ducatiss

Sounds fine to me - on gentle acceleration the car will do as you have described - plant your foot and it will hold each gear to near the redline - I dont see the problem, unless I have misunderstood something here.

You can buy a water dispersant for electronics (maybe d*ck smith) that will get rid of the water and prevent further corrosion. However given a week has already gone by I think it may be too late for that. I would pull the unit out and carefully pull it all apart and make sure everything is dry. Pay attention to the colored connectors and make sure they and the pins is completely dry. Also check the battery unit - its soldered to the board but just dry it the best yu can. If it still gives trouble after doing that replace the unit with a good used one it will be easier and cheaper in the long run.

Many thanks guys - im finished work for the year, the sun is shining, and there is beer in the fridge - what more could one want!!

Sorry didnt mean to scare you with the pic of the missing dash lol So here's another couple - one is after the dash has just gone in and the other after job complete. I agree that the E30 is now a do it yourself sort of car. They are not hard to work on and I learned as I went through the help from members of this forum, the internet, a workshop manual, and common sense. The link below will take you to some exellent instructions that will guide you thru the process - photos included! http://home.comcast.net/~cdeegan9/dashboard/dashboard_1.html But if you want to pay someone else to do the dash swop I guess that's your call.

Oh go on it's easy and fun - well maybe not fun, but if you take your time and label your wires and switch connectors as you go it is really quite easy. Once everything is removed from the dash, the dash itself is quite easy to unbolt from both sides of the car and take out. I'm a slow worker and it took me 8 hours to do mine from start to finish and it was well worth it.

yes regarding heat - the fan uses a bi metallic spring to sense heat passing through the radiator which then operates a valve to control the silicon fluid transfer thereby activating the fan. Air is still drawn through when at a standstill as the fan still continues to spin (though with no force behind it) - well that would suggest that the fan isnt the issue but I would still test it anyway to rule it out. Often when diagnosing faults, it is useful to be able to fully rule out possibilities. Flush out the radiator next. Check hoses for blockages. Then refill and carefully bleed out the system. Is your coolant expansion tank hot after running your car up to temp? Next will be the waterpump to check/replace though I would spend some time frst to rule out a faulty or incompatable sender/gauge. I used to (before I broke it) have a themometer I used to check water temp.

Dont let it get too hot on the gauge or you run the risk of cracking the head. I would not be giving that engine sh*t as you put it until you have corrected the problem or you may have additional more expensive ones to contend with! Check that you have bleed the system properly Check for radiator blockage - back flush it (assume that the radiator is the correct one?) Check hoses (bottom and top hoses) I would replace the thermostat anyway. How did you test your viscous fan? Remember they spin anyway when the engine is running but when the clutch operates they really get into it and you should feel them blowing heaps of warm air. Mine always engages at just a hair over the half way mark. If you carefully test it with a rolled up newspaper, when it is just freely spinning, you should be able to stop the fan with the newspaper - when the fan clutch engages, it will chop that paper up. Be very careful with this method of testing!! Are you losing any coolant? It could be a temp sensor issue but until you can correctly measure the coolant temp, check all the other items.

If you are doing some preventative maintenance, then it would make good sense to replace the thermostat with another (pref a genuine BMW part). While you are at it, check the condition of all your coolant hoses.

Re the wires, generally no you don't on the e30 unless they are obviously arcing or worn etc. Did you gap your plugs correctly and are they the correct plugs for the e30? Hard starting can be a host of things. I have always found the e30 to be a great starter when cold but require a little cranking at times when hot. Check that any cold start circuits are functioning - check temp sensor for a start. Yes, 3100 does seem high for top gear. What wheel/tyre sizes are you running? Is it still the standard diff ratio?

There is no way he is breaching her "rights" under the privacy act - the privacy act exists to provide some protection for the information gathered and contained about us by corporates, government depts and businesses. I say good on him!!

I dont think I have ever had the reverse lights checked either - are they actually a wof item? As for your problem, you really need to have a multi meter (a DickSmith job is perfect) and check the power and ground circuits at the bulb and wherever the reverse light switch is on the gearbox (from memory, its underneath somewhere but could be wrong on this). It is probably a corroded connection or broken wire if the fuse is ok)

Am I reading this right? The car overheated, there was a warning about oil pressure, the engine kept cutting out - but you kept driving it anyway -then had another go for good measure?

So long as your electric fan is coming on (and drawing enough air - you should feel it really blasting out the hot air) then the fan is not the problem. Also, if it is overheating at 100 km/h, that would also point to the fan NOT being the problem. Most likely an air lock - they can be tricky buggers to bleed sometimes. Possibly a cracked head though I think you would have noticed other symptoms if this was the issue. Could also still be the radiator - are you sure its completely clean? When you say its overheating what is the car doing - is there steam/coolant spewing from somewhere? Can you hear it boiling? or is it just your temp gauge saying its over heating? Did you check your thermostat in a pot of boiling water and watched it open fully before the water boiled? Also check the hose going to your coolant expansion tank and the cap on the top. Is the system pressurizing correctly? As much detail as possible always helps.

"In French, Russian and Ukrainian the word "Eskimo" (ЭÑкимо/ЕÑкімо) is used as a general name (not a trademark) for any ice-cream with a wooden stick to handle it." More here on the origins of the eskimo pie http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eskimo_Pie So wtf is wrong with eskimo lollies???

That tank is an expansion tank designed to allow the coolant (under pressure) to expand when hot. That said, there should always be coolant in the expansion tank and there is an arrow on the tank to show you where to fill it up to when the system is cold. (basically half way up) You may find that when you initially fill the system it will drop in level after a run due to air still being in the system that bleeding doesn't always remove. However in your case it may be leaking. This could be caused by you dislodging some build up of crud in your radiator during the refill so check the radiator for signs of coolant loss. It may show up as some slight dampness or weeping rather than a constant drip. Also check that the cap is sealing and seating properly. If its not, the system will not pressurize and coolant will expand out the overflow or out the cap itself. Often the threads on the pressure tank wear (or someone cross threads the cap) preventing a decent tight fit of the cap. You can try a rolling some insulation tape around the threads ( just a single layer of tape around the threads is all that's needed) if this is the problem. Also check and double check all the coolant hoses and clips etc. Run the car until the gauge is showing normal operating temp and the system under pressure and check for leaks. I would be running the thing until the viscous fan comes on to make sure she's nice and warm. Coolant leaks usually show as white marks when dry. Hope this helps

Is it media monkey you are thinking of?

As an Ex IT support technician, I can honestly say that IT is one industry where the customer is NOT always right! I especially loved those customers who blame you for causing an unrelated issue. EG Me: Hi - how can I help? Cust: Its about that new monitor. Me: yes, how are you enjoying it? Cust: Well you deleted some of my work files so I'm not happy. Me: All I did was plug your new monitor in and start your computer to make sure it was working, I didnt touch your files. Cust: Well they were there before Me: Have you tried doing a search for them, theres a handy windows tool called..... Cust: (interrupting)Well Im not paying the bill Me: Thats fine we will collect your new monitor this afternoon and give you back your old one Cust: but the old one doesn't work Me: That's correct sir And so it goes on - this particular moron was looking on the wrong PC for his missing files !!!!

Actually, it may still work - what would happen is that Finance companies would not lend (or lend at very high rates) to high risk drivers - much the same as insurance companies work. Whether or not there is a lein on the car should be immaterial, that is a risk the loan company would either accept or not accept based on driving history. Eventually we would see young drivers driving very cheap and old hand me downs. Stolen cars are another story. It's a theory anyway. I see though that true to form and as I said in one of my other posts the Police are looking to the U.K for ideas http://tinyurl.com/buwvo4 - the latest being to hand the offender a piece of paper requiring them to stop their behaviour! I say come up with our own original ideas. I'm over and out on this topic.

I have one for sale pm me - pick up in Roxburgh.

No offence taken - my point is that I don't have the answers, however we need to be trying different strategies whether they work or not in the long run, we need to be coming up with creative solutions. Now whether that be a carrot or a stick approach or a combination of both I'm not sure, but it's a bit like that sheriff in the States who runs that Tent city and boot camp for criminals - it's something different where other methods have failed. I don't totally blame our youngsters for this state of affairs, older generations have handed them the means to behave in this way on a platter by way of an irresponsible media, super fast cars, weak enforcement of the law by the courts, etc etc.

What about the law abiding people that have to suffer in the meantime? Surely you cant be serious? I get what you mean here but I dont think ignoring the problem will make it go away.

Until Government get serious with this problem, then it will continue. These boy racers obviously are no better than thugs given their behavior as reported on the news. I think that creative solutions are needed and unfortunately our Government is not very good at coming up with anything that is not based on something that hasn't already been tried in the U.K or other european countries and based on previous research. There are a lot of things that could be tried ranging from placing curfews on young drivers, confiscating and selling or destroying cars early on, providing incentive schemes for good road behaviour as well as demerits (eg, no tickets in in a year provides discount on registration), early jail or detention for repeat offenders, limiting or forbidding modifications on cars owned or driven by young drivers, etc etc. Not all these ideas would work or would even be desirable - but my point is that government agencies (including to a degree the Police) seem to be sitting on their hands on this issue. The transport ministers response was particularly weak on the Christchurch issue. One does not need to travel down to Christchurch to ascertain the scale of the problem - it is already apparent that something needs to be tried now.

Corroded pipes? Did it not have corrosion inhibitor in it?

Go for the H&R's plus Bilsteins - nice setup. Dont go lower that 45 - 50mm unless you are prepared to start playing with camber correction.

Building more prisons will be good for the economy