318ti.org forum

Go Back   318ti.org forum > Garage > Personal bios and Introductions

Notices

Personal bios and Introductions A short personal history.

.
» Recent Threads
1999 M-Sport For Sale
12-31-2023 05:10 PM
Last post by Coop540iT
03-23-2024 06:39 PM
1 Replies, 98,911 Views
Once again 318ti owner...
03-20-2024 12:39 PM
Last post by two30grain
03-22-2024 02:04 PM
1 Replies, 61,818 Views
What brakes do I...
03-20-2024 03:27 PM
Last post by huirtera
03-20-2024 03:27 PM
0 Replies, 59,122 Views
Reply Share/Bookmark
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 05-18-2010, 03:51 PM   #1
DJdistructionmia305
Junior Member
 
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Miami
Posts: 9
iTrader: (0)
Question New Member from Miami. Help

1996 BMW 318ti..... Panther edition? Soooooo....

Let me start off by introducing myself. My name is Alessandro, people call me dro. Please feel free to reply with anything that needs to be said.

Well, I got my 318ti about 6 months ago when I traded it for my not so appealing 91' Mazda Miata (yuckkk), and its been fairly well to me and I love it but its slowly been giving me some problems. (BTW this website is the BEST thing that was ever invented)

So far I have had a overheating problem (which I live in Florida and I am currently running without a thermostat) with the fan not working because of the low speed not working but I rigged it to always stay on and the radiator blowing, which I will definitely post pictures on that replacement in the morning.

And Now I am having an alternator problem.... I think. I mean, I'm no rocket scientist but I'm no retard neither. TODAY I finally registered as a user on this website because I come forth FINALLY with a DIY PICTURE BY PICTURE ON HOW TO REMOVE THE ALTERNATOR! Since I only found one which is poor and isn't even the actual alternator DIY project.

BTW. Kudos to cooljess76 the man has knowledge.

SOOOOOOooooo My 318ti was acting a little funny kinda like it wanted to die. But then it kinda went back to normal and didn't think twice(this was about 2 weeks ago) So I made it home no problem the next day I go to turn my car on and no problem but I saw the little battery light on the instrument panel lite up but dim. I made it to my friends house and just thought my battery may be dying. When I tried to leave from my friends house my car would not start and I would only get a TICK TICK TICK TICK noise and I tried to start her up. Nothing, as if the battery was dead. I asked my friend for a jump and it started up fine but it was at a rough idle. when I took off the jumper cables instrument cluster got dim and idle got worse almost like it wanted to die. I tried to take and when I did the car suddenly started to behave like had NO power what so ever but it would barely stay on. I would give it gas and it would go veryyyy slowww. I made it to my house, which was down the block, and turned it off. Would not start back up. Took the battery to advanced auto and they told me the battery was bad. I bought a brand new battery and put it in my car but when I started it up the idle was still horrible. I then took the car to advanced (thank god advanced is on the corner) and the connected their machine up to my battery while it was connected to the car and ran a test. They told me ALTERNATOR IS BAD. BUTTTTTT they also ran a computer test the connects under the steering wheel and they also said CAM SHAFT POSITIONING SENSOR. TALK ABOUT A BAD WEEK. NOT TO MENTION MY CAR HAS BEEN LAGGING A BIT.

It doesn't feel like its pushing the power it should be, but that could be due to either fuel injectors? oxygen sensor? Distributor? gas filter? So I go home and decide **** I should check the spark plugs.... #2 has a little oil inside..... GREATTTT!!!!!!

I clean out the oil... It might be coming from the gasket seal on the valve cover. I replace spark plugs. advance gave me the bosch platinum +2.

I need help big time. It doesn't help that I lost my job Today, well technically yesterday because its already 3:00 AM There are a bunch of shops near by that repair alternators so I am thinking of taking out my alternator and taking it to them to repair it. But I need some advice. Please help a fellow 318ti'r. THANK YOU in advance. hope to speak to you all soon

P.s PANTHER EDITION?? LOL I find it funny how I researched panther edition and nothing came up except for range rover having a panther edition in 1996 when BMW bought out land rover. I guess the guy who gave me my 318ti had decided "hey why not take the emblem off the range and put it on the 318. ****... lets put the seats in there too" WTF help please

Last edited by roadrash; 05-18-2010 at 04:26 PM. Reason: removed multiple "<BR>"
DJdistructionmia305 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-19-2010, 02:21 AM   #2
tiFreak
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: asdfasdf
Posts: 10,002
Vehicles
iTrader: (8)
Default

sounds like the battery died because the alternator wasn't charging it and it drained to the point where it went bad, the rough idle is probably caused by a combination of that and the cam position sensor

the cam position sensor is actually a pretty simple sensor, only thing that can really go wrong with it is the wiring, try wiggling it to see if you can find a break, sometimes the break will feel softer than the rest of the wire

after you fix that, if it still idles rough you might want to change the plugs again, our engines don't like those Bosch Platinums for some reason

valve cover gaskets not a tough job

no such thing as a 318ti Panther Edition, post some pics of it so we can laugh at the guy who put that stuff on there
tiFreak is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-19-2010, 02:27 AM   #3
cooljess76
NOBODY F's with the Jesus
 
cooljess76's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: Ventura California
Posts: 7,824
iTrader: (6)
Default

Hey Dro, yeah that's funny about the panther edition thing. Definitely not a BMW thing. Anyway, it sounds like you have a couple issues keeping your car from running it's best. The first thing I'd address is the overheating problem. The cooling system is the weak link on our cars. It has many plastic components that tend to fail after 100-150k miles. It's a really good idea to replace the entire cooling system at this point if it hasn't been replaced already. The whole system including radiator can be replaced over a weekend for under 400 bucks. This would include the radiator, radiator cap, hoses, water pump, thermostat, plastic coolant fittings, a couple gallons of coolant and perhaps a temp sensor. Now I understand your financial situation might not permit you to do this all at once, but as soon as you get a chance, you should probably make an effort to get things swapped. Here's a really good writeup for replacing the cooling system:
http://www.318ti.org/forum/showthread.php?t=18066

Now, before we jump the gun, lets try to figure out why your car was overheating in the first place. You say you removed the thermostat and are currently running without one. That's fine as a temporary fix since you live in FL and the weather is warm. However long term effects will be bad for your motor. You can check your thermostat by placing it in a pot of water on the stove with a thermometer and watching the thermostat physically open when the thermometer reaches the temperature marked on the thermostat. However, since you'll probably be rebuilding your cooling system soon anyway, you might just want to go ahead and purchase a new thermostat. You can find the part#'s on realoem.com. Just type in the last 7 digits of your vin, it'll give you a complete list of parts and diagrams, find your part and the corresponding part#. Two of my favorite sites for online shopping for BMW parts are pelicanparts.com and getbmwparts.com. Both places offer great service, reasonable prices and fast shipping.

The fan really doesn't come on very often unless somethings wrong. Maybe if you're stopped in traffic and the outside temp is over 100 degrees, but the only time I've ever seen one of these fans kick on is when you turn on the A/C. I've seen cars that will strain electrically monentarily when the fan kicks on. This may have been what killed your alternator which then killed your battery. Afterall, you did say you rigged the fan to stay on full time. So what caused the car to overheat? I doubt it was the fan, it's really not needed unless there's a problem and even then I've seen cars overheat and the fan never kicked on. One thing that I know occurs is that over time, our cooling systems trap air in the radiator resulting in whats called air-lock. Basically your radiator develops an air bubble which prevents the coolant from circulating through the engine, then the coolant evaporates since it can't circulate which creates an even larger air bubble and then the overheating begins. Before we go any further, let me make this very clear, IT"S NEVER OK TO OVERHEAT THESE ENGINES! Not even for a few seconds. A few seconds in the red almost always results in a blown head gasket. If not right then, it still can cause permanent damage to the gasket due to fatigue which will substantually reduce the life of the gasket. So if you ever notice the needle moving past 12 o'clock, SHUT THE CAR OFF IMMEDIATELY. I don't care if your house is only a couple blocks away. Failure to do so will end up costing you $2000 in a head gasket job, possibly a warped or cracked head or even ruined engine. You can tell if you have an air-locked cooling system by turning the heater on. If you don't get hot air(and I mean REALLY HOT air), then you probably have air in the system which needs to be bled asap. Here's a writeup on how to properly bleed the cooling system:
http://www.318ti.org/forum/showthread.php?t=27983

So lets say the system is bled, but you still have an overheating issue. Well we know it's not the thermostat, because you don't have one. Get one. And whenever you open the loop, allowing coolant to drain out, such as replacing the thermostat or water pump, you cannot just top off the coolant in the expansion tank and call it good. The reason why is because there's now an air pocket in your engine which will eventually make it's way into the radiator. So you need to bleed the system while you're topping it off. This may take several attempts to complete successfully.

Your next culprit is the water pump. Water pumps are a relatively simple design and fail in one of two ways. Either the bearing wears out and causes it to leak or seize. This usually can be noted by a squeaking sound from the pump itself or a chirping sound from the belt tensioner. I believe the tensioner has a built in chirping mechanism designed to chirp when there's an irregular resistance in the belt drive. The other means of failure would be a broken impellar. Older style water pumps had a plastic impellar which was know to shatter leaving bits of plastic in your engine block and cooling system. The newer pumps come with metal impellars. Beware of companies claiming to have new composite impellars. I think those are just people trying to sell off their old stock of plastic impellar pumps. Get one with a metal impellar. People will say they rust, that BS. They won't rust if you use distilled water mixed properly with the correct antifreeze.

So lets say you've bled the system repeatedly, replaced the thermostat and water pump, can't find any coolant leaks, but you still continue to loose coolant. You may have a small crack in your radiator. Our radiators have plastic expansion tanks that are known to crack at the seam where it mounts onto the aluminum part of the radiator. This seam is covered by a plastic shroud and the leak may be so small that the coolant evaporates before enough of it collects to drip on the ground or onto the plastic underpanel attached to the bumper. You can check your radiator and entire cooling system for that matter by pressurizing the system. You'll need to buy, rent, borrow or make a pressurizing tool. With the engine cool and off, pressurize the sytem to about 10psi. Don't go much further beyond that. Listen carefully for any hissing. If you hear a hiss, try to locate it. It might help to do this in a quiet garage. I found a hairline crack in my radiator using this method. If you hear a hiss towards the back of the motor, you likely have a cracked "Y" fitting. If you hear hissing under the intake manifold, you likely have a cracked coolant fitting on the side of the engine block. If you notice the carpet wet under the dash behind the center console, you likely have a cracked heater core. If you see coolant or perhaps a white residue under your water pump, you likely have a bad water pump or bad o-ring. Temp sensors don't fail often, if they do it's usually due to air-lock causing the coolant to evaporate and blowing extremely hot air across the sensor which damages the sensing element. Or it may have a broken or damaged wire.

So first thing, get your cooling system fixed. It's really important. I know, you can't fix the cooling system if the car doesn't run right. Right. So lets fix the electrical problem BEFORE YOU START DRIVING THE CAR with a bad cooling system. I mentioned earlier that your fan wiring might be the culprit. Return it back to stock. Did you say you got a new battery? If so, take your battery and alternator to your local auto parts store. Pep Boys, Advanced Auto, Oriley's, Auto Zone and Napa should have battery and alternator testing equipment. Most places will let you drop off your battery while they test it and charge it for free. If you want them to charge it, you have to ask them to, otherwise they'll just test it. They will also bench test your alternator right in front of you so you can see if it works or not. If it's bad, you can have your buddy rebuild it with new brushes, bearings and a voltage regulator. Or you can just buy a refurbished one. I get my alternators from this guy:
http://stores.ebay.com/id=144108571

So lets say your alternator and battery are both good. Now you want to check the output. Start by cleaning off the battery terminals and cables with a wire brush. Buy, rent, borrow a digital multimeter. With the engine running and all electrical components turned off(headlights, AC, radio etc), check the voltage across the two battery terminals. You should see close to 14v, maybe a little over 13v. Now check the output at the back of the alternator. Place the red lead from the multimeter on the larger terminal on the back of the alternator. Place the black lead on either the smaller stud or it's easier to just touch it against a bare piece of metal in the engine compartment such as one of the strut tower nuts. Again, you should see about 14v. If you notice it rising and then dropping in voltage, you may have a bad engine ground. Turn the car off and check underneath the car on the passenger's side just inward of the front wheel well. There will be a large gauge wire connecting the passenger side motor mount to the cassis. Go ahead and remove this wire, clean the ends with a wire brush as well as the surface on the chassis and motor mount where it makes contact. Hook it back up and tighten the bolt nice and tight. Now go back and check if you have a steady 13-14v. If som you fixed your problem. If not, you have a parasitic drain somewhere. You can take your car to Sears or an independant mechanic to diagnose the problem. This will save you money vs. going to the dealer. Sears will usually test your charging system for free.
cooljess76 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-19-2010, 02:28 AM   #4
cooljess76
NOBODY F's with the Jesus
 
cooljess76's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: Ventura California
Posts: 7,824
iTrader: (6)
Default

Now finally, the Cam Position Sensor might also be a cause of the car running poorly and not starting. I'm pretty sure it's at least partially responsible for the problems. Sometimes you can clean them and make them work. If the engine won't crank over, sometimes you can gently wiggle the wire and retry starting it. Since the code popped up, you might as well replace it. They cost about a hundred bucks. Here's a recent thread I posted in:
http://www.318ti.org/forum/showthread.php?t=30547
It's item# 6 in this diagram:
http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts...85&hg=11&fg=10

Oil in the spark plug holes is a common problem. It usually isn't really a problem unless they're completely soaked and the contact is submerged in oil. You can take some paper towels and soak most of it up. If you remove the plugs and allow the oil to enter the cylinder, your car will smoke like crazy and you might foul the spark plug(s). Try to get it all cleaned out before you remove the plugs. The cause of this is a bad spark plug hole seal. There's 4 of these rubber seals and they come with the valve cover gasket. Order a new valve cover gasket, it's pretty simple to replace, just make sure the spark plug hole seals stay seated when you replace the valve cover. Use a torque wrench on the valve cover and don't overtorque the bolts!

Man that was a lot of typing. I hope I helped answer your questions. Best of luck!
cooljess76 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-19-2010, 02:34 AM   #5
trikzta
Senior Member
 
trikzta's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Miami, FL
Posts: 874
Vehicles
iTrader: (2)
Default

Welcome to the Org dude and damn sounds like you had a lot of "Fun" that week i been having some trouble with my Ti too but i got it all sorted out except the fact that i need a new Cat but hey dude what part of Miami you stay at?
trikzta is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-19-2010, 04:38 AM   #6
DJdistructionmia305
Junior Member
 
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Miami
Posts: 9
iTrader: (0)
Default REPLY

So I just got home but I am going out again. I will reply to every one once I get home later or tomorrow morning depends on how my night goes...
<br>
The good thing is I got my alternator back from the guy who rebuilds them. Car cranked up with no problem but its still kinda choking a little, the idle does not stay put. But it is a lot better. Cooljess I am going to try a bunch of stuff tomorrow and I will reply to you later because I have a lot to talk to you about.
<br>
and I live in kendall trikzta. I see you live in miami as well. We should definitely start something down here in miami for all the 318ti's.
<br>
I also have a picture by picture on how to remove and install the alternator!!!!! I will post it all tomorrow! thanks you to everyone.
DJdistructionmia305 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-19-2010, 04:40 AM   #7
tiFreak
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: asdfasdf
Posts: 10,002
Vehicles
iTrader: (8)
Default

FYI, html coding doesn't work on forums, to do a line break you just have to hit enter
tiFreak is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-20-2010, 12:41 AM   #8
trikzta
Senior Member
 
trikzta's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Miami, FL
Posts: 874
Vehicles
iTrader: (2)
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by DJdistructionmia305 View Post
<br>
and I live in kendall trikzta. I see you live in miami as well. We should definitely start something down here in miami for all the 318ti's.!
yeah i live in little havana not so far from where the orange bowl used to be, tomorrow ill be trying to get my Ti up and running since i got the Cat today
trikzta is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-21-2010, 03:34 AM   #9
kris318ti
Member
 
kris318ti's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2009
Location: Weston,FL,US
Posts: 73
Vehicles
iTrader: (0)
Default

i live not far from u guys. i live in broward but i go to hieliah almost every weekend to work on or clean my ti
__________________
kris318ti is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-21-2010, 04:38 AM   #10
trikzta
Senior Member
 
trikzta's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Miami, FL
Posts: 874
Vehicles
iTrader: (2)
Default

oh nice finally some fellow members are turning up in south florida maybe when i get my Ti running and Dj we can meet up somewhere some weekend
trikzta is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-21-2010, 05:20 AM   #11
kris318ti
Member
 
kris318ti's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2009
Location: Weston,FL,US
Posts: 73
Vehicles
iTrader: (0)
Default

yeah for sure man
__________________
kris318ti is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Bookmarks

Tags
alternator


Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 
Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
ti for sale in miami bruno318ti US and North America 2 05-30-2009 03:17 PM
Repair service in Miami? bobytt Southeastern - US 0 10-30-2008 09:15 PM
Info about mechanic shop in Miami bobytt Misc 0 08-22-2008 07:30 PM
Miami Ink Commercial Tyler General Chit Chat 6 11-29-2006 05:18 AM
anybody from NC or miami? devilddog88 Southeastern - US 5 12-06-2004 03:30 AM


All times are GMT +1. The time now is 07:14 PM.


.
Powered by site supporters
vBulletin Version 3.8.8
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Copyright ©1999 - 2024, 318ti.org
© vBadvanced CMPS v3.2.2
[page compression: 116.97 k/135.97 k (13.97%)]

318ti.org does not warrant or assume any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information or products discussed.