Subject: Fuel injectors, Coolant, Belts and Hoses...a long day Author: kff (moderator) : member since February, 2004 : 4035 posts Posted on: 2005-05-22 01:23:37

So Tammer (87 535is) wanted to wrench today since it rained all day yesterday. Well Friday was nice for the grass, grew about and inch a day for a 36 hours with all the rain. So we wrenched on Sat. to get his car ready for 5erFest.

He shows up ready to flush and replace the coolant, to change the coolant hoses, the belts and the fuel injectors. We got the antifreeze out to recycle, flushed the system and pulled into the driveway. I went to work pulling the wiring harness over the fuel injectors while Tammer worked on pulling the hoses. Had the radiator and fan out of the car. The two neighborhood kids walked by looking for money and Tammer made them an offer to wash and wax his 20-spoke (PITA to keep clean) Style 4 wheels. Took em more than two hours, they used a bunch of wax and Tammer was happy.

So he got the hoses hooked up outside the car (the one under the intake manifold is three pieces) and put a couple on in the car. I finished undoing the fuel injector rail and wiring and we got the fuel rail out finally. Had to pry it some but all the injectors came out. Then we hit the dealer for some hose clamps as Tammer misplaced his set since he has had them for over a year. Not bad, dealer gave us a good price. Got back, I finished installing all the wiring, Tammer finished the hoses and we did the belts. I cleaned the radiator externally by spraying a hose through it opposite the air flow and look out for the MUD flowing outta there. Hey Tammer, where you been driving this thing? Then I tell him when we finish the car will not start.

Everything back together I pour in the antifreeze (one bottle, BMW) and ask about the other bottle, "well it holds 8 quarts doesn't it?," well no it holds 12 but a 33% mixture will work for now. The clean shiny wheels back on the car and everything buttoned up except the fan is not on the car (left off for using bleeder valve without risking fingers and stuff with engine running) and we crank and crank and crank and crank. NO START!!! Dah hell you say!!

So we look it over and just don't know. I suspect the crank position and speed sensors on the flywheel and they were disconnected to move the wiring outta the way. We get the Bentley and check them per instructions and find one of them is dead. Well it is a 1987 and folks (Read J. Stein, a very knowledegable BMW guy) say they should be replaced every 15 years as they are CRITICAL to operation. Just like relays. So 7:45 Saturday evening and where you gonna get a good reference sensor? Who you gonna call? So I try a local BMW Shop, no answer, try a yellow pages Bosch shop that closes at noon and they answer but not in stock. I grab my loacl BMWCCA Newsletter to get one more shop number and no answer, but opening the newsletter, I glimpse the classifieds and remember ...tom always has stuff for sale. I have gotten stuff from him, as have many I know, Tammer got a diff from him a few years ago. He buys old cheap E12s, E28s and such and drives them until they need to be parted out. Well he is home, has a couple and tests them and says they measure wrong (three pins and two adjacent need to have 960 ohms resistance others need to be about an open circuit). The two adjacent were on the wrong end. Ok maybe I told him upside down on how to measure making 2-3 good instead of 1-2. So we head down to ...tom's and score a working sensor at 9:00 pm and hang for a few more minutes. Get home with fast food half-eaten and finish this lunch/dinner and go to install the part. Done, no start. Go over everything and no start. Check Rick's No Start Page: http://home.bellsouth.net/p/s/community.dll?ep=16&ext=1&groupid=160912&ck=

Follow through to checking the coil and just before Tammer pulls the ECU I say let me check the sensors. The three sensors are in, two plugged into the engine and one hanging free. Unfortunately, the one hanging free is the old one that is good. That corrected, Tammer wanted to leave the cover off the sensors just in case. I say it is gonna start. Well a few moments later he turns the car off and puts the cover on. We clean up all the tools, lower the car and let it idle to warm up to allow checking the coolant level. Tammer resets the clock after reconnecting the battery at 0:12 (Euro Time) and he is test driving it home now. I told him if he had gotten over here at a regular start time instead of just before noon, he would have gotten to leave by 11!!

Oh well, it is done, it works, I have done this job to a test car and learned that before I change my injectors/hoses I will plan to add reference sensors to that list. Mine are old too (1985) and never been replaced. Thanks to ...tom for being around and having the part at a reasonable cost. Tammer will be replacing both as funds become available (about $70 each) and we will each have a used spare.

FYI--the reference sensors are connected to the back brace between the intake manifold and the valve cover. They plug into the bell housing on the driver's side and are not too bad to replace. The lower one on the bell housing connects to the gray connector and the other to the black connector. The sensors are the same. The bell housing holes are marked with a D and a B where you can not see them but the letters are molded so the letters can be felt with the fingers. B goes to the gray connector in the engine compartment. I can wait until I do mine!!! I hope!

• Fuel injectors, Coolant, Belts and Hoses...a long day (url) - kff 2005-05-22 01:23:37 (1414 views)
  • Whew! That was a long day. Do you have photos of those sensors - DavidC 2005-05-23 01:40:54 (907 views)
    • I guess I could dig up some somewhere. We did not - kff 2005-05-23 10:50:15 (848 views)