Bobby

[majdomo]

That radiator looks new. Even though the CSF is sturdy unit, myself and several other members ran it and then replaced it because it couldn’t keep up when engine loads increased/low speed air flow/summer time air temps or any combination of circumstances other than lower engine load with AC off and ambient temps that were not a challenge. The greater the stress on the cooling system, the greater the difference in coolant temps. As compared to the Toyota radiator I now run, coolant temps were anywhere from 10-30 degrees higher.

The last record I have of the radiator being switched out was 2013. This looks newer than that to be honest, but the hoses don’t. When installed in the car, I was consistently getting 195-200 up and down hills with AC on. That could also have something to do with the fan clutch, which was pretty wimpy compared to the Aisin blue hub. Having some second thoughts about the TYC, may just go back to OEM but not sure which one - early brass or late aluminum?

 

[baldilocks]

I prefer an all metal radiator myself but the Trad with plastic tanks has lasted many years for for a lot of owners. There seems to be no cooling issues attributed to any of the aluminum core units.

 

[majdomo]

More work today, but got sidetracked with actual work so didn’t get as far as I’d like. Started with the heater hard line that runs along the exhaust manifold, pulled that off and the 3 little hoses on the firewall along with the brass T fitting, replaced on the bench and ready to install back in the car after getting to the heater control hoses and the one that looks like a total PITA behind the head.

Ready to install, note the orphaned O-ring...

Replaced the thermostat and gaskets, heater bypass O-rings (forgot to do the one in the insert in the block, so have to go back and redo, takes 3 minutes), water pump and pulled all of the belts. Water pump didn’t look too bad, as below, spins fine and no leaks but it’s a while you’re in there item as far as I’m concerned:

And the bore, cleaned that up with some red scotchbrite:

Will also get after the grime on the idler pulley. That adjuster bolt is bent, so that’s getting replaced, along with the idler pulleys on both the AC and just below the alternator. The alternator pulley is completely shot, grinding like crazy, so taking both of them out and replacing as PM.

What else... spent some time researching the TYC rad again, I think I’m going to install it after reading more about how the AZ guys are doing with it. Also wondering if I should get the rear heater hoses below the cats, will take a closer look at them. CW seems to leave them be or bypass, but I’d like to get those done if it’s straightforward and have the time.

 

[baldilocks]

Do you need the rear heater? The two lower copper lines at the fire wall on either side of the motor are for the rear heater if you didn’t already know. I’d either delete the rear heater or replace all associated rubber hoses and clamps.

 

[majdomo]

Do you need the rear heater? The two lower copper lines at the fire wall on either side of the motor are for the rear heater if you didn’t already know. I’d either delete the rear heater or replace all associated rubber hoses and clamps.

As I am a glutton for punishment (lol) and may need to wait for pulleys and so on, I’ll take a look under the rig and see if I can get to them without too much brain damage. I don’t know if I need it, but that just pushes me toward fixing and not needing rather than bypassing and wanting. That is, until I’m under the car bathed in coolant and swearing.

 

[majdomo]

Good progress today. Got after the hoses on the driver’s side of the heater valve, installed the water pump, and pulled the PHH along with the rear heater lines as the last thing for the evening. Bought some 1/2” Gates white stripe for the smaller / rear heater lines.

I was able to stand on the front crossbar with the radiator out, to reach the very back of the motor:

And this is why you baseline - this hose fell apart when pulling it off the back firewall. It was bulging at the spot where it tore:

The infamous PHH! Someone was on this previously, and they thoughtfully broke off the second tab before putting it back. Pleasant surprise when pulling from the engine:

Example #2 of why you baseline - this is the PHH end of the hard line, which is pitted out to the point where I should probably replace it, so it doesn’t fail when on the rig.

Pulled the rear heater hoses, these look fine but there’s some surface rust on the hard lines. I’ll get after that with a wire wheel and some epoxy paint sometime tomorrow. Will be using Gates white stripe 1/2“ for the replacement and ABA 316ss size 4 for the clamps. I think I’m short 2 clamps, which may also put a delay in things.

Tomorrow’s agenda - pick up parts from the dealership, including a replacement for the heater bypass neck (3 minutes - lololololol), both of the idler pulleys and the adjuster bolt. I also cleaned up the area near the A/C compressor and cleaned the gunk off the oil pump cover. Minor concern that some of the oil near the A/C compressor is fresh and may be coming from either the crank seal or the lower timing cover. I’ll get it all cleaned off and we’ll go from there.

EDIT: looks like the PHH hard line is $140, and I have at least 2 feet of 5/8” green stripe left. This may be a time for the PHH hard line bypass... will research further.

ADD’L EDIT: Taking the driver’s side wheel off the car, found that of my 6 lugs only 1 was remotely torqued. The rest were about hand tight and spun right off. Accident waiting to happen.

 

[RobE30]

Good progress today. Got after the hoses on the driver’s side of the heater valve, installed the water pump, and pulled the PHH along with the rear heater lines as the last thing for the evening. Bought some 1/2” Gates white stripe for the smaller / rear heater lines.

I was able to stand on the front crossbar with the radiator out, to reach the very back of the motor:

View attachment 2403603

And this is why you baseline - this hose fell apart when pulling it off the back firewall. It was bulging at the spot where it tore:

View attachment 2403604

The infamous PHH! Someone was on this previously, and they thoughtfully broke off the second tab before putting it back. Pleasant surprise when pulling from the engine:

View attachment 2403605

Example #2 of why you baseline - this is the PHH end of the hard line, which is pitted out to the point where I should probably replace it, so it doesn’t fail when on the rig.

View attachment 2403607

Pulled the rear heater hoses, these look fine but there’s some surface rust on the hard lines. I’ll get after that with a wire wheel and some epoxy paint sometime tomorrow. Will be using Gates white stripe 1/2“ for the replacement and ABA 316ss size 4 for the clamps. I think I’m short 2 clamps, which may also put a delay in things.

View attachment 2403608

Tomorrow’s agenda - pick up parts from the dealership, including a replacement for the heater bypass neck (3 minutes - lololololol), both of the idler pulleys and the adjuster bolt. I also cleaned up the area near the A/C compressor and cleaned the gunk off the oil pump cover. Minor concern that some of the oil near the A/C compressor is fresh and may be coming from either the crank seal or the lower timing cover. I’ll get it all cleaned off and we’ll go from there.

EDIT: looks like the PHH hard line is $140, and I have at least 2 feet of 5/8” green stripe left. This may be a time for the PHH hard line bypass... will research further.

ADD’L EDIT: Taking the driver’s side wheel off the car, found that of my 6 lugs only 1 was remotely torqued. The rest were about hand tight and spun right off. Accident waiting to happen.

Welcome to the club (I'm a little late to welcome you haha)! I bypassed my PHH hardline, tight on time and figured one less junction was less chance of a leak. I put a thick silicone sleeve over the heater hose to protect from rubbing and so far so good (25k or so since I did it).

Enjoy your new truck and post a pic of your herd. I have a green 94 80 series and an 87 325is. Good choice in vehicles

 

[majdomo]

Damn good amount of work done last night and today. Last night:
- Finished PHH and did the little hose that goes from the throttle body to the head. That one I think was worse than the PHH. Used ABA 316ss clamps for those connections.
- Removed and replaced the hose adapter that goes from the above the water pump up to the head. This was the original part, and was basically fused aluminum to aluminum. Removed finally by using Vice Grips and prodigious amounts of pulling. This also meant sending little shards of crap down into the water pump body. I cleaned out the bore, using a metal pick to get at all the plaque-y crap at the bottom, then removed my recently installed new water pump to recover the shards and plaque. Reinstalled and retorqued.

Today:
- Finished the rest of the hoses at the back of the engine compartment, installing all hoses with either OEM for formed hoses, Gates green stripe for straight 5/8 runs, and white stripe for 1/2 inch connections to the rear heater. Ordered the radiator hose set, little heater hose set formed heater hose kit, PHH kit, and crank seal / oil pump cover / oil level sensor / dizzy gasket from Wits’ End @NLXTACY. Joey is a stand-up guy, highly recommended!
- Removed and replaced the gasket on the bypass that runs from the water pump over to the back firewall. There is a small metal gasket under there that someone previously used RTV or FIPG on, so got to scrape that junk off carefully with a razor blade before installing.
- Removed harmonic balancer using OTRAMM tool, installed new front crank seal and new oil pump cover gasket. The oil pump cover gasket screws were a royal pain, I stripped out the first one I tried using the #3 Phillips. Resorted to using the 1/2” MAC Tools impact on low air pressure, and 3 different reducers to get down to 1/4” drive. This finally worked but was touch and go and I still spun out a couple of the old screws. Bottom line - get a compact cordless impact for this job. Torqued down the new screws until I felt like the hex bolts would start to strip, then backed off. I didn’t find a torque spec for this, so just used the gutentite measurement.
- Oil pressure sensor gasket replaced. The original was so brittle it shattered into many pieces pulling it off. New one went on nicely. Good to have that done and should clear up one of the leaks on the side of the oil pan.
- New oil relief valve, oil relief spring, and gasket. This was the cause of a smallish leak as well.
- New OEM pulleys and belts installed, tensioned to 110 ft-lbs for the A/C belt and about 100 for the alternator. These will loosen up after running for 5 minutes per the FSM, will recheck and adjust accordingly.
- Reinstalled all radiator hoses and new TYC radiator, again with ABA 316ss clamps and with a very degreased SS coolant elbow. Looks great from underneath!
- Reinstalled harmonic balancer torqued to 300+ ft-lbs. The biggest torque wrench for rent at O’Reilly goes up to 300, so just used that plus a little extra bean to call it good.
- Reinstalled the headlights, signal lights, and grille
- Reinstalled battery box and battery

All that’s left is the rear heater lines (need to clean, paint, and reinstall some new soft lines while waiting for clamps) and the really easy to get to little heater bypass at the front of the motor. I’m planning to run distilled first, then drain, then refill with 50/50 green and go!

Some photos, was busy literally from 8am to 5:30pm:

OTRAMM tool @OTRAMM ready to go:

What it took to get the stupid screws out. Don’t do this at home, get a real compact wrench:

After. Missing a few things but looking good:

Just about everything in here was touched - thermostat, water pump, bypass, gaskets, hoses, etc:

New alternator pulley. This stupid thing is $60 new.

 

[majdomo]

More photos:

Rear firewall gallery o’ hoses:

Driver’s side. I ended up reusing the hardline on the PHH. If it causes a problem, I’ll replace or bypass the hard line. I used Breeze Constant Torque clamps on the PHH.

From underneath. Replaced the A/C pulley and bolt, and cleaned up a crap-ton of grime and gunk from the underside. Looks pretty now! TYC radiator installed without issue, fitment is fine but takes probably more fiddling than OEM.

Done for the night.

 

[majdomo]

Enjoy your new truck and post a pic of your herd. I have a green 94 80 series and an 87 325is. Good choice in vehicles

Not at all LC related, but by request!

Joanne - 1991 BMW 318iS M42, slicktop with stock LSD. Bilstein HD / H&R springs (50404-55 OE Sport). Front sway is stock 19mm, rear is 14.5mm from a 325iX. 15” Euroweaves on Direzzas. Can go all day in the canyons in this one, a little more tame / liveable though than the 02.

Wallace - 1970 BMW 2002 M10 in failed Polaris neu (round taillight). Bilstein HD, full IE stage 1 sways and springs, IE urethane bushings front and rear. 14” basketweaves from the E30. Dual Weber 40 DCOE sidedrafts, high flow / low pressure E9 mechanical fuel pump. Motor is from a 75, E12 head that needs a head gasket and probably a valve job. I just replaced the clutch and trans about 3 months ago, with another stock 4-speed. This one is my bratty canyon carver, but 2-60 A/C makes it rough this time of year. Patina is all original

 

[majdomo]

Minor stupid update - now have a 1-DIN and 2-DIN Toyota factory head unit, that will hook up to the gray amp bypasses in the rear. For the next guy - to hook up a slightly more modern but still factory head unit to the gray plugs, or any head unit for that matter, you need to disconnect both cables from the factory amp or it will not work! Durh.

Bluetooth unit on the way, will decide which unit to use later. Liking the idea of having a 1-DIN head unit and a pocket in dash to hold stuff, with the option of putting a Yaesu in there later. Photos to come later.

Cleaned up the rear heater hard lines with naval jelly and the wire wheel to get rid of the rust, now just waiting for that last batch of clamps to knock it out.

 

[majdomo]

Rear heater lines reinstalled, filled system with distilled water, burped and ran for about 30 minutes. Lots of good heat coming out of both heaters, no leaks from what I saw. Max temp was 192 coming up the hill, about 8-10 degrees cooler than before. Will run for a little while longer with distilled, check the tension on the belts, drain and refill with green coolant later tomorrow. Assuming all is well, will take in to the shop and get that oil leak fixed on the rear main seal / rear upper arch.

 

[majdomo]

So the cooling system refresh has been finished for a couple of days. Flushed 3X with distilled, and finally looked clear after that third flush. Filled with the green stuff and been running the car the last few days, hitting around 190-195 degrees. Not bad, as it’s been hot with full A/C blasting, but could be better. Thinking that I’ll try my modded Eaton fan clutch and see where that puts things, if not fixed then will mod the blue fan clutch and put that in there to just finish it out.

In between flushes, had some time to finish the head unit. I pulled out the old backup camera and all associated wiring to the rear of the car. Whoever put it in did a...thoughtful? job, running cabling down under the car in a plastic conduit zip tied to the undercarriage, terminating in the camera mounted to the rear license plate frame and with a switch wire running to the driver’s side backup light. Pulled all that stuff out, plugged up the hole that was drilled in the tailgate with a plastic plug, and reinstalled the license plate. Still need to find the right plug for the hole in the floorboard on the driver’s side. Will see if there’s the same one on the passenger side and go from there.

On to the head unit. This was a bit of a head-scratcher, as when I plugged in the head unit to the gray plugs on the factory harness, the sound kept cutting out and the unit did some weird stuff, like switching on and off repeatedly on its own. I set it down for a bit, came inside and then thought of the factory amp that was still plugged in. Once I unplugged both cables to that, everything worked great. I got the Crux BT adapter, plugs right into the port for the CD changer in the back of the head unit and put the box for the BT adapter in the glove box. Here’s what it looks like streaming some Apple Music from the iPhone, not much to look at but it works great. When using with the USB port, the controls on the head unit allow navigation through the folders. The unit sports an aux in as well.

And since it’s all of a 1/2 job finished out with the right parts, the antenna works just fine both automatically when switching the radio on / off, or from the switch on the dash:

Not sure about this head unit though, works fine but it’s a little bit rougher than I’d like. I still have the 1-DIN unit that works the same but looks better, just need to pick up a dash box for the bottom half.

Rig is now down at the shop to repair the rear main seal / upper arch seal leak, will hear more about that next week.

 

[baldilocks]

Don’t sweat 195. I have the 190 thermostat and run 187-190 even in the winter. Does the engine know the difference between 185 and 195 or 205 or 220? Probably not. Run that thing and gain confidence in what you have.

 

[majdomo]

Don’t sweat 195. I have the 190 thermostat and run 187-190 even in the winter. Does the engine know the difference between 185 and 195 or 205 or 220? Probably not. Run that thing and gain confidence in what you have.

Thanks! Really looking forward to having that last leak figured out, hopefully by Labor Day we can get our act together and get ‘er out on the trail! Just need to figure out where! I think this is the last item for a quick minute, next is probably the knuckles / birfs as PM. The clutch / TO bearing on the E30 is acting up though, which means I’ll likely be back on BMW duty soon enough!

 

[baldilocks]

Thanks! Really looking forward to having that last leak figured out, hopefully by Labor Day we can get our act together and get ‘er out on the trail! Just need to figure out where! I think this is the last item for a quick minute, next is probably the knuckles / birfs as PM. The clutch / TO bearing on the E30 is acting up though, which means I’ll likely be back on BMW duty soon enough!

And I thought I was a thinker...

 

[majdomo]

Rig in the shop for some R&R. Rear main turned out to be the culprit of my oil leak at the back of the engine, but also found another leak at the power steering pump (housing not O-ring), so that's being replaced as well. They're also having a detailer steam the engine bay, so it will be back to me extra squeaky clean.

Not much else to report, should be done by end of day today but have so much going on this week it'll be tough to get over there before Friday evening. Looking for some good trails close by for a trial run, thinking Rincon Red Box if it's open or Hungry Valley for a day trip.

 

[baldilocks]

Strange because rear mains are rarely ever talked about. Good progress here.

 

[majdomo]

Dammit. Went back to shop to pick up rig, and now it’s making a clicking noise when turning lock to lock and has a ticking noise at idle that it didn’t have before. (Guessing it‘s the PS gear, asked 3 different times if they put it back on right...but wtf do I know). It’s spending more time down there for them to figure out what they f*cked up before I pay them.

Unfortunately, this isn’t the first time I’ve had this experience with a shop, independent or dealer. With the very rare exception of one specific BMW shop I trust completely, I’ve been burned before and sadly enough, now probably know more (or can get the information from Mud or R3V or FAQ) than most of the techs. It’s certainly been said before, but no one is going to care about your car like you will.

 

[Tedward]

The power steering pump gear can be reused but must be carefully removed.
Using a new gear is foolproof.