A mixed bag of problems.......

[TheOriginalMrP]

Update... and I know its been a while!

My shipment of parts from John Hervey at Special T in Chicago arrived yesterday.... I guess 3 weeks and 4 days isnt bad....but the weather has slowed things down and mail has been a week late here on the farm....

I was very lucky with customs too.... I dont know how they worked it out but my fee was £30 for nearly $700 of kit (£490).... mind you a good $124 was shipping...

Anyway I have to make a start on getting it all back together.... all the parts look good....

I am a little concerned about the new heater core though as its totally different and looks smaller than the original.... but like most aftermarket parts, i guess a few modifications could be ahead... at least the pipework looks right. But to be honest I think the rest of it looks too small so its gonna be like a d*** in a shirt sleeve lol.

I have plenty of closed cell foam and silicone though... happy days!

Tomorrow im not doing anything except maybe a few pictures of what ive bought....

But next sunday i hope to have the unit all put together and sealed back up ready for reinstallation the following week when all sealants have dried etc...

I also bought from John a set of manuals... 2 Workshop,1 Parts,1Technical Data and a large laminated schematic diagram.... I wish I had these from day 1.... What a wealth of information!

Anyway I will report back tomorrow with pics and descriptions of what ive bought and hopefully prompt some advice on how to get some of it fitted...

MrP

[Guinney1971]

good stuff Ben, cant wait to see BLM2Y coming back together again and seeing
what difference all the new bits make. Hope you resolve the heater core issue too.

[TheOriginalMrP]

Well a small amount of progress but as much as I could do today...

Fitted the new heater core back in its part... sealed up the edges with silicone and blocked the holes with foam
Bonded the seal around the edge of the evaporator core.
Re-Covered the outside of the heater box with adhesive closed cell foam...

Cant fit it all back together until the silicone on the evaporator core has gone off....

But there is a pic of the end products as well as my loot of new parts and my lovely laminated schematic diagram foe the wall!





I'm really excited about getting it all back together in time for easter!

Mr P

[Guinney1971]

[TheOriginalMrP]

No pictures yet i'm afraid... i will take some sunday, but bar a few pieces of foam and a general check over, I am happy to say that the heater box assembly is ready for reinstallation.

The new heater core was smaller and has caused headaches...
You could virtually get it all back together and the metal strap would slip off causing it to flap about in the case.

There is no point it half repairing it as i know when i came to fit the core pipes back on, the stress would dislodge it.. .
When it was secured nice, none of the screws met the holes tidy.....

And the hot glue holding the mesh to the evaporator core. ..

About as much use as my aunt fanny!

Anyway all sealed up now drying for a week... reinstallation a week saturday!

Wish me luck!

[Nick H]

Sounds like it's going well.

The only bit I found tricky on re-installing the heater box was the pipes passing thru the bulkhead.
This was down to the new evaporator in my case as my heater core was ok.

Regards

Nick H

[TheOriginalMrP]

Happy to say I am now making progress....

Pipes had to be bent a little to get them through the bulkhead....

Apart from connecting the heater core and evaporator core, I am ready to fill with coolant and test the heating side and that the heater box is functioning correctly...

Tidied up all the looms that run from front to rear... next weekend i think i will be ready to check for leaks also...

When I am satisfied, I can start building it back up...

Ive already put my fresh carpets back in roughly and fitted the knee pads..

Excited for next week now as im gonna have a rest tomorrow...

My motorbike had a service today which had a clean bill of health....
My M5 has an MOT test next saturday...
Its all go!












Thanks for looking!

Mr P

[Guinney1971]

fantastic progress Ben, and those carpets look amazing!

[TheOriginalMrP]

Thanks Claire.. I just hope all the box functions correctly but i did test all the flaps by drawing air from the relavent pipes....

Another thing that worries me is the possibility of escaping air that could cause a whistle but I am not gonna build up any more until the testing is done...

Most of the bulbs popped out of their holders when the a/c panel was removed so i'm sure some of them are in the wrong place...

Also I cant remember the exact routing of the throttle cable ...i'm sure it wasnt over the top of the heater box, and i dont think it was underneath it.... So I pray i'm not gonna have issues with that....

We will soon find out!

;-)

[stunned_monkey]

It goes under the box, then up around over the top of it to the top of the pedal box. Careful it doesn't get caught in the windscreen wiper mechanism.

[TheOriginalMrP]

Thanks Martin.....

Just my luck!

In the end I routed it immediate left after the ac panel... The throttle pedal is working fine but i will have to check its not interfering with the wiper linkage like you pointed out. It didnt look like it would reach the way you mentioned and straight over the top of the box might have interfered with console refitting... i guess i will find out next week and if its hitting i might have to disconnect the cable... im not touching the heater box now if i can help it!

[TheOriginalMrP]

So... the home straight I hope!

Threaded through a brand new throttle inner cable as the temporary one gave up when I first checked out if my cable routing was gonna be a problem. When I pushed the throttle to the floor it snapped the temporary cable which has been in there since summer 2007... Nice new genuine one in there now and it works fine without interfering with the wiper mechanism....

So.... today this is what I achieved after sorting the throttle out....

Reconnected a/c evaporator.... pig of a job!
Reconnected heater matrix pipes....
Filled up with coolant.....
Started engine
Burped Radiator
Heater matrix pipes were leaking so had to redo them
Ran engine until hot and fans came in satisfactory
Tested heater fan and operation of the flaps and modes.... All seemed ok there. Was nice to see my recycled air flap opening up !
So I put the glovebox, and lid back on.
Reinstalled seats and console....
Had to swap some bulbs in the a/c panel as they all popped out when it was removed and they was in the wrong places...

Then disaster struck.... or maybe im overlooking things...
Reconnected battery for another test after refit....
Door ajar light isnt working.... didnt notice on the previous startup but it always worked prior to this job....
Started engine again and started ok... battery has been disconnected all winter but i had been doing tests with it connected for several hours which drained it a bit....
With the engine running I turned the mode switch and it immediately stalled....
Tried restarting, no joy....
My running of the car earlier to test was with the fuel light on but i refused to believe it was out completely....
Put another battery on....
Put about 3 litres of fuel in, lights still on...
Car starts and ticks over nice...
Turned mode switch on and all the functions work as they did earlier....
But when car is revved now it splutters quite a bit.... if i rev gently its fine but if its booted it splutters badly...

Maybe it needs a few gallons of fresh in the tank?
I changed the fuel pump boot too so maybe ive disturbed the pickup pipe?

I was just wondering too if there was any problem with the heater vacuum pipes on the inside of the car weather this will agfect the engine running?
Had some dodgy fuses in the fusebox too... 2 had fallen apart so i doubt that helped....

Radiator seems to be ok and i guess the tester will be when the a/c is recharged!

Gonna rewire my fog light switch and get my damn heated screen switch to stay in place, refit stereo and phone kit then its ready to drop the oil and change the coolant after its flushed....



Any advice appreciated... im happy with what ive done yet im concerned about my new issues....

Pictures soon x

[Chris Williams]

Quote:Door ajar light isnt working.... didnt notice on the previous startup but it always worked prior to this job....

Perhaps knocked off one of the wires to the door switch just below the glove box?

Quote:Maybe it needs a few gallons of fresh in the tank?
I changed the fuel pump boot too so maybe ive disturbed the pickup pipe?

good idea to make sure theres enough fuel in there, If you have put a new boot on it might have 'lifted' the pump/pick up up a bit? also worth checking the multiplug connector is making a good conection now as it's been disturbed, these seem to be a bit cr*p.

Chris

[TheOriginalMrP]

Thanks Chris... The door lights are turning on and off ok it seems... I did check the plugs on the back of the switches but not to any great extent...

I will resolve that next week.

As for the fuel pump you are right... when i removed it from the boot it was situated quite high up but it would go about 3 inches down if i wanted it to. From memory it was high up to start but i put it back together right down and thought better of it so returned it to the highest position so the boot cap fit without union bulges....

Maybe it needs to go down an inch but its unclear exactly where in the boot the pump should sit... Maybe you can clear this up.
The spluttering sounds like fuel starvation, and the bottom of the tank looked very clean through the fuel when i was in therw so i dont think its picked crap up...

I will put 15 quid in it next weekend and see the outcome!

Cheers!

[Guinney1971]

hiya Ben, just to let you know, when my car is low on fuel and I 'boot it' my car
splutters too - although my 'idiot light' has never worked since I've had the car,
but in my car's case its just a bulb gone probably.

Great work so far Ben, you must be so chuffed with what you've achieved so far