echo46
08-07-2011, 05:32 AM
All:
This weekend did some preventative maintenance on my new ZHP. I ordered all my parts from autohausaz, with mixed results-I'll explain later.
In prep for the cooling system refresh, I removed the airbox and MAF to give myself plenty of room to work.
First, drained all the coolant and was happy to see coolant looked very clean. Next removed both hoses, which was probably the hardest part of the whole project. Removed the old thermostat, lubed up the new one and replaced. Removed the serpentine belt, water pump pulley and finally the water pump. Again, the pump appeared to be in great shape but you never really know what plastic is hiding. Installed the new water pump--Graf with a metal impeller. Removed and replaced the expnansion tank. Reattached new hoses and new temp sensor. Put the serpentine belt back on and turned on the heater to 91 degrees and fan on low and slowly refilled the sysytem with my 50/50 mix of BMW coolant and distilled water. Had the bleed screw open and bled the system. So far so good.
Got in the car and started the engine and prayed to the BMW gods for no leaks. Not enough clean living I guess as I quickly observed a small stream of coolant leaking somewhere from the expansion tank. It appeared to be coming from where the hose attaches to the expansion tank. Shut the engine and found the leak at that aforementioned spot. I noticed that the metal clip for the hose was not really snapping into place. I took the hoses off and removed the tank to investigate. It appeared that the slot for the metal clip was not manufactured correctly. Anyway, I tried to make sure it was really clean and reattached everything and started the engine again...same damned leak. Tried everything to get the clip to snap on with no success. I was a bit irritated. Had to take the new tank off and replace it with the old tank. Thing went on literally with a snap. Refilled the system as at least a half gallon of coolant was on my garage floor from all the screwing around with the expansion tank. Bled it and started the car and all was right in the world. Oh yea and I had hot hot heat blowing--that's a good thing.
Next up was the fuel filter change. Only took about half an hour with minimal gas spillage. Finished up by replacing the Control Arm Bushiungs with Meyle HDs. Took me about 2.5 hours and most of that was spent wrestling the carriers off the arms with my three jaw puller. The new CABs went on really easy by lubing up the arms with the dish washing liquid. Reattached bushings, torqued to 44 lbs, reattached wheels and lowered the car.
After I was finally done, took the car out for a spirited drive and everything was perfect. The slight steering wheel wobble I had previously noticed was gone.
As a side note, I will be sending the expansion tank back for a replacement and will replace the tank next year when I change the coolant.
Sorry for the verbose posting but I had to share.
This weekend did some preventative maintenance on my new ZHP. I ordered all my parts from autohausaz, with mixed results-I'll explain later.
In prep for the cooling system refresh, I removed the airbox and MAF to give myself plenty of room to work.
First, drained all the coolant and was happy to see coolant looked very clean. Next removed both hoses, which was probably the hardest part of the whole project. Removed the old thermostat, lubed up the new one and replaced. Removed the serpentine belt, water pump pulley and finally the water pump. Again, the pump appeared to be in great shape but you never really know what plastic is hiding. Installed the new water pump--Graf with a metal impeller. Removed and replaced the expnansion tank. Reattached new hoses and new temp sensor. Put the serpentine belt back on and turned on the heater to 91 degrees and fan on low and slowly refilled the sysytem with my 50/50 mix of BMW coolant and distilled water. Had the bleed screw open and bled the system. So far so good.
Got in the car and started the engine and prayed to the BMW gods for no leaks. Not enough clean living I guess as I quickly observed a small stream of coolant leaking somewhere from the expansion tank. It appeared to be coming from where the hose attaches to the expansion tank. Shut the engine and found the leak at that aforementioned spot. I noticed that the metal clip for the hose was not really snapping into place. I took the hoses off and removed the tank to investigate. It appeared that the slot for the metal clip was not manufactured correctly. Anyway, I tried to make sure it was really clean and reattached everything and started the engine again...same damned leak. Tried everything to get the clip to snap on with no success. I was a bit irritated. Had to take the new tank off and replace it with the old tank. Thing went on literally with a snap. Refilled the system as at least a half gallon of coolant was on my garage floor from all the screwing around with the expansion tank. Bled it and started the car and all was right in the world. Oh yea and I had hot hot heat blowing--that's a good thing.
Next up was the fuel filter change. Only took about half an hour with minimal gas spillage. Finished up by replacing the Control Arm Bushiungs with Meyle HDs. Took me about 2.5 hours and most of that was spent wrestling the carriers off the arms with my three jaw puller. The new CABs went on really easy by lubing up the arms with the dish washing liquid. Reattached bushings, torqued to 44 lbs, reattached wheels and lowered the car.
After I was finally done, took the car out for a spirited drive and everything was perfect. The slight steering wheel wobble I had previously noticed was gone.
As a side note, I will be sending the expansion tank back for a replacement and will replace the tank next year when I change the coolant.
Sorry for the verbose posting but I had to share.