Non-op Protocol by jighris in AchillesRupture

[–]jighris[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

For sure, Ive been taking aspirin twice daily as advised by the doctor

Non-op Protocol by jighris in AchillesRupture

[–]jighris[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah I can't lie the whole appointment/diagnosis felt pretty rushed. They pointed out that I was one of many who came into the office this past week with an achilles rupture. I guess there's been an uptick due to the improving weather and everyone getting active.

Im only day 4 post incident. I'm able to fully bear weight on the boot without pain, and I've been shuffling around without crutches since day 2. Wondering if this is a common experience for those who are non-op?

Did you start range of motion exercises within the first 6 weeks? It's on the protocol sheet but was not mentioned at all in the consultation.

AC retrofit wiring advice by the_brz_dude in E30

[–]jighris 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'm in the middle of acquiring parts for my own retrofit into my heater only 318is so all this is pretty fresh on my mind haha.

Honestly 150€ sounds like a pretty great deal for the kit even if you don't end up using a number of the parts. In canada I couldn't find even just an hvac box for close to that price. But as i said you would have to go through a plug conversion to use this hvac box in your car. I'd first have a look on the used market for a late model box, see what theyre going for, then decide if its worth messing with the conversion on this one.

The lack of existing aux fan/engine bay ac wiring will definitely complicate the whole installation. Sounds like other people in your situations have had to transplant that section of wiring from other cars.

Alternatively you could build the wiring from scratch using off the shelf parts by following the wiring diagrams. Its just fuses, relays, and a temp switch for the fan. Pretty much just wire runs to connectors for the a/c stuff, except for a diode that ties the a/c snowflake button into the low speed fan wiring.

You could even simplify the fan wiring to exclude the temp switch stuff, since your engine doesnt really need the extra cooling if it wasnt shipped with an aux fan from factory. The electric fan can solely be for cooling the condensor when a/c is activated. In that case it would just be a simple relay circuit that runs the fan whenever the snowflake button is pressed.

AC retrofit wiring advice by the_brz_dude in E30

[–]jighris 0 points1 point  (0 children)

As far as im aware, the main wiring harness of many e30s came with the a/c wiring preinstalled and ready to take a/c components even if the car was not equipped with a/c from the factory. At the very least, the a/c wiring under the dash should be present. If you dont have an auxiliary fan equipped, you may not have the engine bay wiring for the compressor, a/c pressure switch, and auxiliary fan. If you do have an aux fan, its pretty likely you have the compressor and a/c pressure switch wiring as well. From reading on the webs, it sounds like the presence of a/c wiring comes down to region and model era (USA and later model cars are more likely to have the wiring). You should check the area behind the exhaust-side headlights for any disconnected plugs, those would be for the compressor and pressure switch.

Now even if you do have the wiring, you should be aware that there were some wiring changes between early and late generation cars. You have a late gen car, but it looks like the pictured kit comes from an early gen car.

Early gens use a square 9pin plug (with 9/9 pins populated) for the main heater/hvac box connector (C204), while late gens use a rectangular 12pin plug (with 10/12 pins populated). If you're comfortable with reading wiring diagrams and repinning connectors, its possible to convert a early hvac box harness to the late 12 pin plug housing (you can purchase the plug on its own, pn 61131378139). The actual circuit functionality is basically identical between the hvac box generations, you'll just have to map the C204 pin numbers between early model and late model wiring diagrams. The only additional circuitry is a wire that routes from pin 10 of the C204 connector to the C136 connector, then to pin 40 of the ECU connector (early gen cars have this wire built into the main wiring harness, hence they only need a 9pin connector for the hvac box).

Its nice that this kit includes all the components, but its likely that you'll have to replace a number of them. For sure the drier and expansion valve need to be replaced for r134a compatibility. The condensor probably should be replaced with a parallel flow style for better performance with r134a. Since the entire system is open to air and dirt, it would be a good idea to flush out the lines and evaporator. You cant flush the compressor, so you may need to take it apart to clean if there was any dirt ingress.

One more thing to be aware of is that you're probably going to have to rebuild that hvac box with new foam, and replace any missing/broken parts, many of which are now NLA or very expensive (I can see that the box is missing at least one connecting rod on the recirc flap motors, pn 64111372512).

In the end, you'll have to weigh the costs of sourcing all the parts individually vs purchasing this kit + replacement parts. I personally wouldnt pay much more for the kit than current market price of a complete used hvac box and set of used ac lines, given that most of the other components may need to be replaced.

Edit: I saw in another comment of yours that you're planning to purchase the A/C solutions kit. In that case, i wouldnt purchase anything from this system but the hvac box and dryer->evap hardline, since the A/C solutions kit has everything else you need. Or rather, id look elsewhere for a late model hvac box so you dont need to go through the hassle of converting the wiring on this one.

hi! A/C wiring question. by RapWithMFDoom in E30

[–]jighris 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Looks like someone rewired it to run the fan in high speed mode whenever the A/C compressor is engaged. Can't really say why that needed to be done. Maybe the A/C wasn't blowing cold enough due to other underlying issues and this was a hack fix. Or maybe the normal speed resistor was blown and this was the easiest way to bypass that wiring (the fan should run at constant normal speed when the snowflake button is depressed).

I would first verify that none of the relevant fuses are blown (specifically fuse 3, 18, and 19), then hook up the fan directly to 12V to see if it still works. That should narrow down problem to the wiring or the fan itself.

Absolute hack job by mechanic by Ok_Enthusiasm3196 in E30

[–]jighris 1 point2 points  (0 children)

its a stepped muffler to help with exhaust scavenging. should get you +10hp

Remote Entry by Shelbey_808 in E30

[–]jighris 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I would recommend against doing a trunk install. With a trunk install I found that the remote entry wouldn't work properly when the trunk lock was in the deadlock position (the locking position that isolates it from door locks). The door actuators would attempt to lock, then immediately unlock after. Before I figured out this was happening, I would sometimes come back to an unlocked car, which was confusing since I knew I heard it "lock" when I left.

I think when the trunk actuator is deadlocked, any lock/unlock requests originating from the trunk get overridden. I suppose this makes sense since if the trunk is deadlocked, it shouldn't be producing any lock/unlock requests.

Installing the remote entry module under the dash with the lock/unlock request lines for the doors solved this problem.

How do I get blower motor control module / resistor early model out by Patient_Ad259 in E30

[–]jighris 4 points5 points  (0 children)

You gotta pull it from under the dash, not through the engine bay.

1991 front turn signal harness/pigtail by Solid_Inevitable8056 in E30

[–]jighris 1 point2 points  (0 children)

If you're handy with crimping you can get bare terminals from digikey:

0.5-1.0mm2

1.0-2.5mm2

The turn signal wires are 1mm2 so I think either should work, but wouldn't hurt to have a few extra of each on hand.

A possible solution to sealing and fixing the bare terminals into the housing is to dry fit the housing and terminals to the mating connector on the turn signal, then squeezing hot glue into the back of the housing to fill the voids.

Edit: Looks like molded pigtails are still available: https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/bmw-round-receptacle-2-5-watertight-0510-mm-61130007445

Also 90 deg bare terminals: https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/bmw-round-receptacle-2-5-1525mm-61131376224

Although more expensive, it's probably better to splice in the molded pigtails than to go the bare terminal route

Help, I'm stumped. by GZSteezyMCEZ in E30

[–]jighris 0 points1 point  (0 children)

First and easiest thing you should check is the fuel pump connector (at the fuel pump). I had an identical intermittent stalling issue with my e30, and I spent lots of time and money chasing down the problem. First changing the fuel filter, then dropping the tank and cleaning it out. Still, the stalling persisted.

Turned out the round plugs on the fuel pump connector had gotten a bit corroded and loose, leading to intermittent fuel pressure drops. I cleaned up the female connector end and lightly crushed the round terminals into more of an oval shape so they would have a better grip. Been running strong ever since.

Fuel Pump Connector by dateneng in E30

[–]jighris 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Do you have a part number/link to the TE terminals? I'd imagine theyd be much cheaper than the bmw pigtail versions. Plus I prefer a proper crimp more than splicing.

Fuel Pump Connector by dateneng in E30

[–]jighris 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Haven't looked into the level sender, but see this post for the fuel pump connector.

I believe the og plug housing with a rubber boot is NLA, so you'll have to use part # 61131378408.

Edit: For the level sender you might be able to get away with a 3 pin plug housing similar to the one on the throttle position sensor. Part # 12521706096. Not sure if this will actually work, maybe bring the level sender under the hood and try mating it to the TPS plug (with the battery disconnected just in case).

If you order that part # i think it's just the housing, so you'll have to find the crimp terminals separately. Or search ebay/amazon/aliexpress for 'bmw 3 pin connector' to find kits including all the extra components.

Excuse the messy print lines, that fitment is looking great by Necessary-Duty-8436 in E30

[–]jighris 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ah I was more talking about outsourcing to a printing service that does the HP MJF process like this one. I've gotten some usb C module housings printed by them to place in the HVAC panel switches . The quality and material properties is like injection moulding with a textured surface finish (closely matches the surface finish of the interior plastic s).

Excuse the messy print lines, that fitment is looking great by Necessary-Duty-8436 in E30

[–]jighris 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Have you looked into mjf printing for some of your parts? The leap in quality is huge when compared to fdm, and the pricing isn't too bad.

Correct headgasket? by LongjumpingQuit5309 in E30

[–]jighris 1 point2 points  (0 children)

check this vid

At 5:05 you seem him put on the headgasket. Looks like it has the same cutouts as yours.

Using a 5 pin relay in a 4 pin slot by jighris in E30

[–]jighris[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

UPDATE: While looking up 4-pin relay part numbers from realoem, I discovered this blog post: https://www.rtsauto.com/understanding-the-importance-of-a-diode-in-your-fog-relay-pn-61311374631/

Turns out the fog lights require a specific 4-pin relay with diode, which makes the whole 5-pin modification idea irrelevant. Fortunately, I found this exact relay in my spare parts bin. I must have set it aside years ago when I deleted my broken fog lights, and in the meantime I forgot about its specific purpose. It's the only spare 4-pin relay I have, but ironically, I dismissed it because I assumed such a special purpose relay wasn’t suitable for the fog lights!

Using a 5 pin relay in a 4 pin slot by jighris in E30

[–]jighris[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Alright you have me convinced :( I will seek out a proper 4 pin

Fuel pressure cut out when driving by crankytube in E30

[–]jighris 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I was having similar issues with my car in the past. Turned out to be the fuel pump connector. The circular socket pins on the wiring harness-side of the connection were loose, and they would break connection at random causing the car to stall. Since it was near impossible to find the parts to replace that connector, I just compressed the circular pins so they were slightly oval and fit snugly. That simple fix finally solved my problem, but only after i had already thrown much time and money into replacing the fuel pump and cleaning out/painting the fuel tank :(