E46 Things

[KaiserRolls]

i enjoyed your editing

[Rekpoint]

What an absolute masterpiece created in windows movie maker. 
But imagine getting passed by a Buick.

[B C]

Rekpoint said:

What an absolute masterpiece created in windows movie maker. 
But imagine getting passed by a Buick.

Windows movie maker is on my level

And also

[B C]

Rekpoint said:

What an absolute masterpiece created in windows movie maker. 
 

Another windows movie maker masterpiece from this morning’s drive:
 

I’ve been racking up the miles here in July with a couple quick trips and have a short list of items to address
159,683 miles

Things to-do soon:

-replace headlight bulbs or ballast die to passenger headlight working intermittently

-replace TPS since its an easy enough thing to do and I received a random TPS related CEL which has not come back

-replace temperature sensors because again, its easy enough to do and I had a random CEL for it (and im beginning to question its accuracy as its already out of the blue band when I fire it up in the morning)

-replace clutch slave cylinder as it has a slight damp area on the mounting flange and I don’t want to chance it.

I did eliminate a suspension noise by shimming a sway bar end-link and locating a loose heat shield 

[SteelBlue]

B C said:

and locating a loose heat shield

So it is true, it is sometimes actually a heat shield

[B C]

Replaced a bummy headlight bulb that didn’t like to work a full shift with a new pair of 4300K Philips. They are A little brighter than what was in there. Im guessing what was in there was a 5000K Budget HID special which were fine up until they weren’t.  

 

I got screwed on my way home from work. I keep a plug kit and inflator in my trunk emergency kit. Today it did its job

The trans has been treating me really well and shifting nice. It has to be from bleeding the clutch before the track day. I think the possible slave cyl. leak may be allowing air in more easily than normal. Thats 2 strikes for the clutch slave cylinder so I will address that next.

[B C]

For my own future reference as I sit here bored in a meeting at work:

On the list for winter

-Find mechanical cooling fan components (shrouds, clips/fasteners, etc.) and replace Spal fan with stock mechanical fan. The Spal fan will be moved to pusher duty on the front unless I can find a good used aux. fan and all associated shrouding etc.
-Replace oxidized AC Condenser before it fails and coats my engine bay/front tires/life in greasy R134a

-Replace radiator if it looks crusty on the front (need to remove condenser to see)

-Coolant flush

-PS Flush

-Oil Change w/ Blackstone analysis

-Replace cooling system hoses and o-rings 

-Replace upstream O2 sensors because they are probably original

-Replace TPS sensors and fuel injectors

-Replace clutch hydraulics

-Inspect/replace steering flex disk

[B C]

I wanted to see what the exhaust actually sounds like since induction and other cool mechanical engine noises make it hard to hear:

I didn’t do it for Dale, I did it for science.

Is the sound intoxicating? No.

is it raspy? Yes.

is it all bad? No. I find the sound to be unique and interesting. It is exotic in the way Joe Exotic is. I am content and have no plans to make it louder. If I heard it all the time I might change my mind about it.

[GunMetalGrey]

That was many contemporary references in one post!

The low key rasp isn't ever bad, but when people straight pipe things and it is just an exhaust note of rasp; it gets rough.

[HipMF]

Lettin' the bees out.

All of my cultural references are from 20 years ago.

[B C]

[i_love_cars]

B C said:

For my own future reference as I sit here bored in a meeting at work:

On the list for winter

-Find mechanical cooling fan components (shrouds, clips/fasteners, etc.) and replace Spal fan with stock mechanical fan. The Spal fan will be moved to pusher duty on the front unless I can find a good used aux. fan and all associated shrouding etc.
-Replace oxidized AC Condenser before it fails and coats my engine bay/front tires/life in greasy R134a

-Replace radiator if it looks crusty on the front (need to remove condenser to see)

-Coolant flush

-PS Flush

-Oil Change w/ Blackstone analysis

-Replace cooling system hoses and o-rings 

-Replace upstream O2 sensors because they are probably original

-Replace TPS sensors and fuel injectors

-Replace clutch hydraulics

-Inspect/replace steering flex disk

The radiator in that car is literally brand new. I had it put in when I had Eric re-wire the car to get rid of the mechanical fan. Don't waste your money.

[B C]

i_love_cars said:

The radiator in that car is literally brand new. I had it put in when I had Eric re-wire the car to get rid of the mechanical fan. Don't waste your money. 

The aux. fan controller cannot run the fan at full speed and the needle climbs while lining up in grid/idling for more than a minute on a hot day unless I am running the heater on full attempting to induce heat stroke.
 

Running a stock aux. fan and hard wiring the puller to a temp switch that lets it run full speed is the other option being considered.

[i_love_cars]

B C said:

The aux. fan controller cannot run the fan at full speed and the needle climbs while lining up in grid/idling for more than a minute on a hot day unless I am running the heater on full attempting to induce heat stroke.
 

Running a stock aux. fan and hard wiring the puller to a temp switch that lets it run full speed is the other option being considered.
 

I'm going to come over this weekend and inspect this fuckery for myself. I don't buy the story

[B C]

i_love_cars said:

I'm going to come over this weekend and inspect this fuckery for myself. I don't buy the story

Never a concern in this weather, but in July/August if I let my guard down while stopped, the needle has been known to be sneaky.

[i_love_cars]

B C said:

Never a concern in this weather, but in July/August if I let my guard down while stopped, the needle has been known to be sneaky.

I may just be looking for an excuse to bring the Z4 over

[B C]

 

NOT TODAY SATAN!

[B C]

160,541 miles

Oil change

 

[B C]

It has been a beautiful week of driving! I even remembered to disconnect the battery tender before I pulled it out of storage and drove off.

I received my Blackstone report today. The big question was if a 3,000 mile OCI is just right, or too late for an engine that makes a lot of revolutions per mile. Also beneficial is establishing a benchmark for future bearing condition estimation.

I have not been fond of the high speed stability. It is stable enough but there isn’t much aligning torque and sometimes it tramlines way too easily on the freeway. Last summer when Big Bear checked the alignment, they set the camber plates at minimum caster since it leaves all of the camber bolts visible. I think they assumed I wanted to be able to adjust the camber easily (my best guess, see pictures below). The toe is fine within stock spec, but caster is less than stock which would explain the excessive tramlining. I’ve had enough and wanted to see how much difference it would make without wasting a trip to Big Bear and finding out something unsavory about running more caster.

 

 

At full negative caster the steering is slightly heavier and the excessive tramlining issue is gone! This means I will need to schedule another appointment next time driving season starts up to get the alignment precisely dialed again, this time with an added helping of caster.

[B C]

Installed black anodized pedal covers from Turner Motorsports. I wasn’t the biggest fan of the way the rubber blocks on the existing pedal covers feel. Turner owes me a couple pieces of hardware as they were missing from the box but im sure they will have no problem sending what was missing so I will give them a call tomorrow.