Help E30!

[.RJ]

Nice uh... strut tower brace you have to bolt that in you know

[Chris]

Pete and Chan,

thanks for the info. That VAM is exactly what is in the car. From the sounds of it, it probably isn't running because the hose after the VAM is severly cracked, and falling off. Thanks a lot for the info.

Chan, I might be in touch with you if we decide to get the stock airbox. I'm assumning it will simply delete the VAM and will have a new intake hose? That VAM isn't critical to idiling/running??

[Chris]

[quote="BLINGMW"]

/quote]

Chan, what is that one part immediately to the right of the red strut bar in front of the fuse box with the rust on it. I was looking at it last night and wasn't sure what it was? Its like a large disc shaped part.

[.RJ]

Brake b00ster?

[BLINGMW]

Brake b00ster?

yes.

and NO! The airflow sensor is KIND of critical. :lol: Go ahead, unplug it, THEN see how it runs. :vomit: The pic there is a stock setup, with stock airbox. AFM included. I might even be able to scrounge up another intake boot and send it to you w/ the airbox. Sounds like you found a HUGE running problem, fix that right now (w/ duct tape temporarily if you have to, or goto dealership and get a new one) and it might be it! The ricer intake stuff forward of the AFM is probably fine.

[PDenbigh]

Pete and Chan,

thanks for the info. That VAM is exactly what is in the car. From the sounds of it, it probably isn't running because the hose after the VAM is severly cracked, and falling off. Thanks a lot for the info.

Chan, I might be in touch with you if we decide to get the stock airbox. I'm assumning it will simply delete the VAM and will have a new intake hose? That VAM isn't critical to idiling/running??

Yep, as Chan said, it's critical. It measures how much air is entering the system, and from that the computer knows how much fuel to add. It is a stock piece, not aftermarket.

As for fixing it, I have seen truck (semi) hoses used in its place. If there is a big truckstop near by, or a parts store, check them out. Quite often radiator hoses with a nice 90 that you could cut to fit.

To help ya better understand why the car's not running, the cracked hose is allowing the engine to pull in air after the VAM, which means it's "unmetered" air. Thus, ithe engine is adding fuel for, say, 10cfm of air when the engine is really getting 15cfm. Not only is this going to cause stumbling, it is going to cause your engine to run very LEAN which is very BAD. So don't drive it until its fixed.

The reason the engine runs better in higher RPMs is a factor of the VAM. the VAM measures 4.5 or so volts when the door is all the way open. As such, from 4000k on up, the door is probably wide open, so the computer is just dumping as much fuel as it can into the system. In other words, a VAMs big drawback for high performace engines is that it cant adapt to modifications that increase airflow. Once its open, its open. When your engine is in high rpms, the engine is pulling in as much air as possible and the injectors are wide open anyhow (the vam is no longer controling the amount of fuel).

Take that for what its worth. It doesnt mean that you should drive at WOT at all times until you get it fixed ;-).

Peter

[Mike]

Brake b00ster?

my guess too...

edit: i was right! yessss

[Nick325is]

I've got a stock air box as well if you need it Chris. The new boot is only 20 some dollars from most parts places. I assume the eta has the idle control valve hooked up to the same boot like mine does so you can't just use a universal boot.


Nick

[Chris]

PM'd you Nick.

[Beej]

Haha, that's my car with the strut bar not bolted in. I was test fitting it and wanted to take pictures of how it doesn't fit. Doesn't fit on the other side either, because of the dizzy.

Anywho yeah. AFM and vacuum leaks = kind of a big deal.

[Chris]

10/10 Update:


It Runs!!

I drove back from JMU this morning adn spent the entire day fixing this piece. within 5 minutes of removing lugs (everything on this car is stuck and rusted ) we snapped my 1/2 to 3/8 adapter piece I use on my breaker bar- this led to a trip to sears for the lifetime warranty replacement (suckas!) and then "hey lets go to that junk yard and look for parts" midlothian trnpk has a huge junkyard you pay $1 and go back and take off any parts you want. We found a couple E30's and got a door handle, hood release handle, and some other random parts. We were almost leaving when my friend saw an intake hose laying in the engine bay! the part we desperately needed.

so we got that in and rigged up the intake so it was sealed. it started right up! haha a $4 part fixed the entire problem. then our quick oil change turned into a nightmare- the filter wouldn't come off, and 1.5 hours later and hammering a screwdriver into it we got that out. coolant flush, and a bunch of little things and a quick test drive later it was dark.

we've got a lot of work but it runs and is at least moveable. the brakes are f'd, needs a timing belt, and tons of other stuff. I'll try and post some pics soon.

[BLINGMW]

NICE! :thumbup:

Do that timing belt ASAP, if it's really got that many miles on it, then it's probably 20 years old! hock:

[Chris]

NICE! :thumbup:

Do that timing belt ASAP, if it's really got that many miles on it, then it's probably 20 years old! hock:

yeah nick reminded me of that, just haven't had enough time to sort everything out. it sucks bc my friend works 12 or more hours a day and Saturday mornings.

[JohnC]

Nice work Chris. You (or your friend, I forget) are now in the minority of E30 owners - what with it running and all...

[Chris]

thanks guys, its his car all the way Chapin, just helping out.


questions for the future:

my integra wheels should fit his car right (4x100) ( it needs to pass inspection with good tread )?

should we just use BMW manual tranny fluid?

rotors from any auto parts store (like RJ always says- cheap ones)?

which carbotech pads? (I'll call matt there unless someone usually runs something they like)

are SS brake lines worth it?

probably going to use the kosei K1 15x7 wheels... I think 15x7 is plenty.

oh and one more thing... when we were going around the parking lot in 2nd the shifter was clanking (tapping sound) on something in the tranny and would increase if pushed to the left... weird car

[CaptainHenreh]

Tell him I have 4 MSW 14" wheels with 3 victoracers he can score for mad cheap.

[BLINGMW]

the wheels might fit enough to pass inspection, although I'm sure the centerbore isn't correct and neither is the offset. Might be ok though.

nothing special about the BMW fluid, I'd use redline MTL or silkolene.

I don't know if rotors are even available from auto parts stores, but OEM's from any online vender are cheap cheap.

pads? I like Hawks, but I'm sure there's a good carbotech solution

SS lines definatly if it's going to be tracked, if for no other reason than the 20yr old lines on it are definatly not in great shape

not SURE about the tranny noise, but next time you have it up, see if the bushings are worn enough to let the shift lever hit the balancer on the driveshaft, somewhat common problem. Plan on replacing all the rubber in the shift linkage and carrier either way. Take a look at the guibo (rubber flex disc connecting trans to driveshaft) and see if it's falling apart.

[.RJ]

Integra offset is +50 - I dont think that will fit on the E30

[Chris]

called advance, they do sell rotors for the bimmer.

besides pads, rotors, SS lines, what other parts should we order to complete the brake job (I'm assumning calipers are ok). bearings in the wheels hub?

[BLINGMW]

are you sure you even need rotors? And no, don't go doing the bearings just for fun, especially if that car really has that few miles. Brake fluid is of course the only other thing you'll need.