with new and filled it with fresh Royal Purple 75w140 fluid w/ traction modifier. Trans fluid was just as easy, and also looked pretty good. Brake fluid was darker, but not horrible. Got that flushed pretty well.
Saturday I started pulling the engine apart. It's no small task just to get the valve cover off. Measured all of my valves and found only one that needed adjustment. No biggie. Swapped a shim and I'm good to go. Then I rotate my engine a bit so I can inspect the Vanos for a common problem and what do I find? Broken Vanos tab.
Sunday I spend a lot of time doing research, then dig in a bit more. Order some parts, line up some tools to rent, and get my damaged oil pump disc ready to send off for machining. Spent the rest of the week ordering crap and reading on the fixes. $760 for the hub, $150 to machine the damaged disc, $150 for a solenoid upgrade, $250 more for seals and anti-rattle upgrades, $100 worth of BMW parts, seals, and crush washers, new belts (the old ones are looking rough, fresh NGK IX Iridium plugs, and a few more tools. I figure this fix is costing me $1300-1400 on top of the maintenance stuff.
Fast forward to yesterday, and my replacement hub comes in. Do my anti-rattle treatment, reinstall the disc in the vanos, and do a little more tinkering.
Tonight I replaced my cam bolts with new bolts from Lang Racing using blue thread locker. Also drilled, tapped, and re-sleeved the oil drain plug hole with the TimeSert kit. Captured a sample of the oil when I drained it to send off to Blackstone Labs for analysis.
Tomorrow my last couple parts come in and I get to button everything back up. Vanos hubs go back on, fresh bolts, more thread locker, valve cover & vanos gaskets, and so-forth. Going to dump a quart or two of 10w40 through the engine to flush out any cleaner or metal shavings that may have gotten introduced from the top end work of the drilling & tapping operation. I think I'm good on the latter as I coated my bits with white lithium grease to trap the shavings.
Looking forward to driving the BMW to work on Thursday. Been sitting for almost two weeks now.
God, I wish I could work on cars like that. I just wuss out, buy Japanese, and hope for the best.
The "ignore" button in this thread is actually read as "No Daewoo"
It's certainly come in useful. That's the only reason my Jeep is still on the road. Had to put an engine, clutch, and transmission in it over the years. Basically I've replaced every mechanical part at least once. The BMW, on the other hand, is a dream to work on. Things are a lot tighter in the engine compartment, but it's like the car was designed to be worked on. The valve adjustment was a first for me. Despite all the tools I have, I still ended up having to buy/borrow a pile of them to get this job done.
Exactly. Not sure I could take much more of that.
I didn't even realize I could ignore other users. That's great. Now back to talking about real automotive endeavors.
The weekend before last I set about doing an "Inspection 1" maintenance routine with my BMW. Rather than taking it to the dealer, I decided to go at it myself. It's a pretty involved process, but I figured I could handle it.
The initial plan was to do the following:
* Cabin air filter
* Engine air filter
* Wiper blade inserts
* Differential fluid change
* Transmission fluid change
* Brake fluid flush
* Power steering fluid flush
* Oil change
* Drill/tap/re-sleeve oil drain plug hole
* Valve adjustment
That's about $6-700 worth of fluids, parts, and tools. I started on Friday night. Getting it on jack stands with the wheels off was quite an ordeal. Just not an easy task with a low vehicle.
Drained the diff fluid, only to find it looked brand new. Replaced the drain & fill plugs with new and filled it with fresh Royal Purple 75w140 fluid w/ traction modifier. Trans fluid was just as easy, and also looked pretty good. Brake fluid was darker, but not horrible. Got that flushed pretty well.
Saturday I started pulling the engine apart. It's no small task just to get the valve cover off. Measured all of my valves and found only one that needed adjustment. No biggie. Swapped a shim and I'm good to go. Then I rotate my engine a bit so I can inspect the Vanos for a common problem and what do I find? Broken Vanos tab.
Sunday I spend a lot of time doing research, then dig in a bit more. Order some parts, line up some tools to rent, and get my damaged oil pump disc ready to send off for machining. Spent the rest of the week ordering crap and reading on the fixes. $760 for the hub, $150 to machine the damaged disc, $150 for a solenoid upgrade, $250 more for seals and anti-rattle upgrades, $100 worth of BMW parts, seals, and crush washers, new belts (the old ones are looking rough, fresh NGK IX Iridium plugs, and a few more tools. I figure this fix is costing me $1300-1400 on top of the maintenance stuff.
Fast forward to yesterday, and my replacement hub comes in. Do my anti-rattle treatment, reinstall the disc in the vanos, and do a little more tinkering.
Tonight I replaced my cam bolts with new bolts from Lang Racing using blue thread locker. Also drilled, tapped, and re-sleeved the oil drain plug hole with the TimeSert kit. Captured a sample of the oil when I drained it to send off to Blackstone Labs for analysis.
Tomorrow my last couple parts come in and I get to button everything back up. Vanos hubs go back on, fresh bolts, more thread locker, valve cover & vanos gaskets, and so-forth. Going to dump a quart or two of 10w40 through the engine to flush out any cleaner or metal shavings that may have gotten introduced from the top end work of the drilling & tapping operation. I think I'm good on the latter as I coated my bits with white lithium grease to trap the shavings.
Looking forward to driving the BMW to work on Thursday. Been sitting for almost two weeks now.
I have to say that I admire anyone who can take on that level of mechanical work themselves.
You have my respect!
I will happily dig into one thing myself, but when it gets into pulling the engine apart I lose my trust in my self.
BTW, rear end fluid has been on my "to do" list. Ford considers it a "lifetime" part, but I figure with 140K or so miles that's probably too far. I suppose I need to read into whether or not they were nice enough to give us drain and fill plugs(unlike the stickless transmission) and also the recommended weight.
Your point about low ground clearance and jack points is well understood. I've noticed that-increasingly-cars have fewer jack points and they are harder to find. I have one that I use when I change my oil, but it always takes me a couple of minutes to find it and make sure it's actually a jack point. Aside from the ones on the rocker panels(which, of course, are off limits as that's where I always put the jack stands) I'm going to have to go hunting to find others when I change the rear fluid.
BTW, I had an argument with a tire shop a few years ago when I looked out and saw them putting a floor jack under my rear differential. Granted, 5 years ago 95% of the Ford group RWD vehicles on the road were live axle and could be jacked by the rear differential without harm, but IRS is common enough now(even on FoMoCo products) that I'd think they'd just get out of the habit of using it. I finally had to pull out the manual and show them the explicit, bolded DO NOT USE THE REAR DIFFERENTIAL AS A JACK POINT text to get them to not do it. They also didn't get any more of my business.
And, while we're at it, another fun argument to have is the "turn off the air compressor before lifting or jacking" one that applies to cars with rear air suspension. The Lincoln Town Cars and Continentals are probably most common, but at think that at least some Mercedes S-types have this also. When I would take my mom's Town Car in for service, I got into the habit of just switching it off when I would leave it at the shop. The tail would usually be dragging the ground if it sat for more than a few hours, but it beat a few hundred bucks for a popped air bag.
I can second that! Trying to get my caliper off was hard enough, when the wheel cylinder blew, I knew I was in over my head.
I thought only diesel duallie trucks had airbags.... interesting! I'd sure hate to see how much a new compressor would cost though!
Confidence & experience goes a long way. When I was reviewing the fix procedures, they gave me a little heartburn, but when you break it down into individual steps, it's really not hard. Fortunately, the internet is a great resource for this kind of stuff.
Mine also is not supposed to be jacked by the diff. I'll do you one better though. The jackasses at one of the tire shops kicked the lift arms around and into the side skirts on my car. The scratches are on the bottom edge and I didn't notice until much later. I really wanted to strangle them.
Interesting. I see those cars dragging the ground all the time. Didn't realize it was related to air suspension.
There is a compressor to keep the springs inflated(and adjusted to the correct height) and many of the ones that you see dragging the ground have a bad compressor. It's a few hundred to replace it, so it just doesn't get fixed.
Some people also just put coil springs in place of the air bags. That's actually a decent solution, as it's permanent and they effectively will pop right in(the Crown Vic/GM springs will work). It comes at some ride quality sacrifice, though. I'd fix the compressor and/or bag, but again if it's a question of money the coil springs are cheaper and at least get the car functional and safe.
God, that's a gorgeous car. Ferrari has been killing it and they're doing turbocharging right too.
However, I much prefer Porsche to Ferrari as a brand though.
It's interesting because the 488 GTB is not designed by Pininfarina, which Ferrari broke up with.
As far as brand comparisons, Porsche isn't a good Ferrari competitor. Right now, Ferrari is at the top of its game and no other car company really comes close. Between the 458 (now 488), LaFerrari, FF, F12, and more, Ferrari is the best car brand on the market. With all due respect to Porsche, it's not even that close.
I think my bias comes from all the car meets I've been to around here. The vast majority of Ferrari owners are pretentious pricks that have no idea what their cars are capable of. They won't talk to you unless you have a Ferrari/Lambo/McLaren key in your hand too.
Now compare that to a 911 owner. Most of them will talk cars with everyone for hours.
Hell, at the last C&C, a 991 GT3 owner let me drive his car after the show. He had no problem with it.
Ferrari (and its owners) know they're at the top, but like to constantly remind everyone about that.
Oh, I agree with you there. Ferrari owners are the worst, and Ferrari has only been great the last few years. Most of the jerk owners also have terrible, slow Ferraris.
I've noticed that it's mostly the owners who go out and buy an old F355/360 and pretend that they own a LaFerrari
I guess the badge gives these people some sort of false ego
It's funy too, because a c5 Bette is a better car than either of those today.I've noticed that it's mostly the owners who go out and buy an old F355/360 and pretend that they own a LaFerrari
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Hardcore man, ****ing hardcore ...
That's some solid wrenching. I've done quite a few mods and maintenance myself but that's definitely at the fringe of my abilities - I had the advantage of an extra car at one point, but I always have the perk of not really needing to drive much on my own (vs. taking the family ride), since we work out of the home office. Plus, as a software developer, I find it relaxing - it's physical, hands on, I love cars and generally I like my own results better than the dealer (have at least one story of a shoddy brake install prior to a track event ... I prepped my own brakes ever since).
As I kept doing it, I also got a decent collection of tools as I ran into needs, and of those specialized tools make things amazingly easy (pulley removers, O2 sockets, etc.)
I was _tempted_ to do the timing belt on the T4R, but that's our primary family ride, and just couldn't have it out of commission for 2 or possibly 3 days (my execution is good, but slow).
Please followup!
That's the problem I've run into also, especially with more involved repairs. I will get them done, but often at the cost of having the car in the garage and on jack stands or otherwise disabled for a couple of days.
The last "major" repair I did was the coils and plugs, which in and of itself is not a difficult job but getting to them is a job and a half. It took me about 3 days to get that one done.
I also had a bad experience trying to change a window regulator myself. Part of the issue was that three different places sent me the wrong part(I got one rear window regulator, one drivers side, and one passenger side with the wrong plug on it), and also just the fact that I didn't appreciate how much effort is involved in getting everything set up right.
After 3 weeks, I finally had the good sense to put it back together just enough to drive it to the shop. Fortunately, they at least knocked $50 off the repair since I'd done half the hard work(getting the door panel off and old regulator out) for them
. I have not so fond memories, though, of reaching over and pulling on the cable to open the passenger side door, as I had to remove the interior handle to get access to everything I needed.
Some sedans and SUV's have rear or full air (front and rear) suspension. Dodge now has an air suspension option in their RAM 1500. It's quite common in luxury SUVs, at least as an option in many.
My dad owned a 2000 Range Rover with a horrible electronic air suspension system (EAS)- it was always in the shop. One time it failed completely, and I distinctly remember the headache caused by the 35 minute drive to the dealer with a constant chime and a message "do not exceed 35mpg". It had a very flakely system. If you didn't leave the trunk open when you jacked up the car (to disable the EAS), it had the potentially of going crazy and "dancing" around trying to level itself- which is clearly very dangerous. The tire shop found that out the hard way. I know they had a lot issues with the valve blocks' valves sticking and therefore causing issues- part of this was because depending on the speed, the car would also adjust the height. Too much moving up and down. He owned this car for about a year before he dumped it due to reliability. The EAS was a big factor in that.
My brother had a LR Discovery for 3 years that had the rear air suspension. Its purpose was pretty much to level the car while towing, though it did have a button to raise the back for off-roading. It also had a remote control to lower the back end to make it easier to attach a trailer. Then you could press a button and raise the back up, pretty nifty. The general pattern according to the LR dealer was an air shock or line develops a leak and then the compressor will continuously run and burn itself out. My brother was going to covert the EAS to coil springs, until he found out that since he had the hydraulic sway bar option ("Active Cornering Enhancement"), you cannot really do the conversion unless you take out the ACE, which is a massive undertaking. He put in aftermarket air bags (Arnott) and never had an issue with again.
My dad now has a '12 Range Rover Sport with full air suspension. No problems so far as far as I'm aware. It's a handy feature, good for towing and "off road use" (but who really takes there car off road). I'm sure it's handy for getting through the 3ft deep piles of snow at the end of the driveway though. Because their system is "cross linked" it allows air from one side of the axel to flow to the other to increase axle articulation off road (not that a $65,000 car is doing that). It's also good for shrinking down into those low parking garages.
My girlfriend's temporary car, her dad's early 2000's Land Cruiser had air suspension as well. Its range of adjustment was maybe a couple inches, unlike the Range Rovers that was 4-5".
Some of the new Grand Cherokees have air suspension, Jeep calls it "Quadra-Lift". Interestingly, they used a closed system (Nitrogen gas if I remember?) to adjust the shocks. This is intended to create a more reliable system, because you're not drawing air from the outside with contaminates and moisture.
I see old Lincolns with this this all the time. It's either dead air suspension, or a bunch of dead bodies in the trunk in the Mafia guys car.
On a completely unrelated note, the door lock on my E60 decided to break today. Sometimes it decides to lock/unlock, sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes it just likes to go half way between locked and unlocked. I assume I needs a new actuator. And yes, as you can imagine, it's the driver door lock. Perfect.
Ugh. Back to the shop...
Ugh. Back to the shop...
ok possibly a stupid question. You state the a LR is one of the MOST unreliable cars ever produced, that being the case, why's your dad keep buying them?
Another possible stupid question..... does it lock manually? AFAIK the electronic aspect of door locks are for keyless entry, if you use the key or the lock from the inside, its usually either rod or cable controlled. Again this is what i have seen and read. Not sure about those damn Germans!
Well, you know, it's called a 3-body trunk for a reason.
Of course, if you're in the Mafia, you really need a '60s Continental. The suicide doors let you push a body out on a bridge without the person behind you seeing what you're doing.
I saw a beautiful triple black cherry '63 Continental Convertible driving around town the other day. Aside from the fact that you expect to see Marlon Brando behind the wheel
it's always a treat to see one of these. The last I checked, well restored examples are running $50K+. Of course, I've also always heard that 10K or so of the restoration cost is getting one of the half dozen people in the country who understands how the convertible top works to repair it 
That's nothing. On my dads E90, both door lock actuators broke at the same time locking him in the car.
My grandpa had this problem 2 or 3 times on his 1990 Chevy Celebrity wagon. Except in his case it was the door LATCH the inside handle broke so to door couldn't be opened from the inside he had to roll the driver's window all the way down when he parked it in the garage or when he was driving so he could open the door from the outside
(he still doesn't believe there is a need to lock your doors).LOL! on the serious side, what did he do?That's nothing. On my dads E90, both door lock actuators broke at the same time locking him in the car.
Just a quick question, as you all know I put LED bulbs in my car ,Turn signals work, reverse lights work however for the life of me I CANNOT figure it out but a LED Bulb refuses to work in the 3rd brake light socket. None of the LEDs are bad. I am just confused as to why the LEDs work everywhere else but the 3rd brake light.