What did you do to your other car(s) today?

[topher800]

Added a 2" Class III receiver hitch to the Willy's.




The help:

[gadget73]

Switched the e-fan wiring from low speed to high speed to try to eek a little bit more chill out of the AC. It has a 2 speed fan, but only made use of the low speed.

[jca]

Trying to bring back from the dead, the silver paint on my 84 325e. Sanding lightly the worst areas with 1500 grit, then applying clear coat from a rattle can. Appearance not perfect, but improved.

[e28Sean]

Got a wild hair up my tailpipe to detail the engine bay on the Mercedes.

Going to have to do the e28 next weekend...

Also took a moment to swap the trunk light bulb out for an LED.

[gadget73]

Changed the front brakes on the Towncar after they started making horrible noises. Pads were still at half life but the anti-rattle clip on the passenger side slid and was dragging the rotor. I had bought the replacement pads probably 2 years ago.

[a]

Finally traced the Rat's intermittent start to a bad connection at the female push on I had soldered onto the male for strain relief . But the crimp to the new 12 AWG wire was bad. It too. is now soldered on. Passed the tug test. Lasagna beckoned. I'll bench test then install tomorrow before lunch.

[Brandon in San Angelo]

1) Ordered some cooling parts for the Land Cruiser.
2) Installed some functional aftermarket mirrors on the Land Cruiser
3) Changed the oil in the wife's Chrysler

Still waiting on some electrical parts to get the 533i running.

[e28Sean]

1) Put the new license plate on (Finally got all the paperwork to re-title it)
2) Got rid of the license plate frame
3) Took the stupid dealer badge off it (oh how I loathe these)


With the Stupid Dealer Badge:


Without the Stupid Dealer Badge (and the new plate):

[gadget73]

Attempted to install the correct rack bushings on the Continental but failed at it. The rack won't come out enough to install them short of unbolting and jacking up the motor. Put the not quite correct later model 2 piece bushings back in and called it good enough. I did notice my motor mounts are about shot. Found someplace that actually had listings for them and the upper and lower radiator hoses. Ordered all of it, we'll see how long it takes to get an "oops, our inventory lied and we don't actually have this" email. Either that or I'll get a box.

[gadget73]

Got the refund. They had none of the parts, which is what I expected. Never know till you try.

[1st 5er]

Got the refund. They had none of the parts, which is what I expected. Never know till you try.

[glowell222]

Replaced the distributor pickup sensor, crankshaft position sensor, and the upstream and downstream O2 sensors on the Jeep TJ as well as replacing both front sway bar endlinks and the steering stabilizer.

[tig]

Debadged the 2010 Q7 TDi because we need a keepsake since the car will be destroyed.

[e28Sean]

Debadged the 2010 Q7 TDi because we need a keepsake since the car will be destroyed.

[tig]

Debadged the 2010 Q7 TDi because we need a keepsake since the car will be destroyed.

It's such a damn good vehicle too. I'm about 500 miles into a 1200 mile trip and it's just awesome...such a waste. But, getting $48k for a 90k 2010 car that we paid $57k for new doesn't suck.

[glowell222]

I had the same with my 2012 VW Golf TDI. In fact, selling it back to VW is the main reason I daily an E28 now. Plus it paid for the lift in my garage and a host of new tools with plenty of cash leftover. I am still quite bitter about the whole thing, particularly when I am driving behind a big diesel dump truck from last century spewing clouds of filth into the sky...

[Mike W.]

Two days ago I saw something flying past me while driving the E39 touring. Having seen it before one or twice I thought it was the hood emblem sticker. Yep. It's been warm, but not an especially warm day. Oh well, sad that I know the sight.



Then later that same day the self leveling suspension light came on. Oh crap, airbags? Control unit? WTF? It gave me the impetus to install the software to use the cable to talk to the car on a laptop. Coded as the LR height sensor. Royal PITA to get the connector off the sensor, but once I did, I spied a broken wire. Hmmm, did I do that or was it like that. A pain to solder it on in spite of decades of soldering experience but after clearing the code and reassembly, bingo, no more light! Wire gauge while obviously more than enough to handle the current was thinner than telephone wire, albeit stranded. There comes a time when you need wire thickness not for ampacity but simply for mechanical strength. Guess the Gnomes in the Black Forest missed class that day.

[gadget73]

Modified the Continental's mirror control to have a center-off position by robbing the selector switch out of a later one. got tired of moving the mirrors half the time I went for the window switch. Its a one year only control otherwise I would have just swapped the whole thing.

[amagansa]

Located the NEW power steering leak on my e23. after replacing the PS pump, now the booster seems to have gone bad, so time to take it apart and send it to Jay Stratton within the next few days or so.

[gadget73]

I pulled a lower control arm off the Conti to do bushings and the ball joint. The bushings are flared on the ends so they will not press out.To extract them I'd need to slice and dice the shells. They're not that bad and I'm not that motivated so it will go back together with just new ball joints. Ford's procedure is to replace the arm, ball joints and bushings are not considered replacement items. They have not made a car that used this arm since 1992 and the aftermarket doesn't make them either so that isn't an option.

[e28Sean]

So, when I got a hold of the AMG, it had two issues: 1) it only came with one key, and 2) the buttons on that key were starting to crack.
I resolved both of those issues yesterday.

To be fair, issue #1 was mostly solved by giving the local dealership about $300 to have a new key programmed. Interestingly, they no longer sell the style of key the W208 came with; Instead, they give you the post-facelift style.


(New key is on the left)

As for Issue #2: I re-shelled the old key; A task which took only a few minutes, and cost me about $16 for a new shell (3rd party -- It's not perfect, but, it will do, given that this will now be the 'spare' key). Took only a few minutes to swap the electronics over to the new shell.

[gadget73]

swapped cars in the garage. For reasons known only to the diesel gods, the injection pump on the Continental started hemorrhaging diesel fuel after I swapped the ball joints. Got somewhere to go next weekend, and since there is no chance I'll have it fixed by then I put the Conti into the time-out parking spot and the Towncar gets the garage door again.

[e28Sean]

...Continental...

...diesel...

I'm confused.

[gadget73]

In 1984, Ford bought BMW M21 turbo diesel engines to put in the Lincoln Mark VII and the Lincoln Continental. The Mark VII was a two door, the Continental is a four door. I've got one of those four door cars. Engine is BMW, engine accessories are Ford. Its a very strange car, not many were made, and fewer survive. Ford put their fingerprints on it in a few spots, mostly where it makes life more difficult.

Since there is more M21 knowledge from use in the 524td, I troll around here for oil burner knowledge. I know not a thing about BMW anything else .

[e28Sean]

In 1984, Ford bought BMW M21 turbo diesel engines to put in the Lincoln Mark VII and the Lincoln Continental. The Mark VII was a two door, the Continental is a four door. I've got one of those four door cars. Engine is BMW, engine accessories are Ford. Its a very strange car, not many were made, and fewer survive. Ford put their fingerprints on it in a few spots, mostly where it makes life more difficult.

Since there is more M21 knowledge from use in the 524td, I troll around here for oil burner knowledge. I know not a thing about BMW anything else .

Interesting! Sounds like a strange beast indeed.

Also... Leave it to ford to take a perfectly good engine, and shit all over it.

[Das_Prachtstrasse]

Finished the install of the electric rear sunblind in the e34. Retrimmed parcel shelf, new rear windscreen without the 3rd brake light etc, new blind motor, new control unit - it's been a bit of a mission. I had the factory installed manual blind up 24/7 but it's great being able to see when I reverse at night with the convenience of a button press.

Started removing the 29 year old window tint off the remaining windows, too. Fun job, that.

[wkohler]

Removed water pump and had way more non rusty-still green coolant come out than I expected from a car that supposedly hasn't run since 1986.

[gadget73]

In 1984, Ford bought BMW M21 turbo diesel engines to put in the Lincoln Mark VII and the Lincoln Continental. The Mark VII was a two door, the Continental is a four door. I've got one of those four door cars. Engine is BMW, engine accessories are Ford. Its a very strange car, not many were made, and fewer survive. Ford put their fingerprints on it in a few spots, mostly where it makes life more difficult.

Since there is more M21 knowledge from use in the 524td, I troll around here for oil burner knowledge. I know not a thing about BMW anything else .

Interesting! Sounds like a strange beast indeed.

Also... Leave it to ford to take a perfectly good engine, and shit all over it.

Indeed. Mostly what is different from the BMW version are the engine accessories and cooling stuff. Ford alternator, PS pump and AC compressor, and the radiator has inlet/outlet opposite what BMW did so the upper and lower hoses are strange and unavailable. The accessories are common to many 80s Ford things, but the tensioner is specific and was not meant to be rebuilt. I fixed that problem.

[e28Sean]

Indeed. Mostly what is different from the BMW version are the engine accessories and cooling stuff. Ford alternator, PS pump and AC compressor, and the radiator has inlet/outlet opposite what BMW did so the upper and lower hoses are strange and unavailable. The accessories are common to many 80s Ford things, but the tensioner is specific and was not meant to be rebuilt. I fixed that problem.

I only ever owned one Ford product (well, two, but, the same year make and model, one right after the other) and it was not what I would call a quality automobile. Then again, perhaps we're just spoiled by these glorious examples of fine German engineering.

[gadget73]

Depends which Ford. They made some real turds. I'm partial to the Lincolns because at least they had better seats and some extra build quality. If you're going to break down, you should be able to wait for the tow truck in comfort.

Injection pump is out. Yay. And I vacuumed the Towncar.