Project: E34 Busted Pile

**balactm** · 01-21-2010, 03:25 PM

if it's idle surging it could also be a vaccuum leak...or day i say...timing (wince)

V1GiLaNtE · 01-21-2010, 04:18 PM

very possible....^^ more or less on the vacuum leak.. The lines don't look all that great... maybe worth it to buy like $10 in silicon tubes and replace all the lines....

.RJ · 01-21-2010, 04:39 PM

Or a busted vanos.

D_Eclipse9916 · 01-21-2010, 04:48 PM

or a clogged IAC valve......(apparently we want to give him every single reason it could)

or clogged dead squirell in your intake....

BLINGMW · 01-22-2010, 09:57 PM

D_Eclipse9916 Wrote:or clogged dead squirell in your intake....

even if the squirrel is living, get him outta there! Unless it's OEM of course.

***Jake*** · 01-24-2010, 01:39 AM

Well Rex had a set of 6 good coils and gave them to me for a steal of a price. So... she's getting new coils. Every little bit will help - if these don't help much, my next plan of attack is gonna be the vacuum lines. I know at least one coil needs replacement, but a new set of 6 will be (hopefully) worth it. In any case, not a difficult or expensive fix. Lines won't be, either, if we have to go there.

No word on OEM Squirrels yet. Hoping I can find a similar-quality replacement if necessary, but at below-retail pricing.

Maengelito · 01-25-2010, 09:04 AM

Do the squirrels have to be from the Black Forest in Germany or will an Appalachain squirrel fit the bill?

**xvxax** · 01-25-2010, 10:35 AM

If the problem is that obvious, I am going to guess it's not the vanos. When I drove a car with busted vanos, it was hardly noticeable except for the lack of mid range power. I definitely wouldn't call it a hesitation.

If the issue is profound to the point that you notice, maybe vacuum. I would check for leaks that lead into the throttle body post MAF first. There are 2 hoses that lead into the boot at elbow where the intake boot meets the throttle body. They're underneath the boot, semi hidden. Those fall off, or crack often. I believe one is the charcoal canister vapor return, and the other one is the crankcase vent. That elbow boot also cracks which may cause the same issue. If the car is sucking in a lot of un metered air, then it may cause the car to run lean and hesitate. Just a wild guess that won't take much time to check.

I assume there is no CEL?

***Jake*** · 01-25-2010, 01:40 PM

xvxax Wrote:If the problem is that obvious, I am going to guess it's not the vanos. When I drove a car with busted vanos, it was hardly noticeable except for the lack of mid range power. I definitely wouldn't call it a hesitation.

Yeah, this is very noticeable. Some hesitation at idle and around 2k rpm to about 2500.

xvxax Wrote:it may cause the car to run lean and hesitate.

Odd thing is, the car's running WAY rich. Like 10 mpg rich. I know the M50 isn't the world's most efficient motor but EPA city is like 16, and this tank has had about 100 miles of highway driving mixed in. We're at 1/4 tank with only 170 miles on the trip odo. It's a 21 gallon tank.

xvxax Wrote:I assume there is no CEL?

Nope.

D_Eclipse9916 · 01-25-2010, 01:54 PM

sounds like bad front o2 sensors. Rough idle (check), Rough light throttle (check), bad gas mileage (check). IT oculd still be a vacuum leak, but I would also clean off the o2s. For BMWs, front o2s are speced as a replacement item every 100k, I can bet you that theyve never been replaced on that car.

**xvxax** · 01-25-2010, 02:41 PM

Hmm, the plot thickens. Wouldn't bad o2 sensors come along with a CEL? That would remove o2 sensors from the list of potential problems.

BLINGMW · 01-25-2010, 03:32 PM

have you checked the ECU for stored codes? Since it's OBD1, IIRC, not all codes triggered the check engine light, and you can check them with some step-on-the-gas-5-times-while-ignition-is-in-certian-position procedure and look them up.

***Jake*** · 01-26-2010, 05:52 PM

Just put the new (or gently used) coils from Rex on the car. The most difficult part was the blasted front-hinged hood getting caught in the wind and falling on my back about 7 times as I unbolted and re-bolted various things. She started up right away and made a few funny noises as things smoothed out. I gotta say, it feels like a brand new car. I am positive that this thing has been running on 4 of the 6 cylinders (or something of the sort) because the difference is huge. This plug looked the worst:

[Image: meltedplug.jpg]

I'm sure all the oil from the leaky VCG didn't help things, either. Probably got up in the rubber boots and fouled things up. Anyway, she's purring along nicely now.

I'm still going to do the "stomp test" to pull any codes related to this O2 sensor. I'm curious to see how gas mileage improves (hopefully) with the motor firing properly. It's been averaging between 10 and 12 on this tank of gas... and 100 miles of the ~180 are highway miles. So... let's see where things go from here! Next big things to tackle (when it's not snowing and windy) are the drivers' side windows.

TorinoCobra070 · 01-26-2010, 06:49 PM

Nice work! I guess I'm not the only one to almost fall victim to that dangerous hood.

BLINGMW · 01-26-2010, 07:19 PM

yeah, it's kind of neat how smoothly these I6s still run when down a cyl or two. I've helped out diagnosing a bad coil by pulling harnesses to coils while running before and it's like.... uh... is that any worse? Pull another one... still running fine.... :dunno: Not like a 4cyl, you pull one and it's damn obvious!

***Jake*** · 03-18-2010, 08:46 PM

Got the car back today since it was so nice out. I really felt like wrenching on something, and the E34 always has something else it needs.

I have successfully fixed the driver's door lock and power window. The lock just needed to be re-connected. The window was more involved. There are two plastic pieces that hold the regulator to the window glass. They had cracked and broken. So, I bought two new ones and took today as an opportunity to install them. Put them in, slowly rolled the window up, and it made it halfway before it cracked one.

Yep, window fell off the track. Over to Mid Atlantic to buy another $4 piece of plastic. It was a HUGE pain to get the window back ON track but I got it done. I also had to re-adjust the regulator's position so the window would roll up and fit at the top. It looked pretty janky the first few times I tried.

Finally... since it was such great weather, I ran over to Miracle Wash and shined 'er up. For being a somewhat-neglected, 15-year-old, 200k mile car, the paint is in decent shape. Not good, but decent. Definitely a 10-footer, but Orient Blue is gorgeous in the sun when it's clean. I'm gonna take some photos before I return it tomorrow morning, I'll try to post them here eventually.

Two things left on the list: left rear window regulator, and fuel filter. Both minor, both will be done eventually. I'm pleased with my progress today though.