The BMW UUC Digest
Volume 2 : Issue 420 : "text" Format
Messages in this Issue:
Re: E36 fuel level sender collar tool
Re: Head Gasket Failure
1989 325i blown head gasket ??? I think
I'm a MORON - desperate question on E38 2001 740i
Re: I'm a MORON - desperate question on E38 2001 740i
Re: I'm a MORON - desperate question on E38 2001 740i
Carfax request
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Fri, 05 Nov 2004 23:43:45 -0500
From: Neil Maller <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: "[EMAIL PROTECTED]" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Cc: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Re: E36 fuel level sender collar tool
Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
on 11/5/04 10:20 PM, Brian Ruiz <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> I'm finally getting around to replacing the fuel level
> sender as it leaks when the tank is full and has done
> so since I bought the car 2.5 years ago. However, the
> tool that was supposed to be available for removing
> this collar is NLA from the dealer. What's the
> concensus on a replacement tool or method for removing
> this? I've read about the 2 screwdriver thing but I
> can't seem to figure out how to do that well enough to
> get it loose.
>
> Thanks,
> Brian
> 93 325
on 11/5/04 10:20 PM, "KMS - Brett Anderson" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
wrote:
> Who told you the tool is NLA?
> 88 88 6 161 020 List price $120, 49 in stock at BMW NA's various parts
> warehouses.
> Brett Anderson
> KMS
But of course most of us shade tree guys would use a single large flat-blade
screwdriver engaged in the toothed collar, and a mallet. Whack the
screwdriver until the collar moves about 1/8 of a turn and then you can
unscrew it the rest of the way by hand. Although it's no bad idea to replace
the sender at this age, the leak probably comes from the rubber gasket
rather than the sender itself.
Neil
96 M3
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 06 Nov 2004 00:02:58 -0500
From: Neil Maller <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: "[EMAIL PROTECTED]" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Cc: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Re: Head Gasket Failure
Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
on 11/5/04 10:20 PM, "Kris Welhart" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> I now have a second blown head gasket on my 95 m3 with 3.2l conversion,
> still OBD-1, Conforti chip, recent euro HFM and 24# injectors installed. The
> car had a stock HFM, conforti chip, and 21.5 # injectors for the entire life
> of the first failure and 9/10's of the time to the current failure. all
> innards are stock, all but cat back exhaust is stock. The symptoms are
> identical to the first failure 3 years ago which are as follows:
>
> 1. The car will begin to blow coolant out of the overflow tank after 20
> minutes on the track. It will overheat after around 25 minutes. symptoms
> can't be achieved on the street. Appears to take 20 minutes of 5000+ RPMS. I
> can drive home 400+ miles with no problems.
Hey Kris,
Yeah, pretty typical that it happens under track stress only.
> 2. The point of failure for the first gasket was from a coolant passage to a
> oil passage. The head was flat, no visible issues.
>
> 3. prior to blowing coolant, the return side radiator hose is VERY
> pressurized. Very obvious that some type of pressure is entering the coolant
> system, my guess is oil pressure.
If it were oil pressure you'd be seeing a bunch of oil in the coolant, no?
More likely combustion pressure. Not that it makes much difference: you're
in for a head gasket job either way.
> 4. All oil tests come back normal. Very little, if any, oil in coolant.
See 3 above...
> My questions are what is causing this and is there a better gasket to use
> other than stock?
There does seem to be an inherent weakness in the design. Not much material
between the cylinder bores on a 3.2.
Regarding what Marco said about gaskets, BMP have reportedly been out of the
cutting ring gaskets for months. They didn't bother to reply to my email on
the subject, and they don't show it on their new web site (which sucks
somewhat less than the old one).
Wish I'd known about the VAC product when I did my recent head gasket
replacement. So I think you should try it out and let us know!
> Another repair question: My lifters have been ticking for
> the past 5 years of HARD track driving.
Don't they all?
> Should I replace them? What are the
> effects of wear and failure after this many years?
How many miles? I suppose if one or more failed totally that would be, well,
a bad thing, but I haven't heard of that happening. Not that they couldn't.
They seem just to get more and more noisy.
> Thanks for any input. I am open to all suggestions and opinions.
Hey, we're full of it/them.
Neil
96 M3
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 5 Nov 2004 22:50:35 -0800 (PST)
From: mike B <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: "[EMAIL PROTECTED]" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: 1989 325i blown head gasket ??? I think
Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
I have a rebuilt 2.5 6cyl engine with about 6k miles
on it now. The head was shaved and the engine
blueprinted. I had a small leak from the top front of
the engine, not from the valve cover (someone mentined
cam seal). Anyway I had to put a qt of oil in every 2
weeks (I drive hard). I noticed my oil didn't need
filling and my coolant was missing out of the resivoir
(just did a mod to the coolant lines so I thought I
was leaking there). No real Hp loss felt, now the car
is sitting out of fear of anymore damage. Last I
checked brown/white foam was in the valve cover. I run
sythetic mobile (always have) and I have a back up
racing oil cooler with fan sitting behind my passenger
headlight(headlight replaced with ram air duct). I
have a light which turns on anytime the oil hits a
certain degree as to know when the cars being pushed
hard. This light rarely comes on and have managed to
keep temp to midway or below midway 200-210deg. Ripped
out all AC components and power steering as well. Ram
air going to factory air box. How much would a new
headgasket replacement from a mechanic labor etc
be???? Does anyone think I did any damage from what
I've mentioned. Again no real Hp loss felt. Thanx to
all in advance. Cheers
__________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
Check out the new Yahoo! Front Page.
www.yahoo.com
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 6 Nov 2004 09:58:07 -0500
From: "Dennis Liu" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: "BMW List" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: I'm a MORON - desperate question on E38 2001 740i
Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxmima culpa. Please help out a BMWCCA member
who's kicking himself in the head this morning.
This may be the first time anyone has ever asked this question, and I'd be
amazed if anyone knows the answer, but I'll give it a try.
To make a long, painful, agonizing story (somewhat) short....
My friend and I changed the oil on his 2001 E38 740i sport last night. What
should have taken 15 minutes took us 2 hours. Why? Because we're morons.
Our tragic error was probably because we did it together, instead of one of
us doing it alone.
When he removed the oil filter cover, slid the filter off and dropped it in
the trash bag, the circular plastic top of the old filter detached from the
filter element and was retained in the oil filter cover. I didn't notice
this. I slid the new filter down on the black cylinder in the middle of the
housing, then screwed the oil filter cover back on.
And, of course, as I tightened the cover, we heard "crunching" noises. Doh.
It sux when you hear that. Unscrewing the oil filter cover, I found that
the black plastic top remainder of the old filter was now broken into
several large pieces. No problem, except two tiny pieces fell into the
bottom of the oil filter housing.
Not wanting these little pieces of plastic to circulate in the oil, we then
proceeded to spent some serious time finding and fishing them out. One was
easy enough, but the other one had dropped into the side of the "plunger" at
the bottom of the housing.
Allow me to describe; at the bottom on the circular oil filter housing,
there are two "valleys" (that seem to be just part of the metal casting),
one nickel-sized hole that **appears** to be where the oil returns to the
engine, and a similarly sized hole which has a small black plastic cylinder
poking out of it, sitting on a spring. I dunno what this piece does... Is
it a switch of somesort? A valve? If you install a filter, it pushes this
cylinder down and holds it down.
Anyway, the tiny piece fell in there. We could not fish it out. Then we
had the bright idea of pulling this little black plastic cylinder out in
order to remove the tiny piece. Amazingly enough, SUCCESS!!!
Woo-hoo. Kings of the world. All we need to do is to button it all up, add
some oil, and we're good to go, right?
Well, my friend went to replace that little black plastic cylinder, with the
integral spring. It has three thin prongs at the bottom, possibly to retain
it in the hole at the bottom of the housing. JUST AS I cautioned him, "be
careful, those prongs are kinda thin-looking", he mutters, sh*t. Yup.
Those three little prongs broke off. And are sitting in the bottom of this
little hole in the bottom of the housing. ARGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHH!
So we buttoned it all up and went out to dinner. The car is still sitting
there today, untouched (and unstarted). A series of questions come to mind.
1. What the heck does this little black plastic cylinder do? (Remember,
it's NOT the big black column in the center of the oil filter housing,
through which (I presume) the oil from the engine flows into the center of
the filter then through the filter itself). My best guess is that this
little thing is some sort of switch, to notify the driver, "hey, moron, you
don't have an oil filter installed", or it's some of valve to kill the oil
flow into the housing if there is no filter. It could be some sort of
standpipe switch to keep oil from draining from the housing when the engine
is off, but since the cylinder never rises so long as a filter is installed,
I doubt it's that. So what the heck is the purpose of this part?
2. Assuming we have an answer to question 1, and assuming that it's just a
switch to warn if the filter is MISSING (or collapsed, I guess), what's the
downside of leaving these broken off prong pieces in situ? The black
plastic cylinder top (from which the prongs snapped) would keep the prongs
retained in that little hole. So if the switch/valve thing is isn't
critical, can we just leave it alone and (try desperately to) forget about
it?
3. If I do need to get these prong pieces out, what do you think about
using a piece of tacky stuff on a long thin stick to extricate these pieces?
4. According to the local dealer, this little plastic part is, of course,
NOT for sale; rather we have to buy a whole new oil filter housing. Lists
at $270, argh. Worth calling a dismantler? Any suggestions?
5. Bottom line -- tell us what to do!!! PLEASE!!! ARRRGGGHHHH!!! (must
regain control....)
Thanks in advance!
Vty,
--Dennis
BMW CCA #129913
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 6 Nov 2004 10:54:30 -0500
From: "KMS - Brett Anderson" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, "BMW List" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Re: I'm a MORON - desperate question on E38 2001 740i
Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Time for a new filter housing. It sounds like you broke the pressure relief
valve. If it's not operating correctly, you will have low oil pressure AND all
oil circulating in the engine will bypass the filter.
Brett Anderson
KMS
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Dennis Liu [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Sent: Saturday, November 06, 2004 9:58 AM
> To: BMW List
> Subject: I'm a MORON - desperate question on E38 2001 740i
> Importance: High
>
>
> Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxmima culpa. Please help out a BMWCCA member
> who's kicking himself in the head this morning.
>
> This may be the first time anyone has ever asked this question, and I'd be
> amazed if anyone knows the answer, but I'll give it a try.
>
> To make a long, painful, agonizing story (somewhat) short....
>
> My friend and I changed the oil on his 2001 E38 740i sport last night. What
> should have taken 15 minutes took us 2 hours. Why? Because we're morons.
> Our tragic error was probably because we did it together, instead of one of
> us doing it alone.
>
> When he removed the oil filter cover, slid the filter off and dropped it in
> the trash bag, the circular plastic top of the old filter detached from the
> filter element and was retained in the oil filter cover. I didn't notice
> this. I slid the new filter down on the black cylinder in the middle of the
> housing, then screwed the oil filter cover back on.
>
> And, of course, as I tightened the cover, we heard "crunching" noises. Doh.
> It sux when you hear that. Unscrewing the oil filter cover, I found that
> the black plastic top remainder of the old filter was now broken into
> several large pieces. No problem, except two tiny pieces fell into the
> bottom of the oil filter housing.
>
> Not wanting these little pieces of plastic to circulate in the oil, we then
> proceeded to spent some serious time finding and fishing them out. One was
> easy enough, but the other one had dropped into the side of the "plunger" at
> the bottom of the housing.
>
> Allow me to describe; at the bottom on the circular oil filter housing,
> there are two "valleys" (that seem to be just part of the metal casting),
> one nickel-sized hole that **appears** to be where the oil returns to the
> engine, and a similarly sized hole which has a small black plastic cylinder
> poking out of it, sitting on a spring. I dunno what this piece does... Is
> it a switch of somesort? A valve? If you install a filter, it pushes this
> cylinder down and holds it down.
>
> Anyway, the tiny piece fell in there. We could not fish it out. Then we
> had the bright idea of pulling this little black plastic cylinder out in
> order to remove the tiny piece. Amazingly enough, SUCCESS!!!
>
> Woo-hoo. Kings of the world. All we need to do is to button it all up, add
> some oil, and we're good to go, right?
>
> Well, my friend went to replace that little black plastic cylinder, with the
> integral spring. It has three thin prongs at the bottom, possibly to retain
> it in the hole at the bottom of the housing. JUST AS I cautioned him, "be
> careful, those prongs are kinda thin-looking", he mutters, sh*t. Yup.
> Those three little prongs broke off. And are sitting in the bottom of this
> little hole in the bottom of the housing. ARGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHH!
>
> So we buttoned it all up and went out to dinner. The car is still sitting
> there today, untouched (and unstarted). A series of questions come to mind.
>
> 1. What the heck does this little black plastic cylinder do? (Remember,
> it's NOT the big black column in the center of the oil filter housing,
> through which (I presume) the oil from the engine flows into the center of
> the filter then through the filter itself). My best guess is that this
> little thing is some sort of switch, to notify the driver, "hey, moron, you
> don't have an oil filter installed", or it's some of valve to kill the oil
> flow into the housing if there is no filter. It could be some sort of
> standpipe switch to keep oil from draining from the housing when the engine
> is off, but since the cylinder never rises so long as a filter is installed,
> I doubt it's that. So what the heck is the purpose of this part?
>
> 2. Assuming we have an answer to question 1, and assuming that it's just a
> switch to warn if the filter is MISSING (or collapsed, I guess), what's the
> downside of leaving these broken off prong pieces in situ? The black
> plastic cylinder top (from which the prongs snapped) would keep the prongs
> retained in that little hole. So if the switch/valve thing is isn't
> critical, can we just leave it alone and (try desperately to) forget about
> it?
>
> 3. If I do need to get these prong pieces out, what do you think about
> using a piece of tacky stuff on a long thin stick to extricate these pieces?
>
> 4. According to the local dealer, this little plastic part is, of course,
> NOT for sale; rather we have to buy a whole new oil filter housing. Lists
> at $270, argh. Worth calling a dismantler? Any suggestions?
>
> 5. Bottom line -- tell us what to do!!! PLEASE!!! ARRRGGGHHHH!!! (must
> regain control....)
>
> Thanks in advance!
>
> Vty,
>
> --Dennis
> BMW CCA #129913
>
>
> ---
> Incoming mail is certified Virus Free.
> Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
> Version: 6.0.784 / Virus Database: 530 - Release Date: 10/27/2004
>
---
Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
Version: 6.0.784 / Virus Database: 530 - Release Date: 10/27/2004
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 6 Nov 2004 11:13:25 -0500
From: "Dennis Liu" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: "'KMS - Brett Anderson'" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>,
"'BMW List'" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Re: I'm a MORON - desperate question on E38 2001 740i
Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Thanks, Brett. How difficult is it to swap out? All of the oil was drained
out of the car, and we did refill it with fresh oil, but haven't started it
yet. How many hoses etc. do I need to disconnect to swap?
-----Original Message-----
From: KMS - Brett Anderson [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: Saturday, November 06, 2004 10:55 AM
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]; BMW List
Subject: RE: I'm a MORON - desperate question on E38 2001 740i
Time for a new filter housing. It sounds like you broke the pressure relief
valve. If it's not operating correctly, you will have low oil pressure AND
all oil circulating in the engine will bypass the filter.
Brett Anderson
KMS
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Dennis Liu [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Sent: Saturday, November 06, 2004 9:58 AM
> To: BMW List
> Subject: I'm a MORON - desperate question on E38 2001 740i
> Importance: High
>
>
> Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxmima culpa. Please help out a BMWCCA
> member who's kicking himself in the head this morning.
>
> This may be the first time anyone has ever asked this question, and
> I'd be amazed if anyone knows the answer, but I'll give it a try.
>
> To make a long, painful, agonizing story (somewhat) short....
>
> My friend and I changed the oil on his 2001 E38 740i sport last night.
> What should have taken 15 minutes took us 2 hours. Why? Because
> we're morons. Our tragic error was probably because we did it
> together, instead of one of us doing it alone.
>
> When he removed the oil filter cover, slid the filter off and dropped
> it in the trash bag, the circular plastic top of the old filter
> detached from the filter element and was retained in the oil filter
> cover. I didn't notice this. I slid the new filter down on the black
> cylinder in the middle of the housing, then screwed the oil filter
> cover back on.
>
> And, of course, as I tightened the cover, we heard "crunching" noises.
> Doh. It sux when you hear that. Unscrewing the oil filter cover, I
> found that the black plastic top remainder of the old filter was now
> broken into several large pieces. No problem, except two tiny pieces
> fell into the bottom of the oil filter housing.
>
> Not wanting these little pieces of plastic to circulate in the oil, we
> then proceeded to spent some serious time finding and fishing them
> out. One was easy enough, but the other one had dropped into the side
> of the "plunger" at the bottom of the housing.
>
> Allow me to describe; at the bottom on the circular oil filter
> housing, there are two "valleys" (that seem to be just part of the
> metal casting), one nickel-sized hole that **appears** to be where the
> oil returns to the engine, and a similarly sized hole which has a
> small black plastic cylinder poking out of it, sitting on a spring. I
> dunno what this piece does... Is it a switch of somesort? A valve?
> If you install a filter, it pushes this cylinder down and holds it
> down.
>
> Anyway, the tiny piece fell in there. We could not fish it out. Then
> we had the bright idea of pulling this little black plastic cylinder
> out in order to remove the tiny piece. Amazingly enough, SUCCESS!!!
>
> Woo-hoo. Kings of the world. All we need to do is to button it all
> up, add some oil, and we're good to go, right?
>
> Well, my friend went to replace that little black plastic cylinder,
> with the integral spring. It has three thin prongs at the bottom,
> possibly to retain it in the hole at the bottom of the housing. JUST
> AS I cautioned him, "be careful, those prongs are kinda thin-looking",
> he mutters, sh*t. Yup. Those three little prongs broke off. And are
> sitting in the bottom of this little hole in the bottom of the
> housing. ARGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHH!
>
> So we buttoned it all up and went out to dinner. The car is still
> sitting there today, untouched (and unstarted). A series of questions
> come to mind.
>
> 1. What the heck does this little black plastic cylinder do?
> (Remember, it's NOT the big black column in the center of the oil
> filter housing, through which (I presume) the oil from the engine
> flows into the center of the filter then through the filter itself).
> My best guess is that this little thing is some sort of switch, to
> notify the driver, "hey, moron, you don't have an oil filter
> installed", or it's some of valve to kill the oil flow into the
> housing if there is no filter. It could be some sort of standpipe
> switch to keep oil from draining from the housing when the engine is
> off, but since the cylinder never rises so long as a filter is
> installed, I doubt it's that. So what the heck is the purpose of this
> part?
>
> 2. Assuming we have an answer to question 1, and assuming that it's
> just a switch to warn if the filter is MISSING (or collapsed, I
> guess), what's the downside of leaving these broken off prong pieces
> in situ? The black plastic cylinder top (from which the prongs
> snapped) would keep the prongs retained in that little hole. So if
> the switch/valve thing is isn't critical, can we just leave it alone
> and (try desperately to) forget about it?
>
> 3. If I do need to get these prong pieces out, what do you think
> about using a piece of tacky stuff on a long thin stick to extricate
> these pieces?
>
> 4. According to the local dealer, this little plastic part is, of
> course, NOT for sale; rather we have to buy a whole new oil filter
> housing. Lists at $270, argh. Worth calling a dismantler? Any
> suggestions?
>
> 5. Bottom line -- tell us what to do!!! PLEASE!!! ARRRGGGHHHH!!!
> (must regain control....)
>
> Thanks in advance!
>
> Vty,
>
> --Dennis
> BMW CCA #129913
>
>
> ---
> Incoming mail is certified Virus Free.
> Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
> Version: 6.0.784 / Virus Database: 530 - Release Date: 10/27/2004
>
---
Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
Version: 6.0.784 / Virus Database: 530 - Release Date: 10/27/2004
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 6 Nov 2004 15:30:33 -0000
From: "Nancy and Bob Fluharty" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: "BMW Digest" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Carfax request
Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Looking at a winter beater. Can anyone run JF1SF6352WH703259?
Thanks
Bob Fluharty
87 325is/3.0
Cincinnati
------------------------------
End of [bmwuucdigest] digest(7 messages)
**********
