What did you do to your other car(s) today?

[topher800]

Botched backing into a guest/unfamiliar driveway this morning. It was BC (before coffee) and a challenging driveway...should have had a spotter. Perhaps strongest railing ever, supporting some 3,000lbs

[SPF2006]

Chasing a hard start problem on the e38. One out of every two or two out of every three engine starts takes 7-10 seconds of cranking. Not temperature or time-sitting dependent. Engine does not fail to start however. Problem predates the previous owner who had the car since 2014 and never solved it, despite sorting the car pretty thoroughly during his ownership -- he checked fuel pressure and replaced the fuel pump which did not resolve the problem. In discussing the issue before purchase he also at my suggestion replaced the coolant temp sensor with a used unit and strangely, that seemed to resolve the problem (three weeks without recurrence), but it has since returned. I replaced the CTS again with a new unit because it was cheap and easy, but no dice. The weird periodicity of it has me stumped. Any M60-knowledgeable folks on the board, I'd welcome suggestions/pointers to other diagnostic routes.

[amagansa]

Installed new thermostat, thermostat housing + cover, and water pump on the e23. I would have been done today, but the new thermostat housing has an extra hole in it probably meant for a sensor that this older M30 doesn't have. I will run to the hardware store tomorrow and get something that fits to plug it up. With any luck, this will fix my overheating issue, or else it's the fan clutch next. I would have bought one, but the only one I could find was around 270 bucks and I don't want to spend that much if I don't need it yet.

Also on the e39 I ripped out the crankshaft and camshaft sensors. Took it to NAPA and the parts will be here tomorrow morning. fingers crossed that this will help.

[amagansa]

Finished installing the cooling system parts on the e23. Got a "drain plug" from NAPA (10 bucks!!) and works great. No leaks from the components, so that's good. Started it up and the alternator belt wasn't over the crankshaft pulley correctly, so it almost shredded the PS belt. So I decided to cut the AC belt since it doesn't work Anyway and remove the rest of the PS belt. New belts are ordered and on the way. They were old anyway. Other than that, it now idles great without going past the halfway point, so no fan clutch needed for now. Once the PS belt is on, I'll test drive and work towards replacing the VC gasket. I should also replace the coolant sensors.

On the e39, I installed the new crank and cam sensors and put it back together. Still runs like crap, but at least it will start reliably again. I will test the MAF sensor at work tomorrow. Could also be the ICV...

[Mike W.]

Moved the E23 into the garage to finish up work on the HVAC system and found an inch of water in the left rear footwell!!! That'll teach me to leave a car out in the Houston weather without a car cover. I guess 2" of rain water will find a way in. Feel free to point me to a good "water intrusion" thread.

How's the sunroof alignment? I've found on several 80s BMWs that if the sunroof sits too low at the closed stopping point, it will leak. Oddly while washing the car or the like no problems at all, but overnight in a good rain? Look out. Typically they're low, a quarter inch or so. The seal, which isn't a full seal, keeps it dry if it doesn't have to cope with too much. Seems like the sunroof drainage system should keep the water out, but not in my experience. I mean you pour it in and it comes out, what's not to work? But it doesn't work that way.

[Bonsaibacker]

I've got the E39 on jack stands in the garage pulling the drive shaft (swapping with David M and his totaled 540i- in fact I am picking up the whole car minus the trans, rear diff, wheels and a few other bits on Sunday). Having just put the drive shaft back into the E28, I am enjoying seeing the differences. Obviously an in-line 6 and a V8 will have different exhaust, but the drive shaft bolts and access are much beefier than that of the E28. So far it is a much easier process as I have already replaced some of the bolts under there within the last 4 years.

[amagansa]

A couple days ago the e39 crapped out on me on the way to work. Towed it to work and we found out that the fuel pump was basically done. I paid for the master tech to do it. My savings were more than double what I paid

[jca]

Installed a pair of sports seats that I found in a salvage yard in Dallas, into my 1998 318ti, base model. Fun car to drive and pretty simple to maintain. My son and his wife are moving from Boston to Columbus, Ohio, this summer, and they will need two cars there. I'm going to give the car to them with pleasure.

[RonW]

Fixed the dimmer knob on the rearview mirror in my 325Ci.

The knob, commonly referred to as the "clown nose" in E46 circles, is twisted rather than flipped like any other dimmer you've ever used.

It's held in place by an over-center spring, which fatigued and finally broke. I'm sure it cost pennies to make, but of course you can't buy it separately, and a new mirror costs $200, so I fixed it by making a new spring out of one of those super-cheap split ring key rings like the dealer puts on your keys when you leave your car for service.

[amagansa]

E23 cooling system repair is officially finished. Replaced the belts, took it on a long test drive with plenty of stop and go, and temperature is fine, and no leaks. I will reward it with a long overdue car wash and valve cover gasket tomorrow.

[1st 5er]

ElJeepo has had a slow leak.
Tried plugging it myself, 1st time ever that has not worked.
Took the tire in and had it plugged from the inside.
We are now, Rollin', Rollin', Rollin', again.

[LeiseyJr]

ElJeepo has had a slow leak.
Tried plugging it myself, 1st time ever that has not worked.
Took the tire in and had it plugged from the inside.
We are now, Rollin', Rollin', Rollin', again.

Should've taken it to Discount Tire would have had it plugged AND patched for free.

[1st 5er]

ElJeepo has had a slow leak.
Tried plugging it myself, 1st time ever that has not worked.
Took the tire in and had it plugged from the inside.
We are now, Rollin', Rollin', Rollin', again.

Should've taken it to Discount Tire would have had it plugged AND patched for free.

Only if purchased there, which they were not,
I usually buy tires and batteries from that nationwide super retailer,
as you never know when you'll be away from home and need service,
or you know someone who works there, which I do, thanks for the reminder,
but would that option have been convenient and/or ethical?

P.S.
They did use one of the plug&patch from the inside thingies.

[a]

I vacc'ed up the spilt birdseed. My brother opened it up from the bottom. I picked it up from the top.

[1st 5er]

I vacc'ed up the spilt birdseed. My brother opened it up from the bottom. I picked it up from the top.

Sorry Andy, but I

[Mike W.]

More on the Granddaughters Ford Escape. I'd done the 3 easy plugs a couple of weeks ago, they were easy. But the valve cover gaskets were leaking into the plug wells so it needed them changed too, along with the 3 remaining 205K plugs. That thing is not fun to work on. Another 8 hours plus. Compounded by getting the drive belt soaked with oil, trying to clean it so replacing it, then trying to chase down a clicking noise. Which she later said was probably just the CD player that was jammed. Oh yeah, I probably should have said something... But it's back on the road. Runs well, but clearly shows it age, loose as a goose as my Dad would have said.

[krhodes1]

Last weekend - took the gas tank out of my '91 Volvo 940GLE, took out the in-tank fuel pump assembly, checked the tank for crud, and replaced the lifter pump and filter sock. The latest in a long line of parts replacements trying to track down some not quite random but not entirely predictable either running issues.

Lovely car I picked up on eBay last spring in LA. only 79K on it when I got it, a VERY rare 940 twincam 16V so it almost gets out of it's own way. Near museum-worthy condition. And it has been a complete and utter PITA every time I have tried to take it out of town on a highway trip. Sigh. Old cars are fun, right?

[gadget73]

been a week but I drained the radiator and pulled the heater hoses from the Conti to try to match them. Found one NOS at an old stock warehouse for $10, so of course I bought it. Waiting on that to confirm it is what it ought to be. Once that shows I'll see if the other one is hidden inside another hose or can be constructed from a few. I also think I found the source of the air leak on the primary fuel system. I had a too-big hose clamp holding the fuel line to the lift pump, and I think it was pinching the hose enough to let air past so the fuel drained back to the tank. New clamps of the proper type and size instead of worm clamps and we'll see how this does.

[jca]

Continuing to work on my long term rattle can re-spray of my '84 325e. In the beginning I was picky about matching the factory polaris silver shade. Now any old silver will do. I also got tired of paying $10 for a small can of duplicolor so my paint source is now Walmart. The job look good from about 35 feet.

[davintosh]

Ordered a new stereo for my daily driver. I've been tiring of having nothing but AM/FM programming; no tape deck or CD player. So I'm getting a JVC KD-X350BTS to resolve that problem. Bluetooth, USB, 50W x 4 channels, etc... in a sub-$70 unit. Should be a nice improvement; really looking forward to it!

All the car stereo shopping got me to thinking about doing something different for my wife's car too. She drives a Lexus X5-sized unit, which has an awesome-sounding stereo, but it's missing the Bluetooth feature. It does have Bluetooth, but it only works with a phone for calling (I know, right?) It's got AM/FM, cassette, and a 6-disk changer in it, but the changer is getting flakier with time, and just needs to go.

My daughter & her hubby got a new car last fall, and one of the things that gave me the envies is the Apple CarPlay feature in it; seriously cool way of making the phone more useful in the car. So I shopped around and found a number of aftermarket head units that feature CarPlay. The Lexus' stereo faceplate has a really goofy shape, and I wasn't really sure an aftermarket unit would even fit, but I learned that behind the faceplate it's just a double-DIN box. I ordered a Jensen VX4024.





I did some digging and found an aftermarket faceplate that fits in with the factory plastics but is shaped to fit a standard rectangular head unit. I'm also getting all the bits needed to make use of the factory amplifier & speakers, microphones, and the control buttons on the steering wheel. And it'll all arrive after she leaves for a week in Europe with her sisters, which gives me time to install it in time to surprise her with it; she returns on our anniversary, so bonus points for me!

[rochareels]

Opened the hood of my '63 T-Bird and said, "Jesus what a mess!" I quietly closed the hood and put the car cover back on.

I tore everything down on the big block 390, got frustrated with timing issues and haven't worked on it for over a year!

DSCN0364 by rochareels, on Flickr

[gadget73]

Wear in the distributor? Shouldn't be too much there on a 390. Vac advance and weights in the spinny bit.

Pressure tested the cooling system in the Continental and it passed. Think I finally got the persistent coolant leak dealt with. Gummy heater core hose and the leaky rad drain seem to have been it. It held pressure for 30 mins and no drips showed up on the ground.

[topher800]

Ordered a new stereo for my daily driver. I've been tiring of having nothing but AM/FM programming; no tape deck or CD player.

You are tiring of AM/FM only?!?!? I am tiring of the ringing in my right ear as the only sound available in my car.

[Mike W.]

Ordered a new stereo for my daily driver. I've been tiring of having nothing but AM/FM programming; no tape deck or CD player.

You are tiring of AM/FM only?!?!? I am tiring of the ringing in my right ear as the only sound available in my car.

So you prefer your Tinnitus in stereo?

[TSMacNeil]

Cleared out the personables from the Carrera yesterday-

It’s being re-incarnated as a Ram/Cummins dually right after this trip.

#one911isenough

[topher800]

Ordered a new stereo for my daily driver. I've been tiring of having nothing but AM/FM programming; no tape deck or CD player.

You are tiring of AM/FM only?!?!? I am tiring of the ringing in my right ear as the only sound available in my car.

So you prefer your Tinnitus in stereo?

As soon as I figure out how to shake a cocktail shaker left handed, It will be stereo.

[dsmith]

I removed the windshield from the wagon. So happy to see perfect lower corners and no corrosion! A few more little clips to remove and this hunk is headed to the media blaster.

[1st 5er]

I removed the windshield from the wagon. So happy to see perfect lower corners and no corrosion! A few more little clips to remove and this hunk is headed to the media blaster.

I wanna see the back half of that rotisserie.

[topher800]

Finally found the spacers for between the bows and bows and windshield. New summer top for the Jeep. And some rubber, toolbox gasket, windshield to cowling gasket, and hood welt.

[dsmith]

I wanna see the back half of that rotisserie.

All good, except a bit of crud hidden under the seal on the left side.