Jay 735i

Please ignore/delete, got one...

Swapped out the thermostat, seemed to work on the test drive, but just been for a long drive and it's still overheating occasionally. What seems to be happening is the viscous fan is engaging some of the time, but when it starts overheating, it's quite obvious it's not engaging. What actually causes it to engage/disengage? Is it linked to a sensor? Will track down a good one and swap, see if that helps. Anyone got a good one lying around?

Thanks for the further help guys, much appreciated. I do suspect it might be the viscous fan (which is what I thought I could hear when I listened out for it, but could have been the electric fan, now you've mentioned it). To clarify, it doesn't overheat in stationary traffic, in fact when I got home after the evening drive, I sat on my driveway for a good 5 minutes trying to get it to overheat, which it didn't. I'm figuring it's a thermostat that is taking a lot longer to open fully than it should, hence why it overheated first, then returned to normal operating temps after it's got really hot. The second time it overheated in the morning goes against this theory though, which is why I'm going through the other possibilities, but after each overheat, I still ended up stuck in crawling traffic and the temp stayed at normal (with or without the heater on full). Car won't be driven for any more than test drives until it's sorted, I have heard the viscous fan can cause all sorts of damage if it fails, so will check that first.

Cool, cheers for the replies... yeah am hoping it's an air pocket or thermostat and from searching on here I should have everything covered, but just wanted to see if anyone had similar problems and could add a "don't forget to check...". All good (hopefully)

I only seem to come back on here when I have a problem... Anyhoo, the 735 overheated randomly yesterday while in traffic (car had been driven a short distance, parked up for 15 minutes, then driven a short distance again in slow traffic). The warning bell alerted me the temp was on the way up, so I immediately pulled over and turned the car off. After 5 minutes, I started the car and the temp gauge quickly dropped back to operating temp. I needed to get to work, so risked the drive and spent another 20 minutes in crawling traffic, temps normal, but with the heater and blower on full (luke-warm air only). To test, I turned off the heater and blower and it overheated again almost instantly. Turned the car off again, turned the heater and blower on full and restarted. Again temp gauge quickly returned to operating temp. The rest of the drive was all good, 10 minutes out from the end of the journey, I turned off the blower and put the heater on cool, but no overheating. Wound down the window and could hear the fan engaging, as it should. On journey home, car slowly got up to temp, but when waiting to get onto the motorway it started overheating again. The lights were green, so just drove onto the motorway and watched to see if the temp would drop with the extra air flow. It did, back to operating temp. All was good for the rest of the journey, even when siting in my driveway with the blower and heater off and reving the engine at standstill. Done some quick searching on here, there's a few posts that are very helpful, but nothing specific to my problem. I will attack the issue on the weekend, will replace the thermostat, check the fan clutch, check the return hose to the expansion tank and bleed the system fully. Any other pointers that anyone can share would be greatly appreciated!

Sourced... big cheers to melowpuf....

Right, I have no idea of the correct name for these, but... they bolt to the bottom of the front suspension struts, which the control arms and tie rods also connect to. I need both sides, for an E32 (common with E34 and I believe the 8-series as well). If there are any in Auckville I can pick up, all the better, but happy to pay for postage if required. Don't need the control arms or anything else, just the base plates/brackets.

Oh I'm sure there will be a difference, just I don't believe either car will suddenly become an evil-handling death machine as a result of the change. Plus if you're aware that there will be a change, you can just either adapt your driving style if/as required, or decide that you're not happy and try something else.

I'm in the process of lowering my car, have only managed to put the front shocks and springs in at the moment, giving me a 30mm drop front and standard rears. Admittedly it's an E32, not an E36, so it won't directly compare (plus I've got less of a drop), but the only thing I have noticed is the steering feels more direct. I've not hammered it through any corners, due to still needing to sort out some ball joints, but it's more positve and there seems to be little real world issue with the uneven drop and very different spring rates front to rear. Personally, I'd try it first, then change it if I didn't like it.

Well it's still a problem, cannot separate those 2 ball joints... Is the base plate (again, not sure of the correct name) that the ball joints go into, i.e. the circled part in the above pic, common to E32 and E34? I am thinking of sourcing the strut base plate second-hand, as I have both arms brand new, as per the pic and can just replace the whole lot, but wondering if there is any difference for ease of sourcing.

Ah, well it's the lower control arm that is the issue... bugger.

Ooo that could be cool. You don't happen to know the width of the fork part on the bottom of it? I have one of those as well, but the ball joints are too big to fit into it on mine (have read that people have resorted to using industrial versions for trucks and buses, due to the size of the ball joints).

Indeed it should, but it doesn't. Even with a good quantity of heat and a sodding big mallet, the fork tool won't seperate the ball joints.

Yeah sorry, I knew I would be using the wrong terms for what I am replacing, upper and lower is just in relation to how the ball joints go into the strut base plate (from underneath and from above respectively). Best I can do from work is this borrowed photo, I'm replacing the arm in the foreground and the black arm arrowed that is behind it, which also connects to the strut base plate and the ball joint is directly behind the one circled in the photo. E32_suspension_arms.bmp

As in the ball joint itself (so onto the threaded part and up from underneath)?

Hi All, Just wondering if any of you have any magic ball joint seperation tricks up your sleeves you could share with me. Was trying to replace the upper and lower front suspension arms (I'm sure they have a more technical name but bare with me) on the weekend and I could not get the ball joints to seperate. Tried a seperator fork, can't find a scissor seperator that has a big enough lower jaw, heated the crap out of it, smacked it with a hammer, smacked it with a bigger hammer, accidentally smacked myself with the bigger hammer... I'm stuck, as are the ball joints.

If that is true, you've got a hell of a lot of internet to correct. Not to mention Top Gear, a few P5 owners clubs, Wiki etc...

Sorry, didn't think you were taking the mickey, just that I've heard a few people say similar things without realising that Rover were actually pretty public about where the engine came from. The Leyland P76 engine was indeed based on the Rover/Buick engine, but surprisingly few parts are directly interchangeable. Rover also tried developing a diesel version, but block wasn't strong enough. Also there were rumours that under BL control, the bean-counters wanted to put it into the new XJ that was being developed at the time, but the Jaguar engineers specifically designed their new car in a way that it wouldn't fit (for snobbery reasons). Lots of history with that engine...

Very, very nice car... with all the re-badged Honda and head gasket eating K-Series nonsense, it's all too easy to forget that Rover were once a premium brand and were very technologically advanced for their time. No need for anyone to make 'Buick, oops Rover' noises either, the B of the P5B actually stood for Buick. They made no bones about the engine's origins.

Mobile telecomms network design engineer. Which is an incredibly exciting and challenging job, let me tell you... Contracting at the moment, so at least it pays well.

Hey all, Not a huge problem, but the auto box shifts sweetly and quickly up and down but every now and then seems to lurch into 4th at motorway speeds. Done a search for possible issues, but nothing seems to match on here. A trans oil and filter change will almost certainly be due, but if anyone has any advice? J.

They are sex. Shame they don't come in something close to an E32 fitment.

The Silvia 6-speed doesn't suck, it's just not as strong as the 5-speed and by the sounds of your plans, you'll be wanting the strength. Plus if you go for it with the SR20, there are options for making the 5-speed even stronger (OS Giken gearsets etc). However the 350Z box is reputed to be very strong from factory (you'd almost think that Nissan knew the 350Z would be used for drifting by a lot of customers and over-engineered it as a result! ). Not heard of an adaption to the SR20 though, as most are happy with the 5-speed box. Timelines are down to your work ethic, but draw up a project plan, list all the jobs that need doing, put a realistic time against each and add them up. Then triple that time. And if you're me, add 2 years.

The springs should be with me shortly, so am hoping to put the Billies in on the weekend. Have looked in the boxes for the new inserts and I've noticed there are no replacement collars for the front struts (which apparently are included with some replacement insert kits). Anyone know if these are specific to my E32? Or rather, should I find the existing collars are a real pig to remove (as the guide I have says) and I have to get physical with the buggers, are they easy to get replacements for? Or are they going to be special order, long waiting time etc. items?

I love the interior, the drivers seat has a little wear, the rest of it looks barely used. I reckon I can fix the drivers side with some decent leather food and make it look like the rest. And I agree, there is something about the E32's proportions, they just got it right.