Pretty quiet in here... what are you working on?

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Since my dad is building a garage, he needed to move some of his stuff around. One of the things that needed to be moved was his 1984 BMW 318i which has been sitting in the same spot in the woods for just over 20 years. We took the covers off and opened it up.

We used his 2000 Land Rover Disco II to pull it out a few feet and even managed to fill the tires with some air. After that we pulled it up into another spot (still in the woods lol) where it'll sit for a few weeks.

He eventually wants to get it running again. It was his daily for 20 years and has over 420,000 miles on it, but the oil pump died on it one day on his commute and it killed the motor. It needs a total restoration but the body and frame are in shockingly good condition and are definitely worth saving.

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Those were the peak years for the 318. Only thing I didn't like was that the tiniest air leak in the vacuum lines and that ignition system would run terrible.
 
1MOA said:
Those were the peak years for the 318. Only thing I didn't like was that the tiniest air leak in the vacuum lines and that ignition system would run terrible.
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It wasn't without its problems, that's for sure.

He had always said he wished he waited a year longer to get the 325 because the 318 made barely 100hp.
 
mgrs said:
Digging the cigar piece. I've tried spray cleaner leak test did not hear an idle change. Have not had time to start working through variables in a deliberate way other than throwing a few parts at it. Timing could be a good idea. It's got the usual brief VVT rattle when cold but only in cold weather and clears up in less than a second.

Next day or half day off when I get back to the car will try in order- test purge valve, replace a couple hardened vac hoses, remove/clean/test VVT solenoids, check vac pressure, check/clean egr, check compression.

I am no savant at assessing spark plugs; these were in it for only 20k miles.

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spraying carb cleaner with fuel injection doesn't always present vacuum leaks. I have a DIY smoke machine you can barrow. I can bring it to the meeting next week.
 
I've been hard at work, mostly on the Explorer. On the last trip I went on at GER, my clutch-based transfer case wasn't engaging the front wheels very well so I swapped the transfer case for a chain driven ranger case and made my own manual shift knob. Also got a great deal on a set of (5) 35x12.5x15 General Grabber tires and black steelies, which took a fair amount of fender cutting to gain the wheel well clearance. Anything is possible with a cutting disk and a sledgehammer. Now I'm almost ready to fab up my front bumper and throw a winch on.

On my 5th gen 4runner I also picked up a great used set of ARB skids in case one day I decide to take her on the trails

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Got the 80 back on all 4's today...quick test spin and no horrible noises. Family coming for holiday dinner soon, tomorrow I'm hoping to do some break in miles... :clap:
 
Finished up the passenger side lower quarter rust repair on the 80

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Nice....I can use some of that too!!
 
imperium said:
Since my dad is building a garage, he needed to move some of his stuff around. One of the things that needed to be moved was his 1984 BMW 318i which has been sitting in the same spot in the woods for just over 20 years. We took the covers off and opened it up.

We used his 2000 Land Rover Disco II to pull it out a few feet and even managed to fill the tires with some air. After that we pulled it up into another spot (still in the woods lol) where it'll sit for a few weeks.

He eventually wants to get it running again. It was his daily for 20 years and has over 420,000 miles on it, but the oil pump died on it one day on his commute and it killed the motor. It needs a total restoration but the body and frame are in shockingly good condition and are definitely worth saving.

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I use to have a 325is i used for drift events and doing hood rat things with my friends!

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136hp and 136tq. The guy that ran the shop and did the dyno pull only did 1 run on it. He hammered it, got the numbers, then got out and said "Please don't make me do that again, its gonna come out the same and it sounds like your drive lines gonna come through the floor." I was riding around on a bad carrier bearing for awhile.
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I use to run the piss out of this thing in oklahoma city when i was in the military, nothing beats driving a slow car fast!
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Then i had to move, and whatever didn't fit in the trailer had to sell, and i could only take one car with me.
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Yesterday, I got my landcruiser back after a few weeks in the shop. They replaced the rear differential pinion and carrier bearings. They also discovered that the rear brake pistons were seized and replaced those while they were in there. Also conducted an alignment. They mentioned the front differential was making some noise. My test drive revealed that the overall drivetrain noise is much improved from before and while there is still a clunk when shifting and when putting my foot back on the accelerator, it is much improved! I can hear the front differential noise more clearly now but it's not terrible. All that work cost me about $1,800 which I think was fair.

Only thing I noticed is that the steering is a bit loose. The alignment is better than it was but not perfect. I'll need to look into the cause of that.

Next up on the to-do list is replacing the rear seal for the trunk and rebuilding the leaky powersteering pump.
 
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Jakes40 said:
spraying carb cleaner with fuel injection doesn't always present vacuum leaks. I have a DIY smoke machine you can barrow. I can bring it to the meeting next week.
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Thanks Jake, haven't been able to get time off work since I posted until today.

I replaced all the hardened vacuum lines I could find, cleaned the throttle, and tested the purge vsv... all good.

Finally got a vacuum gauge on it...

Warmed up Idle, no load:


Warmed up idle w/ load or Reverse/Drive and braked:


Welcome a math check, but probably is a valve problem with the jumpy needle and the late timing would make sense with the weak starts and pinging it does under load driving in temps above 38F. The slapping sound may be the chain, or I'm imagining it.

I think vacuum leak might less likely at this mount. I removed/cleaned/inspected the VVTI solenoids. They both were 7.9ohm and actuated fully with 12v applied.

Next step this weekend will be to remove and inspect the chain tensioner, which is leaking anyway, before removing the valve cover. At some point they'll need to be dealt with, as will the cold start phaser rattle that sounds like it's on the intake side.

I also found a bad motor mount. Not sure if the leak above is only the chain tensioner gasket or both the tensioner and the timing cover.
 
Hey everyone. Long time no see. Been lurking around a bit. I’ve had a long few years of family medical issues, schooling to upgrade my career (I am a paramedic firefighter now instead of just a fireman), etc….. I’m just getting settled after a surgery which is hopefully my last. Well, I sold my old first gen 4 runner and gave my 2001 Tacoma to my older brother who had no vehicle. I bought myself a new taco, but I find myself now with no project :( I’m looking for probably another mini truck because I could fit it in my garage with my wife’s car, but the right cruiser (love the 55) might be an exception. I have a place I could store it and my welding stuff is pretty mobile so I could work on it there. A 78-83 or 84-88 mini would probably be the best though. Maybe another 1st gen runner. I am wanting a 22R…. I just want something carbureted for some dumb reason. I can go pretty wild with whatever I settle on because I have a solid daily now. Anyway, just thought I would say hi. I’ve hung around and read stuff on the forum fairly regularly. I just had a bunch of craziness in my life the last few years. But all is well now. Take care everyone!
 
Timing marks on chain/sprockets line up w/ right link count, sprockets are locked without oil pressure, oil control screen in the front cam cap was spotless.

Cam position sensors both test at 1.176 kOhm which is within range.

Chain damper and guides intact and hardly any wear.

Chain tensioner low wear and ratchets as it should.

Next will pull apart the intake side sprocket to see what it looks like in there.

I'll put the new tensioner in, and really should have done the intake sprocket since I was am there, but I need to get the car back together. Running low on ideas.

Overall looks pretty clean for 203500 and 16 years.



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Explorer4Hire said:
Hey everyone. Long time no see. Been lurking around a bit. I’ve had a long few years of family medical issues, schooling to upgrade my career (I am a paramedic firefighter now instead of just a fireman), etc….. I’m just getting settled after a surgery which is hopefully my last. Well, I sold my old first gen 4 runner and gave my 2001 Tacoma to my older brother who had no vehicle. I bought myself a new taco, but I find myself now with no project :( I’m looking for probably another mini truck because I could fit it in my garage with my wife’s car, but the right cruiser (love the 55) might be an exception. I have a place I could store it and my welding stuff is pretty mobile so I could work on it there. A 78-83 or 84-88 mini would probably be the best though. Maybe another 1st gen runner. I am wanting a 22R…. I just want something carbureted for some dumb reason. I can go pretty wild with whatever I settle on because I have a solid daily now. Anyway, just thought I would say hi. I’ve hung around and read stuff on the forum fairly regularly. I just had a bunch of craziness in my life the last few years. But all is well now. Take care everyone!
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It’s good to hear from you, and it’s great to hear you are feeling better! It has been a while since I’ve seen you post. keep up the good work! I hope you find a good one.
 
kevin in okinawa said:
It’s good to hear from you, and it’s great to hear you are feeling better! It has been a while since I’ve seen you post. keep up the good work! I hope you find a good one.
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Thanks! I'm searching feverishly on marketplace for something cool. Maybe I can make it to a meeting after the first of the year. I had 2 surgeries on my esophagus after my wife's breast cancer surgery and was also taking care of my parents... well I'm still doing that... The good news is everyone is doing really well. My latest surgery put me off the job for 6 weeks to recover but I have a ton of leave after 20 years so that was no big deal. I go back to the engine January 3rd. I feel things have settled down for me finally. If anyone spots a good mini truck let me know!
 
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