Arata

Yep have previously cleaned thoroughly and made sure it was cleaned dry after. But yes that could also be the case. I might have to get it cleaned again.

Yep those are soldiered nicely.

Hey thanks for heads up. Yes the connector going to the fuel pump under the seat was repaired before so those are not moving freely anymore but I will double check. I’ll try get one from the supplier for the current one under warranty and hopefully it will last me enough till I get better one… if I am getting the walbro255 fuel pump is there specific one listed for E30 set up or any of them is fine?

Hi team. Arata here again with issues with my E30 (again haha). Believe or not I'm having issues with fuel pump(s) failing relatively quickly. From the previous owner to during my ownership, went through 4 pumps through last 3 years. First one lasted 2 years+. That time around the fuel tank was rusty which I did not clean that time. Second one lasted a week and died. Tested 12v directly and not even powering or moving at all. 3rd one and 4th one the pump was still somewhat working but not flow rate was down. (this time around the tank was taken out and cleaned thoroughly, no visual rust build up at this stage) First and second one was from trade me (nz shop), the other two was Icon series. Have already tested the fuel pressure regulator and is still working fine. Have replaced fuel filter frequent enough at the same time as fuel pumps, obviously with fuel filter facing right way of direction. I will definitely consider checking the tank and give another cleaning but just wondering those who owns E30s out there that have replaced their fuel pumps, which brand you guys used? Will talk to the shop to see if they can swap with new one under warranty but if the brand is the issue then I would get either genuine one or high performance one. Also wee question, what is the fuel pump check valve? Is this in-build inside the electric pump itself? Or is it the fuel breather? Some people suggested that put the check valve in the fuel line but not sure if that is ideal. Any suggestions or ideas much appreciated. Thanks team! Arata the crazy Japanese guy

I put 50/50 ratio and about 10 litres each. Soaked inside for 4-6 hours, and flip the tank upside down and soak further 4-6 hours.

Update guys. Managed to encourage myself to take the tank out and cleaned it during Easter holidays. The rust wasn’t as bad as I thought. Definitely needs another good cleaning with soaking in the solution but it came out much better. I used CRC Evaporust with distilled cleaning vinegar and was a good success of cleaning. I just had to keep rinsing and cleaning with acetone about 5 times fully till all rusts are gone. The photo of the bucket with rust was about the third time when I drained the tank. Also at the same time, I’ve replaced the flexi disc on driveshaft as i didn’t notice that it was far beyond cracking. Don’t ask how I’ve been driving with it like that condition for the whole time…

Thanks guys for suggestions. I’ll have a decent look inside the tank and decide what I can do.

Hey team. My 325i died on Friday night (some people might have seen me at Pak n Save getting towed haha). Did quick diagnostics while I was waiting for tow truck to come. Cranking forever and not starting. Funny enough I’ve already replaced fuel pump and fuel pressure regulator and other normal maintenance items so I’ve scratching my head. Got it towed back home, yesterday morning I’ve checked the usual things as it follows… All relays working. Fuse and relay for fuel pump is getting power while cranking as well as at connector end. I added direct power to the pump and I can hear the pump moving. Checked the fuel filter and it wasn’t the dirtiest as I’ve replaced about 1 year ago. But did some rust came out. So put everything connected again and disconnected the fuel hose to the regulator and injector rail, fuel not getting to the engine. So took out the pump again and this time I dipped in the fuel in the bucket and added the power directly, the pump motor moved but guess what, it’s back flowing from where inlet supposed to suck in the fuel to the outlet, this point I believe the fuel pump is damaged somewhat and I think bit of rust in the tank is the problem. I’ve already ordered the pump so hopefully I can at least test to see if anything else is the issue but meantime just wanted to see how you clean the tank inside. Any suggestions welcome. Thanks team.

Are you talking about the condenser fan? It is working as far as I know. I’ll give another look for the fan operation.

Hey Eagle, happy new year. That is correct, when the car is on and when I press the air con button on (or off) there’s no power at the compressor plug. Ok that sounds like another thing I’ll try. Thanks for advice.

Hi team. Dealing with my E46 hvac today. Basically the ac is not blowing cold, not even warm cold. Heater is working fine as well as blower blowing all speed. i have checked the fuses and they are fine and getting power, checked the relays behind fuse boxes and they are ok too. Now only thing is that the ac compressor connector is not getting power when the button is pressed. When I press the button the engine rpm changes, so I’m assuming that the modules are telling to the ac compressor to engage the clutch but no power. I’m assuming that the ac clutch is gone and needs new compressor. But I’m just wondering what’s preventing it from not sending power to the compressor, is it because it’s in the fail safe mode that the modules are not sending power on purpose, or I do have wiring issues? I have tried using the ac recharge can but according to the can and with the gauge telling me, unable to recharge as showing on red warning zone (70psi at low pressure) at needle pointing when the car/ac is on. Haven’t got to test the high side. What’s everyone’s suggestion? Thanks in advance.

Thanks Rag-Top, I’m just waiting for new thermostat and will do another attack on bleeding. Hopefully comes out alright.

So I’ve tested the wirings/fuses/relay and funny enough the relay might have gone as I’m not getting any power. Luckily I had spare relay so I’ve replaced it and I’ve got power coming to the heater valve, run the car and turned the temperature knob from full cold to full hot and back and forth and I could feel the heater valve moving so confirmed it’s working. If the information is correct to get the heater valve open I have to set the temperature setting to cold to make the valve open and bleed the coolant? I’ve done once after I’ve sorted the power issue and seems it’s getting a lot warmer than before, not quite as hot as before but definitely getting hotter. I guess I’ll continued to bleed and check coolant level but for now it’s not overheating and somewhat heater is coming back so it’s good for me.

e30ftw, you are legend. I’ll have a look into this weekend.

Thanks guys. I believe I may found the issue. I’ll have to order new thermostat for the right opening temperature as the current one is set to 78 degrees where original one is 85 degrees. That will sort out the temperature gauge below half way. I just removed the lower panel and the pipe towards the heater core is nice and hot, on the other hand the heater core valve pipe is luke warm. So that’s what’s blocking the flow of the coolant. I’ve looked again but I think it needs to have 12v to open the valve? My next question is can I feed 12v directly to make it open? (I’ll have to do some wiring job) because I don’t really want to open the entire dash if I don’t need to…

Thanks again Eagle, you always help me. So far this is what I’ve done… I’ve swapped the old thermostat which only to find out it’s not opening. I’ve done multiple bleeding, and let it cool, tried again. so have put the one I recently changed couple of months back, and took 3 times to get it calm. But I’m back to where I was, it’s not overheating and seems like I have got the air out, but the needle is never in the middle, more towards colder mark and little heat from heater. I think what I’m gonna do is to look for another thermostat and do water pump/timing belt and do the bleeding again and see what happens. With the heater core valve, it shouldn’t matter whether is on or not as when it’s not connected it should be open anyway? So I can just leave the wires as I’m not getting any power regardless.

No it’s the manual fan with clutch.

Thanks Driftit. So that’s what I’m gonna do after work today. Pre-fill the coolant with one by one and heater core and try bleed it and see if I can have my heater back. And no but now you mentioned it I’ll add the viscous fan clutch with the timing job too.

I’ve put the spare thermostat in, and this time I’m just struggling to bleed as it tries to overheat this time. I think there’s still a lot of air trapped and the way those coolant hoses go I believe I have to manually bleed by disconnecting the each hoses at a time and add the coolant directly to try get as much as air I can?

Hi team. It’s time for me to start attacking on maintenance/repairs on my E30. Long story short, my heater core valve (or water valve, whatever it’s called) gave up couple of weeks ago, decided to go over and replace what I should be replacing for the cooling system. I’ve just replaced the radiator, heater core, heater core valve, new o rings for fitting, 2 temperature sensors on top of the thermostat housing, expansion tank and level sensor. Please note that I’ll do the water pump and timing belt at the same time soon. Thermostat is less than 1 year old and all parts are OEM from FCP Euro. Have bled the system multiple times with front of the engine up on jack stands, and it seemed that I didn’t overheat the engine which is good relief, no leaking. However, there’s little cold to warm air from the vent at full hot setting. I’m getting hot at upper and lower heater core pipes, and the heater core of course is getting hot, all other coolant hoses are hot as well. The other things I’ve noticed was the temperature gauge on dash is now 1/4 to 2/3 towards coldest mark, which indicating that the it’s not getting at full operational temperature. I have gone for test drive for good 4 hours today, still no sign of overheating but the gauge never got in the middle, and no change of heater bringing hot air. It’s staying like warm to cold. I have spare old thermostat which I’ll swap them over and see if it changes anything but I doubt it. Any suggestions? Thanks in advance.

Thanks Vass, I could’ve just replaced the valve stem seals but I’m more of the type where things need to be done properly, gotta get them done so the job is done in one go. It was a first attempt of rebuilding 4 cylinder engine and it was quite fun, even though I’m still a 6 cylinder person.

And here it goes for the first time start. She’s all good and healthy now. No more black smoke out of the exhaust and no leaking at all. I also made a correct decision by replacing timing chain as it runs and sounds so much better, as before it felt like it was jumping to start the engine. Forgot to measure the difference of the old and new chain but must’ve stretched out or tensioner given up. Very happy with it. Now I can get rid of the car and sell it. IMG_3206.mov

Got my head back yesterday. Very reasonable price. The old man said the head had nothing wrong with it. Passed the hardness test, pressure test, vacuum test without issues and he even fitted the valve stem seals for me. Very happy with it! Now I’m getting head bolts and timing chain kit…

I took my cylinder head to the one in Sockburn, close to the roundabout and NPD.

Thanks Vass. I’ve taken the head to one of the cylinder head repair shop and the guy will let me know if it’s still reusable or not after carrying out 3 tests on it. Then he will carry out to resurface, clean, and replace the valve stem seals for me. Sounds like a good old man with heaps of great reviews. One of the shop in town I rang up quoted $1100+ to do hardness/pressure test and valve stem seals replacement (not including other things) and the guy I took the head into said that’s far too expensive. It was the very first time I’m taking the head for the tests so I said I’m not aware of the rough prices these days but my boss at our workshop, the garage next door all said that’s too much. The old man said about $600+ at the most and he sounded quite reasonable and explained to me what he does etc… Well I guess I’ll find out soon.