Rescued a 2001 750IL with issues...

[SilverIris]

Tore apart the dashboard underside today and unplugged the LEW. With LEW steering angle sensor disconnected, car measures 8.15-8.27v on Can-H, 8.87 on Can-L. A step in the right direction, but not the elephant in the room.

Did another scan in PA Soft, EML keep spitting out errors
7D Switching idling-control or reserve-value
00 Error number 00
00 Error number 00
00 Error number 00 (it shows up 3 times on each scan/clear)

EML: Elektronischer Motor Lufteinlass (Electronic Motor Air Intake) [throttle body]
I can hear a buzzing on the passenger side (for left-hand drive car) throttle body. Hopped on NewTIS and found the EML Control Module Here:
https://www.newtis.info/tisv2/a/en/e...l-unit/VF10k0u

Cracked open the Electronics Box again and I can't find the EML Control Module. Can someone please get a CLEAR picture of it? The one on NewTIS looks like it was taken with a Game Boy Camera...




7:53PM News Update:
An awesome fellow on the BMW E38 Enthusiast Facebook Group pointed out where the EML Module is. Pulled its fuses (the 5x ATO block inside the Electronics Box) and read the Can-H voltage. 5.6v. On a whim, I tried starting the car...battery was dead. Starter battery was at ~7.6v. Hook up the charger and I glanced at the meter connected to the Can-H wire, its was at 10v and climbing...

Unplug the charger and Can-H voltage starts dropping. Plug it back in and it starts coming back up. Every time, it read ~2v LESS than the Starter Battery. What system gets power from the Starter Battery and talks in Canbus?

Electric Catalytic Converter Heater Controller.

*rages in CANBUS*

[racer2086]

Wonderful diagnostic steps. Sounds like you found your problem

[SilverIris]

So I did one more test. Disconnected the Starter/E-Cat Battery and turned the key to ON. Canbus still panicked. On a hunch, I pulled Fuse #F17 and it straightened right up!!!

F17 feeds power to the...Steering Angle Sensor (LEW) and Electric Catalytic Converter Controller (EKAT). Since I already tested the LEW, the passenger seat comes out to access the EKAT. 80lbs of lugging isn't too fun. Under the seat, looks pretty normal. Was slightly annoying to remove the height adjustment cable from the seat. But it gets worse. My apologies for the upside-down pictures. Apparently, the forum dislikes Linux.

Soon as I start pulling the carpet, I notice something. it's wet, the padding is soaked like a sponge. Bungee cord it out of the way we get the first peek at the EKAT controller.
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under 1/4" of water...
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pink and green definitely do NOT belong here...
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Bottom of the EKAT Controller
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[SilverIris]

Continuing form my last post, here is the connector on the EKAT Controller. Terminals are GREEN from corrosion and the case is bubbled up from shorting out for quite awhile. I'm almost afraid to look at the power feed and EKAT output cables. Unsurprisingly, they seem to be quite stuck.

20191009_163431.jpg

When we got the car, the previous owner had the Driver's side Rear Window poorly wedged in place due to a failed window regulator, so there was a gap at the top for moisture to enter. I would also suspect clogged sunroof drains, based on prior experience with my RX-7's plugged hatch drain tubes. The solution there was to use a wire coat hangar and "auger" through the obstruction.

Based on the condition of the EKAT and how it was "leaking" voltage into the Canbus lines, I don't think it was my battery mix-up that caused this to happen. More likely, it was the last nail in the proverbial coffin for the EKAT Controller.

Did the best I could with a wet/dry Shop Vac to extract the standing water, now it has a fan in it to help dry out the carpet and padding. Pretty sure it's gonna need a dehumidifier too. I'll keep y'all posted.

[a777fan]

Awesome. Glad everyone was able to help you find the culprit. True troubleshooting at work!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[SilverIris]

So I was looking at the damaged module and its wiring diagram on NewTIS and a few things dawned on me.

The reason it failed in such a manner is because its power feed is NOT fused. There is nothing preventing this device from burning itself to the ground. I'm actually surprised it did not catch on fire. It certainly could have, but sitting in a pool of water most likely negated it.

This accounts for the 10mm power feed and output cables (8AWG for those familiar with wiring), but why was it backfeeding into the Canbus system? The only logical explanation I can come up with is that between the plastic case and its internals, it formed a water-soluble conductive salt (remember your Chemistry classes) by consuming the copper from the catalytic converter heater contacts to form Copper Sulphate, giving the water just enough conductivity to transfer 10v (the other 2v bled off to ground) into the Canbus system from both the Starter battery and Fuse #F17. This also would explain why shaking the excess water out produced a rattling noise inside the case (loose contacts) and why up to now, both batteries kept dying.

It's been air drying on a towel since I pulled it, connections facing down. Also put a fan and some towels in the car to help dry things out too.

With all of that said, looking at the diagram gave me an idea. PA Soft reported that it was getting a Canbus Timeout from the EKAT module (understandable, it was partially underwater). This is just theoretical at the moment, but since every other device in the Canbus system survived with no ill effects, it's possible that the Canbus controller inside the EKAT may have too. If I'm right, it just might be fixable. We'll see what happens if I plug it back in after some cleanup in the morning

Just for S&G, I emailed BMW to give their engineers first chance at doing a post-mortem analysis on it. We'll see what they say.

[Timm]

That module's a goner! Open it up and I'm sure you will find more Copper Sulphate - and it is the electrolysis that produces the stuff with the base metal coming from the copper tracks. Try running the car with the module disconnected, the rest of the CANBus should fire up fine and you should get an error code for the lack of the controller but the car should run.

[SilverIris]

Did that yesterday, a quick jaunt to the end of the street and back. Canbus is working properly, tachometer and temperature gauges are back to normal. The Check Engine light is on due to the disconnected EKAT Controller and Trans Failsafe Program appeared too. It was slipping quite a bit, struggling to get up the driveway incline, no mystery there. Left a small trail of coolant too, so that's next on the agenda.

While the interior is drying out, I'll pull another scan/log and see what's going on. She is now called Marina, referring to the navy blue AKA Marineblau theme throughout the car. As for the slipping transmission, I'm not really looking forward to draining and refilling it. That is one task I don't mind outsourcing to a reputable Indy shop for the sake of sanity. Good time to retrofit a dipstick tube too.

Now that the elephant is diagnosed and resolved for the time being, Iris (my 740I) needs new tires and an alignment

[SilverIris]

After sitting overnight with a fan, the affected area of the interior is dry enough. Since my shoulder was aching this morning (these seats are quite heavy...), I took a half-day off and just for fun, did the "Autopsy" on the EKAT Control Module. 7 out of the 8 #0 phillips screws came out intact, the remaining one's head was 2/3 missing and was removed with needle nose pliers after pulling the cover off.

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As soon as I took the cover off, the words of Ralph Wiggum came to mind. "Miss Hoover, this tastes like burning". I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.

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this is what poured out.
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A few light taps and the entire board de-populated. Those WERE ICs at one point...
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Board was stuck on two of the 8awg cable terminals, so case met Dremel
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More in the next post.

[SilverIris]

The board's traces and IC pads are intact....
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I can't believe the traces are still there under the layer of mud...
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So I gave it a tug...
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and it came out in 2 pieces.
20191010_140345.jpg

This board has been soaking in water/electrolytic solution for a disturbing amount of time. Long enough to delaminate the layers of fiberglass to where you can see the weave of each layer on 90% of its surface. Based on this, I can surmise that the water corroded every solder connection, leeching the lead out of the solder to form Lead Acetate (a water-soluable conductive salt) which conducted just enough current to backfeed the Canbus lines 10v after destroying the Canbus controller ICs.

This is why fuses are important. A fuse would have stopped this dead in its tracks. I cannot fathom HOW the rest of the car survived this with no damage.

7:35PM Update:
I pulled the carpet back a little more and discovered another pool of water. Shop-Vac has extracted at least a gallon of water so far, and I'm still wringing more out of the padding. Per advice from Ress Motor Works, I'm putting shop towels under the padding and using my weight to squeeze as much as I can out of the padding. Wring the towels out, then repeat. Slow and tedious, but I want this to be bone dry like the driver's side before I reinstall the passenger seat. Sometime tomorrow, we're going to get a dehumidifier to help dry things out a bit faster.

As for the disintegrated EKAT Control Module, I suspect this was caused by clogged sunroof drains on the passenger side. The main harness connector will have to be replaced when we get a new controller, there's just too much corrosion to reuse it as-is. Before the autopsy, I wanted to rebuild the controller and make it waterproof to correct the design flaw that led to this failure. Water entered through the non-connector side of the case, destroying it from inside and then flowed through the connectors to ruin them.

When I redo the controller, it will be rerouted to an empty slot on the trunk fuse block and appropriately protected like it should have had from the very start. Anyone in Indianapolis got an amp clamp I can borrow for a day? I need to measure the current draw for one cat heater

[SilverIris]

The 750IL is in the garage now, just as it started pouring down rain. Let me just say that wheel dollies are a vastly underappreciated tool, especially when precisely maneuvering a car. It was a breeze sliding the Corvette around on them, not so much with the 750IL. This car is the very definition of a Super Heavyweight.

Carpet is propped up and a dehumidifier in the passenger seat area. Starting humidity is 65%, so the plan is to close the car up and let the dehumidifier run for a few days straight. Once it's down to about 25-30% and the padding doesn't noticeably wring water out of it, then it'll be reassembled.

[purplecty]

Alot of great troubleshooting info here. Nice work! Subscribed!

[SilverIris]

The Dehumidifier is doing well on the interior. It has pulled about 1.5 gallons out of the car, while having plenty more to go. I gave the padding a squeeze as close to the rear seat as I could, still drenched. With it running, I wrung it out as best I could, then took the Shop-Vac to it once more. Current total amount extracted is at least 3 gallons. I'm going to let the dehumidifier run for another day and hopefully it will get the remaining water out of the car.

While sitting here, I had a brainstorm. Since we know what happens if/when there is water inside the car and how the carpet padding retains such an excessive amount, it makes no logical sense to repeat the same failure. I'm considering relocating the EKAT Controller, it's just a matter of suitable connectors.

The Power Input/Cat Output cable connectors are similar to some found on comparable Mercedes-Benz vehicles, and a few from Chrysler Europe (WH/WK Grand Cherokee and 300C, post-Daimler takeover). As for the X1779 interface connector (12 terminal connector, 9 occupied), I'm not sure what company it is originally from yet, but it is only needed at the EKAT Controller. So I could substitute an IP67 rated Metripack 150 sealed connector under the carpet in the original location. Since the EKAT Controller uses the EXACT SAME CASE as the Battery Disconnect Switch (and the same connectors...), why not double-stack them?

[SilverIris]

After going under the carpet and finding a very corroded splice for the EKAT power feeds, I thought it'd be a good idea to see just how much power the EKATs actually need. While the 8AWG cables are a clue, having a solid number is more reliable. But since my meters only go up to 10A, I gave Timm's voltage drop trick a try using a 30A Maxi Fuse.

Soon as I hooked it up, the 30A fuse popped with a visible spark from inside its case. Tried a 40A fuse, popped in one second. 50A lasted 4 seconds. Against my better judgment, out came a 60A Fusible Link (leftover from my RX-7 days). It was glowing inside, so I pulled the plug after 4-5 seconds.

Tested impedance to ground via the 8awg power cable, the meter bottomed out.
Diagnosis: dead short.

So I reached under the passenger side with my phone to get a better view (camera is a useful tool), the cable was just flopping around, the lug terminal that bolts onto the EKAT positive terminal was broken in half. This is exactly where NewTIS cautions to be careful because of the ceramic section. A quick test between the two EKAT terminals produced a less-worrisome 1.7-2.0 ohms. Based on that, the heaters appear to be roughly 100 watts each, if one assumes 14v while running. Result is a current draw of 7A each.

I am definitely no expert when it comes to incandescent/resistive heaters such as these, but 7A each seemed a bit low for being fed through 8AWG cable. So I measured and the Passenger side EKAT is about 11 feet from the battery, for a total circuit run of 22 feet. Driver's side EKAT is longer, so 25 feet is a good, safe number.

Just to be safe, I doublechecked myself with this:
https://www.bluesea.com/resources/1437

Based on the above chart, and 25 feet total run, 15A puts it right in the middle of 8AWG. Now that the homework is done, we know that spending $5 on a 30A fuse could have prevented the EKAT Control Module from melting itself...

[SilverIris]

It's time for another update to Marina's Story

After finding the X01087 Starter Cable Splice in less-than-desirable condition, it was time to bit the bullet.
20191015_203216.jpg

Out came our good friends, the Dremel tool and #420 cut-off wheel, and the new 4/0awg junction went in with some adhesive-lined heat shrink. This was a MAJOR pain in the butt to do, requiring cutting the original splice in half, then cutting each half lengthwise multiple times to allow removal. Ended up losing 1/2" of cable as I got impatient on part of it, but still had enough for correct positioning after reassembly.
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Precision cutting is so much easier on the bench. EKAT Control Module power feed cables are finally freed.
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This isn't very fun. Gonna have to get another one sometime. Thankfully, it's a common E38/E39 part.
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More has happened, but it has to be put in the next post.

[SilverIris]

After that "fun with a capital FU" job, I needed to do something else.

Junk in the trunk...
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Time to drill
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Much better
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How it should have been done
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The Battery Disconnect Switch faces forward instead of upward, while the EKAT Control Module is facing the rear. At least the very dead EKAT module got some use in the end. And that brings me to another subject.

After a couple days of going all-out with
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBmZAg8HxfY
in the background (read: Nerd Fantasia), I found out who made 90% of the electronic modules in our cars, thanks to a trick I discovered 15 years ago. To make a long story short, OE manufacturers always leave their mark on anything they make for a car. In this case, it's the letters "LK" on the label and case of both the EKAT and Battery Disconnect Switch.

Leopold Kostal GMBH is the manufacturer.

So I dug a bit deeper into their connector catalog and ended up making a cross-reference chart for the LSK8 series Connectors that the EKAT and Battery Disconnect Switch use. Turns out that the female terminals (harness side) are also used by Ford, Volkswagen and Mercedes-Benz
EKAT power supply: BMW# 1436581
EKAT 1 Output: BMW# 1436582
EKAT 2 Output: BMW# 1436583

The first one cross-references to Mercedes-Benz#B 999 800 449632, but I cannot seem to find application(s) for it. So I dug even deeper into Herth+Buss (Kostal's distributor for Europe) and found that the terminals are BMW# 7505632 (xRef to VW# 4B0971998A and MB#013 545 88 26). Turns out BMW offers them with 50cm (~18in) of 10mm2 wire pre-crimped, part# 12 52 0 144 161.

As for the Male terminals, BMW#7 524 311 (8-12mm2, xref to VW# 8E971998) or BMW#12 52 1 436 652 (6-10mm2, xRef to Ford# 3M5T-14421-TFA) will work. Cable seals are BMW# 7505633 (xRef to VW# 1J0972741D) for both male and female terminals.


Now comes the problem: The male connector housings don't have a part number that I can find. A similar one exists, but with 4 SLK 2.8 terminals instead. I would imagine the dimension for the housing are almost identical to what we need here.

Much digging in RealOEM was done, finding the same Female terminal cable setup on every E60 5-Series / E90 3-Series Diesel (for Glow plug controller) that the EKAT Module uses for its power inputs. On a hunch, I checked Mercedes-Benz, same exact deal on the OM642 Engine glow plug controller. Chrysler also used the MB setup, but only on OM642-equipped cars like the WK Grand Cherokee Diesel (rare in North America) and LX 300C Diesel (exclusive to Europe). Even VW ETKA came up with nothing when I gave it the terminal part numbers.

So no joy, all of the male terminal connectors are integrated into the device (Glow plug controller, EKAT, Battery Disconnect switch, etc) in question. So I contacted both Kostal and Herth+Buss. Hopefully one or the other will reply with good news. Otherwise, I'll be building my own connector junction from scratch.

[SilverIris]

After relocating the EKAT Control Module to the trunk, it was time to go back into the dirty, grunt work. Last time I was in there, the passenger side under seat fuse box caught my eye. Popped off the cover and this is what I found.
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in detail:
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After removal:
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Lower connections are definitely shot. Contact cleaner made zero difference. Only a couple of the studs were salvageable, the rest is basically trash. So it was off to the salvage yard to extract one from an E39.
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Normally, I don't approve of damaging items like interior parts to access the intended part(s). However, this particular E39's grey carpet was already drenched and not in great shape. Plus, there was another one in far better shape (and in black too...), so I don't feel too bad about cutting the carpet tactfully as James May would, instead of feeding the car power and HOPING it was electrically intact enough to remove the seat.

Anyway, the donor part was then disassembled down to the plastic frame, and the contact bars were carefully stripped down to bare copper on the bench grinder. They were then re-coated in zinc (weld-through primer AKA cold galvanizing compound)
20191019_202526.jpg

Zinc-rich weld-through primer leaves a 93% zinc coating. While tin would be preferable for this application, zinc will work fine as a sacrificial coating (like with zinc-plated hardware). Plus, $6 from the local hardware store is a simple, inexpensive solution. Liquid tin is a bit more costly (nearly $30 from Amazon for 125ml) and not found in the average hardware store (it's for plating circuit boards). Plus, it's quite the hazardous item.

The lower harness connections were cut off and replaced with donor parts from the e39, spliced in the proper BMW-approved manner using waterproof adhesive-lined 12awg butt splices. Button it all back up and Marina started right up with no fuss.

Just for fun, I gave the old contact bars some dremel attention with a fine-grit sanding drum. Surprisingly, they came out quite good, only breaching down to the copper in a few tiny spots. Give it some liquid tin and they'd be good as new. If the donor parts ever become intermittent, I just might swap these back in.

Moving on now, what's next on the agenda is to rebuild the EKAT system. At least one of the power cables is shorting against the chassis, so the next project is new cables. I'm pretty good with soldering cables, but these are in a high-heat location and I have reservations about the solder weakening here. $30 later on Ebay, and an 8-ton hydraulic crimper is on the way. It includes hex dies for everything between 12 and 00 gauge (hint: Starter cable...). I've wanted one for a few years now, this was the perfect reason to snag it.

Sure, I could buy new cables from BMW, but where's the fun in that. All they are is 8awg cable with a ring terminal/lug on the Cat end, and the previously-mentioned (and currently still unobtanium) Kostal LSK8 connector on the EKAT Controller end. Since I moved the EKAT Controller, stock cables would still have to be modified anyway. I can construct an equally capable 8awg cable, build a junction point in the original EKAT location, and reuse the Kostal connectors in the trunk so it works like stock. All for less than half of the price of ONE of the originals...

The extracted power connectors have been given a bath several times in contact cleaner and the grime is coming off. They don't seem to want to de-pin yet for a final cleaning/inspection, but there's probably some gunk blocking the lock tabs from releasing properly.

[SilverIris]

Since I'm waiting on the hydraulic crimper to arrive, I changed gears and started on the X1779 EKAT Connector. Clipped it off about 2" back, tagged the wires with yellow electrical tape (common practice with VWs for repairs) and gave it a bath in contact cleaner. While it was soaking, the X1779 wires were given Metripack 150 sealed terminals. I know some people will be crying foul, wishing to use the original connector (hint: E60/E65 part) and locate a suitable mating connector, but there is a perfectly logical explanation for my choice. Using the original connector is certainly preferable from a plug & play perspective, but I noticed something concerning. The connector shell is two pieces, and the shroud can allow moisture to bypass the inner seal and enter the housing. OTOH, the Metripack 150 design is one piece. Plus, it's a proven product that is commonly available. Makes it far easier to acquire housings/terminals, even the 10-pin housings that I'm currently out of.

On a side note, I took a look through my 18 gallon electrical parts box and rediscovered that I had a bunch of cable that I extracted from the ex-girlfriend's car over a year ago. Between this and the OE Alternator cable from my RX-7, there's plenty to work with to make the EKAT power cable extensions. I love finding solutions like this

Over coffee this morning, I got an email back from Kostal GMBH. They informed me that the they do offer matching connectors for the 8awg EKAT cable connectors, part numbers 09370101 through 09370105. So far, I've not located them through their distributors yet, but I'll be looking into it.

Anyway, more awesomeness is coming, so stay tuned

[SilverIris]

After much effort, the car is buttoned back up.

When reinstalling the Electric Rear Seat on a 750IL, it is different than the Fixed Rear Seat on 740I/IL
On either side of each backrest section, these two bolts...
20191028_165203.jpg

Fit in these J-shaped hooks:
20191028_165213.jpg
And then you put the 10mm nuts/fender washers on the bottom studs, just like the 740I/IL

Metripack 150 sealed connectors added to X1779
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It took some effort to feed the new cables through. I have to admit that fitting my 6'0 215lb self in the trunk is not very fun. So cables are run, terminals added, we're ready to go. Wait, something's missing...
20191028_012853.jpg

[SilverIris]

Since my original plan to use the old Under Seat fuse box didn't work (too tall), I had to build a Junction Block from scratch. Cue leftovers from my Expedition's Mega fuse block replacement project from 2016. I've made a few blocks before, and have practice with plastic welding from other projects.

All I used was a some leftover bits from a dollar store cutting board and some 1/4"-20 stainless steel carriage bolts and locknuts. It is placed where the original EKAT Control Module was, so the mounting holes are roughly 7 1/2" apart.

Drill holes for the studs and file them square in the top piece. In the base, heat the plastic and press the carriage bolt head into it where you want it to go. Repeat a few times untill it's flush. Repeat for the other bolt. Finally, stitch it together.
20191028_060228.jpg

One last touch: 1/4 and 5/16" vinyl vacuum caps for insulation. Fits nice and snug over the studs and locknuts
20191028_061130.jpg

New power feeds in the trunk. Isn't it great we have a 50A fuse just sitting there unused? Kinda like BMW wanted me to do this...
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All finished
20191029_053056.jpg


All of the 8awg cable terminals were crimped on. I bought a hydraulic crimper on Ebay and it's been a blessing. Had to modify it slightly to correct a design flaw, but it was well worth the pricetag.

All 8awg Splices were done using these:
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Tyco-Ele...-000/205878599

Two 8awg cable will BARELY fit, you'll have to flatten one cable out into a L or C-shape so it fits around the other one. Lugs are from a generic kit I found for $11 on Ebay. All were covered with marine-grade adhesive-lined heat shrink so they will survive anything.

To make this and future electrical projects easier, I put together into a single chart that covers wire size (AWG and mm2), insulation diameter (mm and in), conductor diameter (mm and in), suitable heat shrink size (mm and in) and safe ampacity for up to 50 feet. Even put wire colors in English, German and Japanese in it too...

[Timm]

Great work!

[SilverIris]

Great work!

Thanks Timm! Actually, this little EKAT relocation project spurred another side project too. On October 15th, I did a test to see how much current one of the EKAT heaters was drawing. As my multimeter was limited to 10A, I used various fuses to get an idea of the current draw. Not the most elegant method, but it got the gears turning in my head.

One project I have on the worktable is cleaning up the electrical system in my uncle's Corvette. Simply put, GM was completely stuck in the 1960s by using fusible link wire instead of replaceable fuses like the rest of the world had already done in the 1980s. After much homework, considerable math and a bit of Watt's Law, I came up with a chart to de-mystify the system and convert it to conventional fuses/fusible link cartridges. This is part of a bigger project involving battery relocation and a few other goodies.

Fast forward to last night. While getting a log from PA Soft to document the 750IL cluster's pre-modified state, I had to drag out the charger and multimeter again to feed the car 10A (standard procedure with any coding-related task). Keeping two sets of leads tidy is rather annoying as they often became snagged on various items such as the hood latches. So my charger is getting upgraded to show voltage and current output on a cute little digital display.

That gave me another idea. Since I had to go through the whole car to perform a parasitic draw test, quite a tedious task, I'd like to make it easier. That led me to making an upgraded set of jumper cables with the same digital display as my battery charger. Using my Expedition's starter as a benchmark, it consumes 1.4KW (1400 watts), which correlates to 140A @10v. Reason I use 10v instead of 12v here is because battery voltage drops to ~10v while cranking (pretty common with most cars). With these cables, now we can see just how weak a battery is, based on the current needed to jumpstart the vehicle it is in, even in the dark.

As Tony Stark would say...I'm the best.

[Timm]

Get yourself a DC-clamp meter, they are much more affordable these days and no need to disconnect anything!

20180130_135806.jpg

[SilverIris]

Curse you Timm, making me want to buy more tools . I will invest in one eventually for the reasons you mentioned, but there are more important matters ahead of it at the moment. Putting a voltmeter and ammeter in my battery charger is part of the ongoing upgrade to condense and tidy up commonly used items. Same thing with thing with jumper cables. Since they're in the car anyway, why not taking the Watt's Law guessing game out of a dead battery? With these, all of the relevant information is presented to you in a single piece of equipment that everyone should logically have in their trunk/boot at any given time. Plus, I had some Ebay gift certificates anyway

Anyway, back to the thread...

Since I'm waiting on the above items to arrive, it seemed like a good time to tackle an annoying coolant leak. It presents itself with the engine running only (so, under pressure) and appears to be somewhere around the Coolant Overflow Bottle, but I cannot say for certain untill the car gets a cooling system pressure test.

The last time I performed such a test was in 2013 on my RX-7, having rented the kit from the parts store for $75 (refunded on return). Checked on it today and now it's $240! Even at Harbor Freight, it's still $95, ebay has them for around $40, but I'd still have to wait delivery and I'm getting tired of sitting here doing nothing.

So I built my own, following this thread:
https://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/s...-pressure-test

Pulled the radiator cap and modified it to connect to a common tire pump/compressor. A new cap is only $6 from Rock Auto, and I have to order a new transmission filter anyway . In the meantime, I can always borrow the cap from Iris for testing purposes. One of the perks of having two nearly-identical cars...

[SilverIris]

Parts are on the way from Rock Auto for both Iris (740I) and Marina (750IL). Transmission filters, two oil filters, and a new radiator cap for Marina. Got in touch with Best Pixel Repair about correcting the odometer discrepancy. they gave me a price of $140 and said to put the order in on either their site or Ebay store. Checked both, no way to do so. So I emailed the back and suddenly, there's no response. Cluster is boxed up and ready to send to them, but they disappear...

So while I was waiting, and stuck inside thanks to snow, I did the intended upgrades to my charger & jumper cables. Time well spent and earns its weight in gold on the first use. Then another project happened.

Since tapping threads by hand is always a nail-biting experience for an inexperienced person such as myself whom has only successfully done so once in 10 years, I Macgyvered a jig to make the whole process much easier. Combined a $5 thrift store press with a salvaged chuck from a drill I caught on fire a few times. Add a 3/8"-24 partial-thread bolt, a cast iron bushing machined to 0.1mm tolerance and press it into a block of wood. Now I can make threads that are dead-on straight every time with zero drama.

So it's side quest time. Yesterday, my aunt's CTS decided to go Non-union with an Open-Door policy. Latch failed, zero resistance when closed or simulating closed with a screwdriver. Since mornings are a toasty 9 degrees now and it's quite an involved project to replace in the driveway (Marina is occupying the garage right now), we elect to put Iris back into service with some new tires and an alignment. So I'm all set to head to the tire shop this morning. Put Iris in Reverse and...nothing. It engaged about a minute later after restarting the car. Had a weird vibe about it, so I listened to my instinct and stopped at the curb.

I go to move Iris back into the driveway a few hours later using Reverse, and here she is...


I know what's coming, I REALLY don't like it, And my Expedition STILL needs brake lines and its transmission leak fixed...
https://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/s...filter+replace

Actually, this isn't the French Taunter. More like the Killer Rabbit...