MadaboutKitcars

Brilliant. Hope its a little warmer for your drive to the MOT.

Robin

Which cooler have you used?

Hi there, I have a question about which cooler did you use? I saw at the picture above but I cannot decide which model you picked it from...?

Hi
It's the Marlin-supplied radiator but to be honest it under-performs in stationary or slow-moving traffic. I think a lot of builders have used bigger and better radiators and fans and I would go down this route if I was starting again.
Hope this helps.
Tim

I thought Rikard was asking about colour?

Oops, mis-communication error!?!
The red is BMW Chilli Red, as used on their Mini's I believe. The silver powder coating was described as titanium by my powder coater.
Tim

Tim

My comment was slightly tongue in cheek! You were probably right first time- perhaps Rikard will be along soon to put me straight!😯

No Timbo - you understood my bad english right - for a short moment I forgot Radiator - and wrote cooler.... My mistake - but now we found out another interesting thing about your building - thanks for information about both things...

I used a radiator from an early E30 6cyl. Don't remember what year - but I know the design changed in later years of production. Brand new from ebay. It has the advantage of all the pipes in the right place and is a standard of the shelf item. Fitted fine after a bit of fettling and cooling performance is good.

Robin

Thanks for that info Robin, I may well change it over at some point soon, especially given yesterday's events at the MOT...

... which was mixed news. Failed on headlight adjustment (easy fix), brake light staying on (needs a spring) and emissions (has always been very close to the line because of the length and number of joins in the pipework, but hopefully we can sort this).

During the test the Sportster did manage to empty the cooling system over the floor of the test station (was never happy standing still!), and then suffered from power loss. Idles fine but struggles big time when you put your foot on the accelerator.

Sounds like a MAF sensor problem to me, which I think it has suffered from before in the dim distant past. Since the air intake is in the passenger footwell (!) I suspect it is susceptible to 'unclean' air over a period of time??

So may be a few more days yet...
Timbo

Timbo
Looks great. Unrecognisable from when Adem fired up your engine for me to show he could do the ECU work.
Nice job.
Chris

So we've replaced the MAF sensor but no joy, still the same problems with spluttering and lack of power and revs when you put your foot on the accelerator.

Any ideas??

Thanks
Tim

Tim

Go back to Adem - he charges enough for his services, so if your car does not run properly he has not finished the job. He's a very straight guy and I'm sure he will want to see it completed to your satisfaction.

Mike

Did you keep the diagnostic socket. I think I would start by plugging a fault code reader in if you can. It will at least eliminate the obvious.

Robin

Well a good news-bad news day.

We have managed to replace the MAF and get it working, so it has now passed the MOT. Got the road tax sorted so all road legal.

Decided to take it for a celebratory drive along the Bristol ring road when it decided to spew coolant all over the engine, through the louvres and onto myself.

Managed to get it home but it is clearly suffering from massive over-heating problems.
The only solution seems to be an upgrade to a better radiator - any other ideas??

Thanks
Tim

On reflection, I think I will start by replacing the thermostat.

The only gauge on the E30 clocks that I couldn't get to work was the temperature gauge so maybe that is all tied in with the problem. Maybe my added in temp probe isn't compatible?

Over heating

Hi Tim

Based on your photos on flickr, and my own very similar experience, I suspect your problem may have more to do with the positioning of your expansion tank relative to the top of your radiator.

My M50 did just the same on my first proper run. When I did some research I determined that water expands 10% by volume from 4 degrees C to 110 degrees C (the boiling point is raised by increasing the pressure in the cooling system). So, given that the cooling system held around 5 litres there will be at least half a litre forced out as the cooling system reaches maximum temperature.


I only cured mine by adding a tank with a 1 litre capacity (anything less resulted in water being boiled off, and then the system sucked air back in as it cooled) and mounting it on top of the front bulkhead - the highest point under the bonnet - (and still only just above the top of my radiator).


From your flickr site I would suggest your header tank is mounted too low.

If you want to experiment to prove the point, add in a little more feed pipe to allow your tank to temporarily fix above your bonnet line.
Then take your car for a run. You will lose some coolant as it expands, so make sure you have an overflow taking it below the chassis, and allow the engine to reach maximum temperature. When it cools down to cold, the header tank should still be half full.

Hope this helps - let me know how you get on

Regards

Mike

Well further investigation revealed that the cooling system wasn't de-pressurising correctly, hence the catastrophic failure of the radiator.

I have now re-designed the whole system, using an aluminium pressurised header tank with non-pressurised plastic expansion bottle, and a new aluminium radiator (will get my upgrade after all!).

Thanks for your suggestions Mike, I will ensure the header tank is mounted as far up as possible, though I don't think it will fit on the bulkhead itself.

Now just got to fit it and then test it . . .
Tim

After a frustrating amount of time spent trying to get the temperature gauge working, I have reached the conclusion that it is the gauge itself which is faulty. Since I didn't really fancy taking the scuttle off again, I have added in an electronic temp gauge, which is slightly out of keeping with the car but has the advantage that it works!

Had a idle test with the header tank cap off this afternoon, temperature reached 60 and then the fan kicked in and the temp stayed about the same. I have replaced the standard coolant with waterless coolant which I am hoping will also help.

There was a small leak where the wire probe for the fan goes into a hose join but other than that it seemed ok. Aiming to re-build the front end tomorrow and take it for a 'proper' test.

If that goes well I am hoping the weather will be good enough for me to drive it up to Stoneleigh on Sunday

Tim

Rebuilt the front and took it for a tentative test drive this morning. I haven't managed to solve the small hose leak so guess it will need some sealant - any recommendations?

The temp went up to 85 with no probs, the system had pressurised to an extent as there was a definite hiss when I took the cap off the header tank. Coolant level had remained constant.

Will try a more aggressive test on Saturday hopefully.
Tim

I soldered the temperature probe for the fan through a small hole into a short length of large copper tube. I then split the top hose at an appropriate point and used the copper tube as a joiner. No leaks for the last 6 years....

Robin

Temp probe

Hi robin, cud u post a picture of the temp probe housed in the copper pipe, thanks

Belated thanks for that idea, Robin.

After a lengthy delay due to a combination of work and ill health I can finally report some good news

After fixing a couple of leaks on the new coolant system, I was able to take it for a modest 8 mile test drive this afternoon with no problems. Temp didn't go above 90 the whole time, and it was a delight to drive.

Yippee!!

Tim

Hi all,

In the process of stripping an E39 with M52TUB25 engine for a locost 442E

Got the whole loom out the car from dashboard back. Already disconnected, ABS, all lights, Airbags & module, door/boot locks, sound system, climate control system.

Car still runs fine, wanting to use a chopped down version of the original loom for my 442E. What should I NOT disconnect (that will cause problems with EWS?)

A bit heavy for my first post but excellent thread.

The system was described to me as like a daisy chain. If you start removing parts of the daisy chain then the system will end up not being able to send the new rolling codes back and forth from the key to ECU via the immobiliser consistently accurately.

I believe the instrument cluster is a fairly important component in the daisy chain.

My advice would be to get in touch with Adam Ergen (google Ergen Motorsports). He will be able to modify your ECU so that you can remove all the unwanted parts of your donor loom and still retain the original level of security plus 100% reliability in starting.

He is not cheap but my experience was that his work was worth every single penny.

Hope this helps.
Tim

Great help Tim, thank you