~~~~~~~~~~~~Lots of Questions~Need a little help

[josehernandez]

Hello,

I have a 1991 525I. I bought this a couple of months ago and I love the car, but it has a few small issues and I need to seek out some advice.
It’s a 6 cyl with an Automatic tranny that slips on 4th when it heats up. It has 111k.

Issues:

The car idles poor. It runs fine and stable. But Idles at 700rpms very rough.

I pulled the plugs and they are new. I would like to check the Coils, but do not know how?

There seems to be some sort of water usesage, because I have to add water every week. It’s a very small amount but do not know if this is common to this model?
No Smoke..

The injectors look new and the head look as if it’s been worked on, because there is not oil build-up.

On a cold start it starts right up, but once hot it takes several tries to get it started.

And How can I identify what engine I have and Transmission? Is it in the vin number?

I am looking for the following parts:

· Left side dash speaker cover- Gray color

· Rear Speaker cover- Any color (ill paint them)

· Affordable seat covers or seats for front and back- My front seats are in poor shape and need recovering..

· An automatic Transmission.

· Glove Box latch

· The black plastic trim for the passenger side bumper.

· Sunroof seal or how to restore the one I have – The guy before me painted the gasket and it leaks.

I have been looking at these parts on ebay and its nuts how much they are asking for them. Its an old car (a great one) but resale is very low and the parts are more than what the car is worth? Has anyone got inexpensive parts?

[E34tn]

How "new" do your spark plugs look? Are they shiney? The rough idle and coolant loss could be a bad head gasket. Can you visibly see a coolant leak anywhere? If not, your heater core could possibly be leaking too. Check your oil cap for milky oil residue to find out about your head gasket. Hopefully everything works out for you. Good luck.

[josehernandez]

Thanks for your reply, No milky signs.. and the heater core is not leaking. Plugs look normal>>

Jose

[E34tn]

Hmmm, coolant has to be going somewhere. Have you recently replaced the heater core or had the dash apart? Just wondering how you know for sure the core isnt leaking. If you cant actually see coolant anywhere then you may need to do a pressure test of your coolant system. If there is a leak somewhere, this test will show it.

[josehernandez]

Yea, thanks- I'll have to check that. Do you think its related to the problems I have when its hot and I have a hard time starting it?

Thank You

[E34tn]

Possibly i guess. Im not a mechanic so i dont know for sure. Somebody way more knowledgeable than me on here is bound to chime in and probably be able to answer all of your questions. I do know that you shouldnt have to top off your coolant every week. Youve got a leak somewhere. And when you said "water", you really dont mean like tap water or something do you? I hope you are using anti-freeze.

[Hodge]

My E34 had a huge crack / bulge on the coolant pipe that comes out of the back of the head and goes to the heater core. it can be a little difficult to see, but with proper light it can be seen well enough.

Try having the transmission completely flushed out with a new filter and pan gasket and pray that helps.

Tranny just died on my 91 and is getting a remanufactured one at 201k miles. It refused to shift out of 2nd and would slip in 2nd as well.

[josehernandez]

This is a challange, no water in the oil, no oil on Rad. Plugs new and clean, The Injectors are fairley new and no leaks inthe vac lines..

[rotaryboots]

Coolant leaking into a cylinder? Best guess for finding the coolant leak would be to fill it up and put a bottle of coolant dye into the coolant, start it up and let it run for a little, then have it cool off again, and then pressure test it and look for leaks and use an led flashlight or preferably a UV flashlight.