Diaries of a Daily Driver

[GunMetalGrey]

I know no one like the truck, or the Subaru, so I refrained from posting anything about them. 
Subaru will be gone Friday (never ended up touching it), and the truck is still in the stable, and I'm pretty sure it will be for awhile. I love that thing, and so does anyone that drives it. The titan doesn't seem to handle like a normal truck.

Anywho, I got bored not posting in here, so I made the fiscally responsible decision to change that. 

I bought me one of them big ol' V8 things!
It's dirty as hell so I don't have full body pics, but it's a 2000 540 6mt with the M sport suspension and steering wheel. 132k on the clock, texas titled 4 years ago.
She needs a bit of love, but I think it will make the perfect winter beater

Step 1: Cut rear muffler out and replace with pipe
Step 2: Get it to idle on all cylinders (pulls smooth as hell, but doesn't like idling smoothly)

I can tell this is going to be a bit of a headache with weird chassis issues, but hey, what else would I be doing?

[Jdesign]

Is this the one that I posted that people were saying had a salvage title? Either way it seems like a fun buy!

[GunMetalGrey]

Jdesign said:

Is this the one that I posted that people were saying had a salvage title? Either way it seems like a fun buy!

It is, we shall see if that sticks though. I'll explain more later.

I've wanted a V8 of this nature for another chassis at some point, so the salvage title didn't bug me as I will likely just end up stealing the motor and trans out of it. 
I also ended up paying about 25% less than what it was posted for on FB, so I've got a bit of a budget to clean it up a bit!

[SteelBlue]

GunMetalGrey said:

It is, we shall see if that sticks though. I'll explain more later.

I've wanted a V8 of this nature for another chassis at some point, so the salvage title didn't bug me as I will likely just end up stealing the motor and trans out of it. 
I also ended up paying about 25% less than what it was posted for on FB, so I've got a bit of a budget to clean it up a bit!

[Jdesign]

GunMetalGrey said:

It is, we shall see if that sticks though. I'll explain more later.

I've wanted a V8 of this nature for another chassis at some point, so the salvage title didn't bug me as I will likely just end up stealing the motor and trans out of it. 
I also ended up paying about 25% less than what it was posted for on FB, so I've got a bit of a budget to clean it up a bit!

NICCCCCCEEEEEE. You got a good deal.

[YoungCR]

congrats on the purchase! Replace the spark plugs and see if that fixes the idle, could just need a basic tune up. The fuel pressure regulator is another cheap preventative maintenance item.

[straight6pwr]

nice! 

[GunMetalGrey]

YoungCR said:

congrats on the purchase! Replace the spark plugs and see if that fixes the idle, could just need a basic tune up. The fuel pressure regulator is another cheap preventative maintenance item. 

I planned on pulling coil pack wires from one cyl. at a time to isolate which cylinders are down, then swap coils around and see if that is the issue. Changing plugs will follow next, and it sounds like I will check the fuel pressure while I'm at it! 
Thanks for the heads up!

[GunMetalGrey]

Played with this a little bit on Friday, washed the mud off, and pulled it into the shop to see if I could start isolating the misfire at idle.
After washing it I noticed there are black specks everywhere on the car, they come off somewhat easy, but not with soap and water. 

Started by pulling coil pack plugs off one at a time, and I could never hear a massive change in running. The motor seems to compensate super well for a cylinder down...
After pulling the coil pack wiring I cleaned the maf and checked the intake tract for any holes, and didn't find any. 
The secondary air pump hose doesn't seem to want to clip into the metal valve deal that it connects to, so I will be taking care of that in case that has anything to do with it (likely a leak).

Plugs and a vacuum test are next!

I did cut the rear muffler off, and that was one of my better decisions in life. 
Crap video, but man does it sound alright. Quiet, but not super quiet. 

Yes I know bulbs are burnt out, they are everywhere on this thing.

Until next time!

[GunMetalGrey]

Started it up last night, and it sounded like it was idling quite smoothly, but it still felt a bit shaky inside.
Going to check the motor mounts to see how those look, I suspect at least one of them is collapsed. 

I need to do a bit more work on the diesel and the truck before I start tearing into this thing, but the small parts list is building! 
The biggest thing I want to address is the shitty feeling shifter! 

Until next time!

[GunMetalGrey]

Nothing like buying a car that has locking lugs but doesn't have the socket for them in the car....

[YoungCR]

GunMetalGrey said:

Nothing like buying a car that has locking lugs but doesn't have the socket for them in the car....

Somebody at the dealer will have a master set.

[Jdesign]

GunMetalGrey said:

Nothing like buying a car that has locking lugs but doesn't have the socket for them in the car....

Take a picture of it and show it to us. I have a whole box of keys.

Most of the time I just take a shitty socket and hammer it over the lug. I have had a 97% success rate with doing so.

[patsbimmer1]

We use deep spiral sockets at work to remove these.  They work well as long as you apply gradual torque with a breaker bar and NOT an impact gun.  I think we buy them from Ken Tool.

[GunMetalGrey]

It's an external spline type, I bet I could get them with a 12pt socket but didn't have much time to mess with them the other day.
Friend works at a dealer and should be able to find one that works, but now I need to find new lugs quick! 

I shall update if I come up with nothing, thanks for the assistance!

[SteelBlue]

GunMetalGrey said:

It's an external spline type, I bet I could get them with a 12pt socket but didn't have much time to mess with them the other day.
Friend works at a dealer and should be able to find one that works, but now I need to find new lugs quick! 

I shall update if I come up with nothing, thanks for the assistance! 

Whats the thread pitch? Pretty sure I have a full set from my E46 in my tool box.

[patsbimmer1]

I'm pretty confident that everything smaller than a 7 uses a 12x1.50 so the e46 and e39 should have the same wheel bolts.  Maybe different lengths but same bolt.

[GunMetalGrey]

@MPW3RLee came in clutch with the socket for the lugs, which are indeed identical to what I had on my red e30.

Out with the old

On with the new!

I've always wanted a set of style 32's, but never had a car for them. These were completely unnecessary but it seemed like the right thing to do!

I also grabbed a set of stockers from @DrLeadFoot that I will end up using for snow tires

It was idling rough yesterday, but still doesn't show a CEL. I feel like someone may have pulled the bulb....
I plan to scan it to see what codes are lurking and see if I can't quickly narrow down the issue.

I will say that driving it yesterday was amusing, it pulls stronger than I remember and sounds good to boot!

Now to make it less of a rolling death trap! 

Until next time!

[jc43089]

Watch for the CEL to come on for a couple seconds when starting the car.  It should self test every time you start turn the key to run.  Wheels look good!

[GunMetalGrey]

jc43089 said:

Watch for the CEL to come on for a couple seconds when starting the car.  It should self test every time you start turn the key to run.  Wheels look good!

Haha, perfect! Thank you for the tip. I never really thought about using the self test stuff in that manner before. 
It all makes sense.