Fettling Cinders

[Wookee]

You can fit the back plates by cutting them in one spot and fitting them over and round the hub flange. Then you can either just bolt it into the suspension arm or weld the cut back together (again best done when bolted to the arm) Not a job for the purist but it's a way none the less.

Tony.

This is the thought. Looking at the video briefly he is left with a large gap between the two pieces which isn't ideal, that just invites more rust in such an exposed area. Mind you the parts are £26 a pair from BMW so not too dramatic.....unlike the £500 fitting bill would be.

I had a look at the Scarlett ZedShed thread and am now thinking about dropping my whole rear subframe so I can tackle all the rusty bits at once.

 

[t-tony]

If you use a cutting disc to cut them it leaves a 1.5mm gap which is easily filled with a mig. But if you're doing a rear end strip that's the ideal time to do them. Good luck either way.

Tony.

 

[EnthuZiaZT]

If I were you I would take it somewhere that has a steam cleaner and a ramp. Some lorry repairers have that sort of kit, one near Ely rents it out to anyone for about £12 a go. You will be surprised what a good steam clean removes. You will then be able to see exactly what actually needs doing.

Mike

 

[Wookee]

If I were you I would take it somewhere that has a steam cleaner and a ramp. Some lorry repairers have that sort of kit, one near Ely rents it out to anyone for about £12 a go. You will be surprised what a good steam clean removes. You will then be able to see exactly what actually needs doing.

Mike

Not a bad idea, but I want to keep the car for a while so plan to put some sort of protective paint on so will need to remove it anyway to make life easier

 

[Bazza]

who's going to be a busy boy then

 

[Wookee]

After another tankful that I got through at 24mpg I went to a nearby garage today for a Terraclean to see if that helps. They checked Cinders over too and were quite complimentary of all the rusty bits. Though they reckon I have a loose connection between the battery and starter motor, possibly to do with the positive terminal under the bonnet and they also spotted an earth lead to the side of the fuel tank that has rusted away. Anyone know what that is for?

I could also see that the fuel tank strap has had an argument with a speed bump at some point and is very rusty, so that'll have to be sorted when I get round to dropping the rear subframe.

 

[Antm72]

I would imagine the earth strap is just a saftey thing to ground any unwanted sparks around the tank.
How did the terraclean go ? There has been a few threads but noone had bit the bullet in a zed was the result positive ?

 

[Wookee]

How did the terraclean go ? There has been a few threads but noone had bit the bullet in a zed was the result positive ?

No idea yet, they didn't give me any indication at the garage and I guess I'll find out when it's time to fill up again. I will post up the result here. The car feels just as smooth as it was prior, but the throttle response is better as they also tweaked something on the throttle body to take away the 'sticky' pedal that had returned.

 

[Wookee]

I took the car for a run up to Rutland Water last Sunday and it ran sweetly with the fuel consumption looking better after the Terraclean. There was very little traffic on my drive and I took it easy on more or less motorways, but when I was near home I could again smell fuel when braking into roundabouts. A week of work has got in the way since, but this morning I have done some investigation.

Starting with what the mechanic told me at the Terraclean place that I had slightly too much oil in my engine. What he didn't do was smell it, which I have now corrected- yep it smells of petrol and is quite thin. I have carried out a compression test with no problems identified- all 4 cylinders are between 180 and 195 psi. Hopefully someone can confirm this is ok for my engine?

One thing I did notice was the difference in my spark plugs, bearing in mind I have blow-by going on (no black smoke or petrol coming out of the exhaust) it was interesting to look at the plugs. These were in new about 750 miles ago:

IMG_20160325_104150751

Note that cylinders 1 and 2 are very dark and wet, cylinder 3 slightly drier and cylinder 4 very dry. Which is interesting as the fuel pressure regulator is next to cylinder 1 and it is this that I suspect is faulty as my fuel isn't shutting off on the over-run. Can anyone confirm this 'logic' please ?

When it comes to the FPR this is mine

IMG_20160325_084112618

It's secured with a circlip and the manual says after taking this off it should just twist and pull off, but I can't seem to get it off. It twists and I've applied a reasonable amount of pressure to try and get it off but I don't want to force it. Is there a knack to this??

 

[t-tony]

Can't help with the fuel press. reg. but re the compression figures I'm not sure what you would expect on a new engine, not a great deal more I suspect, but the main thing is they are fairly equal 15 psi over 4 cylinders is acceptable. I would also be having a really good look over the vacc. and inlet rubber items to make sure they're all in good order. The fuel pressure regulator should maintain an even pressure along the whole of the fuel rail so shouldn't be responsible for excess fuel in the cylinders, only the injectors and/or the length of time they're open can do that.

Tony.

 

[Wookee]

I would also be having a really good look over the vacc. and inlet rubber items to make sure they're all in good order. The fuel pressure regulator should maintain an even pressure along the whole of the fuel rail so shouldn't be responsible for excess fuel in the cylinders, only the injectors and/or the length of time they're open can do that.

I'm happy with the compression test and it is what is causing the overfuel that has me scratching my head. I was hoping for an easy fix and thought that if the FPR wasn't shutting properly then the fuel would still be getting into the cylinders, but I get what you're saying- the injector(s) has to be faulty to allow the fuel past anyway?

 

[madleemark]

I remember some years ago having problems with my bmw k100, it run well, but the oil level kept rising, had me baffled, checked everything I could,then asked at motorworks, and they suggested the fuel regulator, I bought a used one, off them, and problem solved, maybe worth trying on your z3

 

[Wookee]

It's going into an injector specialist on Monday for them to look at all of the fuel system