535is Homebrew Turbo (ex 633 Callaway) - 2024 Update

[tschultz]

Darn, well they aren't coming off now! Unfortunately because of the layout of the callaway log, it's not coming off until the engine comes out again!

I had gone with these due to the suggestion of Corky Bell in his book Maximum Boost.

[milarsky]

What a great project Tom! Looking forward to seeing you this summer in Pagosa.

best,
Jeff

[daniels635turbo]

Here's a couple engines to druel over.
https://youtu.be/vcsgpN1TEHI
https://youtu.be/1SGBtFhBOQI
https://youtu.be/Bs30sKA5XdQ

[wkohler]

I hope you REPLACE that radiator. You can't skimp on critical components like that, especially given how this car resembled the Baltimore CVS under the hood when you got it.

[tschultz]

I hope you REPLACE that radiator. You can't skimp on critical components like that, especially given how this car resembled the Baltimore CVS under the hood when you got it.

Yep, we decided to do that when it was out. Even the upper radiator inlet was fully coated with a layer of brown sludge, so I feel better having that done.The replacement is installed waiting for fluids to be added, which I am hoping to do tonight.

[tschultz]

The car is alive again!

Started it up last night late around 8:30pm after tracking down no start issue. It ended up being a no spark situation. Checked main relay, speed/reference sensors, power at the coil, ECU etc. Eventually we got it going and it didn't want to idle because of a bad connection at the Coolant temp sensor. The connection here had gone bad with a non-BMW connector. Got that sorted out and the hood back on.

Idle was looking smooth at around ~12.5-13:1 as we added coolant to top off the system. Got it closed up and then put the hood on as it was drizzling. Started up again and nice AFR readings from the gauge, so I took it around the block. In slight acceleration, AFR's at 12:0-12.5:1, excellent. Drove a mile around the block but never really got on it. The turbo spool makes a somewhat loud noise, much more than my brothers 745i. It was rainy and went and my tires are old and somewhat questionable in the weather so I just took it easy.

Took my friend Mike around the block and he's excited to see how the car does. Definitely had some torque come on with a light bit of throttle.
I then drove the car home for the night, about 55 miles, but I took it very easy since it was already 10pm by this point and AFR readings suddenly went lean. Around 15.5:1 and sometimes slightly more. It was a cool wet evening so I decided to drive it home. During driving it was bouncing around quite a bit from 14-16.5:1 while staying steady on the throttle. I stayed out of boost religiously.

Thinking that some of the crappy intake boots went bad and burst without a BOV in place. Next step will be to install the BOV/ diverter along with replace all of the connecting piping hoses. Can't really troubleshoot until I know those connections are good.

Also, after warm up the oil pressure light comes on at idle. I thought this was from a weak pump on the B32, but it is doing the same on the B34. I have read up about restrictors in the oil line, do I need this? After 1000rpm, the light turn outs and oil pressure goes up nicely... The oil supply like is -4AN. Oil is 20W50 conventional for the time being.

So I need to diagnose a temp gauge that doesn't move off the right edge of blue (it moves).
Rewire AFR gauge to known good power circuit.
replace hose couplers
add diverter valve
replace brake rotors/pads (likely E34 big brake upgrade).
replace drivers window motor

Once I get it running back to when it was when we started it up, I'll continue with front/rear bumper install and then I'll be able to have the rear section of the exhaust finished up. We just used exhaust clamps for a temporary solution until everything can be finalized.

Maybe a few photos later today, unfortunately I won't be working on it this weekend due to a trip to Pagosa Springs for D4C planning.

[B Rod]

Did the wiring to the fuse box end up being plug and play as expected?

[tschultz]

Did the wiring to the fuse box end up being plug and play as expected?

It did indeed!

Now to track down lean running condition. Thinking FPR may be faulty, or AFM may need to be adjusted although I probably won't mess with it. Won't be around this weekend, so it may take me some time to track it down. As I mentioned, I'll be taking it apart to get the correct (new) couplers for all the piping.

In other news, i did replace the OBC fuse and it is now working! Sorry no photos today, so you will have to wait until early next week. Not much to look at as I still have ot reroute diverter valve and other stuff.

[tschultz]

I was planning to spend some time yesterday evening swapping parts to understand why the car was running lean, however it has been raining the last two days and unfortunately now the car won't start.

I had power at the coil, swapped the main/fuel pump relay, and swapped AFM's, but that was about as far as I got. I am wondering if some moisture got into the cap/rotor, but I won't know until it dries up (rain forecast for the next full week, which is insane for CO). I may try my other 059 ECU tomorrow as that's a pretty easy test.

In between all of this I did replace the fuse of the OBC I, so I did get excited when the display started working, although the functions aren't as intuitive as the 85+ OBC II. I found some useful info on the forum here about how to use it. although I don't think that's the problem, I may disconnect the battery to rule out any code issues that could be caused by my button fiddling.
I added the E30 idle control valve and added a port on the callaway manifold for diverter valve. I was going to route that in once I get the fuelling issue figured out. Here's a photo of the engine currently.



So to feel like I made some progress, I mounted up the front euro bumper/spoiler. At least it looks like it is closer to getting out on the road!



The plan was to unplug to the 02 sensor when I start it and see how the fuel mixture changes. Swapping the AFM with my spare would then tell me if it is operating the same as my known good one. Based on those tests, I was going to assess the condition of the spark plugs and injectors to get the car running properly.

Also found the Waterpump leaking, so a new one is coming in to be replaced asap, along with the replacement heater core.

[T_C_D]

The plan was to unplug to the 02 sensor when I start it and see how the fuel mixture changes. Swapping the AFM with my spare would then tell me if it is operating the same as my known good one. Based on those tests, I was going to assess the condition of the spark plugs and injectors to get the car running properly.

This doesn't make any sense to me.

[GI jonas]

The plan was to unplug to the 02 sensor when I start it and see how the fuel mixture changes. Swapping the AFM with my spare would then tell me if it is operating the same as my known good one. Based on those tests, I was going to assess the condition of the spark plugs and injectors to get the car running properly.

This doesn't make any sense to me.

You have company.

[tschultz]

When the donor car was parked, my friend Mike said the engine ran strong. This includes the large 42lb injectors still on the engine. To this point I have assumed that they were good as we got the car started right away after we found a wiring issue on the CTS connector. For the first ~5 minutes the Air/fuel mixture was great 12-14. Once driving around, the mixture started going to the lean side. I had it in the back of my head this had to do with the ECU 'learning' from the 02 sensor feedback.

If I understand the Motronic system, the 02 Sensor, CTS, and AFM are the main inputs controlling air/fuel mixture. I want to make sure neither is operating improperly. Unplug the 02 sensor, and the ECU defaults to a slightly more rich map. I want to make sure this happens so I know the wiring is good (it had been tampered with).

Also, if the AFM has been tampered with for the larger injectos, I am thinking it could be causing the lean mixture, so I was going to see if the mixture becomes any more rich when I swap in my known good AFM. Once I know my AFM is good and no air is bypassing it, then it will be time to verify that all of the injectors and spark plugs are operating properly.

[T_C_D]

Motronic won't support 42lb injectors. So it's highly unlikely that is what you have. You need to pull one out and identify it.

Todd

[tschultz]

Ford Lime Green injectors. The Ford part number on them is: F83E-A5A as posted earlier.

From some additional research, lime is typically 42lbs, but these should be 19lbs:

Bosch part number is: 0 280 155 909 Measured resistance is 14.4 ohms. Average rated flow - 19lb/hr.
Can be used as replacements for OE part numbers: 0280150943, 0280150939, and 0280150778, FOTE-19lb/hr.

Following are some of the possible vehicle applications:
Ford 92-95 4.6 V-8 Crown Victoria
Ford 96-02 4.6 V-8 Mustang
Ford 95-96 4.6 T'Bird
Ford 96-98 4.6 Crown Victoria
Ford 97-00 5.4 Truck, Expedition
Ford 86-95 5.0/5.8L V-8
Ford Truck 5.0/5.8L EFI-MPI V-8

Thanks for the help--maybe these aren't as common as the typical yellow top bosch injectors?

[T_C_D]

Ford Lime Green injectors. The Ford part number on them is: F83E-A5A as posted earlier.

From some additional research, lime is typically 42lbs, but these should be 19lbs:

Bingo.

[tschultz]

Today hopping in and doing nothing else, the car started. Not sure what the no-start is caused by (except moisture), but I won't be driving the car much until I figure it out.

AFM is actually unopened, but the idle control screw was turned in. I adjusted it back to 3 turns out, however it didn't seem to change much.

I am still a little puzzled why the engine idles at 16-17:1. Drove it around the block and it gets moving pretty well. It doesn't like gently getting onto the accelerator and sticks are 15:1, so I haven't pushed it. But it does like full throttle, where AFR's show 12:1-13:1. It is seriously quick though, third gear pull showed 8psi boost. It seems like the turbo is set pretty well to the mid range. Nothing crazy extra past 4500rpm, but it was pulling slightly harder than the S38.
Getting it running right will make a pretty sweet setup. Just until then

I will replace the FPR with a spare as pulling the vacuum line didn't seem to change anything. Also need to test the CTS and TPS with a meter.

[Jelmer538i]

I was told that you can't rely on a narrowband lambda, you need to get a a wideband controller and sensor.

[tschultz]

Thanks Jelmer.
I have an AEM UEGO Wideband sensor that's giving me AFR readings, so I'm certainly not guessing.

I am slightly puzzled why the WOT AFR's look great, yet everywhere else, those values are lean. From my research, most people have the opposite problem.

[downforce22]

The motronic 1.3 TPS has like 3 settings. Closed, Open, and WOT. It should be fine at full throttle because the motronic switches to the WOT part of the map based on the tps switching at 100% open. It does not use a variable TPS like the M5x cars do. I had to switch my TPS to a vTPS to get a steady signal from 0-100% open on the m20. With the stock m20 tps it would 'float' higher, continually increasing, even if you left your foot at a constant throttle input.

One option is that the fpr may be failing open not allowing enough fuel pressure to build up. WIth the WOT switch the injectors inject everything they have and it is about right at 12-13 AFR.
Another option is the AFM is reading incorrect. Unlikely if the engine was running well on the other car, but still a potential problem.
Another option is the TPS could be bad and sending incorret signals to the ECU.
ECU could be bad, but probably not since it seems to run or drive fine.
Oxygen sensor could be bad and not injecting the right amount of fuel at idle.
Injectors could be old/clogged/ not working right. Not likely but plausible.

Also, it could be any combination of the above causing issues. I can get that spare 3 bar fpr, rrpr, and 24# injectors to help troubleshoot half of the above issues. I would have considered using one oxygen sensor port because that way you can see on the display of the wideband what signal it is sending to the ecu. WIth two it doesn't make sense and your oxygen sensor could be bad.

[Jelmer538i]

Thanks Jelmer.
I have an AEM UEGO Wideband sensor that's giving me AFR readings, so I'm certainly not guessing.

But does it has a wide band controller? You need a wideband controller to monitor it.

[tschultz]

Thanks Jelmer.
I have an AEM UEGO Wideband sensor that's giving me AFR readings, so I'm certainly not guessing.

But does it has a wide band controller? You need a wideband controller to monitor it.

Jelmer, it is both combined into one: http://www.aemelectronics.com/?q=produc ... -afr-gauge

Ted, thanks for describing that. I have a small update. Getting home and trying the 059ECU with the turbo chip, the car did not want to start. So I pulled out my spare and the car started right away with that. I think the turbo chip ECU is flaky and needs solder joints repaired. But anyway, upon startup, AFR's looked perfect at 14.7 upon idle. Revving also stayed very close to stoich. I decided to drive around the block and to my amazement, everything was looking good. Idle, partial throttle, it was sticking right on 14.7. Note that I changed NOTHING since shutting off the car yesterday besides the ECU. I want to believe this means my coil, plug wires, injectors, etc are all working properly.

About 2 miles down the road, all of the sudden everything went lean. The same hesitation as before, 16+ AFR's and poor drivability.

So when I got home I did some checking. When I unplug and retry the car, it sits right at 14.7 for ~5 seconds until it all the sudden goes lean and idles poorly. I am thinking the Coolant Temp Sensor is bad, and once the coolant warms up, the sensor throws off the mixture. Then, the ECU saves the revised map and it uses this map when I restart the cold engine.

Additionally my o2 sensor cable does not have any power. I need to check the relay, but with a test light, I am getting nothing from the o2 harness plug. Power between the Green/Blue wire and the Brown wire is supplied to the heater. I mention wire colors because mine had been cut at one point. This leaves the green wire for signal. I was attempting to hook the Wideband simulated 0-1volt output to this green wire so I can see exactly what the computer is seeing. Of course at this point it is seeing nothing. I am a little puzzled why the mixture doesn't default to slightly rich in this condition, but I ill check this out once I can confirm the CTS and o2 are operating properly.

Anyway, I'll be testing these items with a meter tonight to understand which may be bad.

[mitch5]

Just a heads up from my experience with testing the 12v wire for the o2 when I installed my wideband, the car has to be cranking or running for the o2 to get power. I don't know why but when you test for 12v I'm accessory position you get nothing

[tschultz]

Just a heads up from my experience with testing the 12v wire for the o2 when I installed my wideband, the car has to be cranking or running for the o2 to get power. I don't know why but when you test for 12v I'm accessory position you get nothing

Thanks Mitch. After replacing the heater relay, this is the same behavior on my car. I believe the old relay was incorrect, it was some noname brand and there was no power when the engine was running. Getting the o2 sensor plugged in and operating has made a huge difference in the idle and mixture. Now it is returning to 14.5-15 and responding much better to throttle inputs!

Here's a short video. Yes I still need to fix the window, my window motor replacement was a late model and had a different mounting pattern
Quality not great, but thought I would share: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXaF_fN ... e=youtu.be

With the wastegate set all the way relaxed, it's currently running at about 8psi. And yes, I'll need to get an alignment once I swap shocks/springs.

[T_C_D]

Congrats! You made quick work of the swap and sorting out the issues. Job well done.

[tschultz]

Congrats! You made quick work of the swap and sorting out the issues. Job well done.

Thanks, still lots to do! Just driving the current setup around, I can tell why MS would be the better way to go to make use of fueling and have the control for optimum drivability. I can tell there are some slight RPM where it could be smoother power delivery. For now I am a ways away from that but will be preparing to do the suspension install. I'd like to take the shocks and spring (bilstein/eibach) from my 535i as they worked well on the track but are not the most comfortable on the street. I'd like to put my DD back to stock so this car will become more track oriented.

May try the BEGI 2025 soon, we will see.

What do people use for oil coolers? I read about the B35 oil filter housing and cooler setup from an E32. I'd probably do this before actually bringing the car to an autocross or lapping day...