E30 M52
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I took my alternator to Vato Zone and it failed twice on the bench tester. The smarter of the two guys trying to test it said it was the voltage regulator. Im going to take a look at the brushes and see what a new regulator would run.
A wonky alternator could in theory cause random temperature spikes. The VDO temperature senders are high resistance at low temperatures and low resistance at high temperatures. Lower voltage = lower resistance
This could explain why the indicated temperature would seem to drop when I turn the cooling fan off. It was strange behavior but if it turned the fan on/off/on/off I could usually get it to drop 5-10 degrees after the fan turned off. If the alternator function cut in/out it would explain a sudden spike to 220 then drop back to 200.
Who knows, maybe my o2 sensor issue is also related to a voltage issue, something to re-visit once a working alternator goes in.
I'm going to take it to another store at lunchtime to get it tested just to be sure. I don't have complete faith in the guys that tested it last night. They kept trying to plug a 3 pin connector into it (spent 2 minutes looking for some sort of connector on the alternator housing) and kept calling the exciter wire post a ground.
dorks.
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Yes low voltage will cause a high temp reading on short sweep gauges. I discovered that the reason the gauge on mine went sky high while my wife was driving it was because I hooked the gauge ground pin to the dimmer circuit instead of steady ground. It was fine when she left because she didn't have the lights on. When she came home it was dark and she turned the lights on so the dimmer raises the voltage on the ground side and the voltage powering the gauge was reduced. You could swing the gauge up and down by moving the illumination dimmer roller.
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Bite-sized update as usual: Engine shimmed about 5/16” on the drivers side and hey! My manifold now clears the booster!
The ICV hose is genuine BMW and its already cracking.
That's how you know it's good. They must be sourcing Uro parts. Where is the pcv hose that goes on that nipple?
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Maybe it's the coolant vapors from the impending head gasket death that are causing premature wear, or your oil is toxic and your rings are shot so you are seeing too much oil through the manifold and it is wearing out the elbow, and don't forget the potential that your power steering pump is leaking and the pulley for it is flinging the fluid up and when you drive the air pushes the fluid back against the elbow.
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Maybe it's the coolant vapors from the impending head gasket death that are causing premature wear, or your oil is toxic and your rings are shot so you are seeing too much oil through the manifold and it is wearing out the elbow, and don't forget the potential that your power steering pump is leaking and the pulley for it is flinging the fluid up and when you drive the air pushes the fluid back against the elbow.
Lets not get crazy here WebMD
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I knew it was Lupus.
FWIW the rubber grommet on my new BMW throttle cable was also cracked.
Im guessing its just new old stock. Every other piece of rubber old and new is holding up fine. I ran a tightly wrapped strip of electrical tape over the ICV hose and added a hose clamp for good measure. -
Lets not get crazy here WebMD
I figured I would go on the "SnapPath"
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May have missed this but did the new alternator fix the temp issue?
Not yet determined.
I have the manifold on, just need to make the connections to it tonight and will probably give it a test drive tomorrow after work to see how things are going. -
did the new alternator fix the temp issue?
that just sounds ridiculous when you read it.
Dan
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that just sounds ridiculous when you read it.
Agreed... though with all at play in the ongoing @snap saga I am withholding judgement. Who knows. The curse is strong in this one, and meanwhile I wait patiently with my temp gun.
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I got everything back together, charged the battery and went for a half-hour long test drive. The engine ran perfect despite the O2 still not being connected and now I have a different problem. The temp gauge reads too low
It sat steady at a tick under 180 or at 180 for the entire drive regardless of electrical load. FWIW I rewired so it no longer shares a power or ground with the other gauges.
if the mighty temp gun is to be trusted its about 15 degrees off. The top radiator hose reads 195 F.
I sat idling in the driveway for 5 minutes or so and the gauge only climbed to the 190 mark.
I will just play it safe and assume the gauge reads 20F too low and anything right of the 12:00 position will be the “shut er down” temperature. Consistently wrong is better than consistently moving around and I will see if I can make it more accurate another day.
See you at the picnic!
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See, you are crazy. Next time save the theatrics and listen to us!
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