E36 328: In over my head!

Damn, I forgot about that hint. I only read about that once. Does that make them shrink a little?

I removed the radiator fan. I just needed to hit the nut with a torch. I will put anti-seize on the threads when I re-install it. I didn't need a skinny wrench that one of you guys suggested. Now I'm waiting on my neighbor to lend me their engine hoist or I will buy one today. I'm crossing my fingers.

Mr_Clutch42 wrote: Damn, I forgot about that hint. I only read about that once. Does that make them shrink a little?

It actually does with the poly ones. I was highly skeptical until I tried doing it myself. Then I kicked myself for not doing it with all the damn bushings I replaced before that point. Not sure what it does with factory rubber, but it can't hurt.

One more quick FYI. The absolute best thing about BMW' is that when are done with all the "maintenance of consumable items" the cars just come back to life. You really can feel the difference with all the suspension work. As for the cooling system work, its not as satisfying unless you were chasing an overheat issue; but your pretty much done with that system for the next 100k miles.

Success! My neighbors had some time to lend me their engine hoist. I had to remove the steering rack again, AHHHHHHHHH!!! I hate doing the steering rack on this car. I also took out the steering rod out too to make clearance.

My neighbor's son (he's 20) said that if I set the hoist to 1 ton instead of 2, I might have been able to get it out really quick. He actually sounded like he did a few engine pulls. My daughter took this picture of me taking apart the front end of the car.

Does anyone else listen to podcasts while they work on their car?

She also took this one too. A typical June day in Eastern NC.

And I was worried that she was taking crappy pictures .

I got this far before I had to go to work.

I am highly considering buying Evan's waterless engine coolant. Jay Leno does a short video of it here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t7PykrgzWPQ

If i don't, how do I change the ECU programming so this fan here comes on when I turn on the ignition. With my avatar Camaro, the cooling fan comes on whenever I turn on the ignition, and that may be one reason that it doesn't overheat. Two cooling fans and overheating problems is a little much.

Here it is with the front end completely off the car.

I didn't want to disconnect any more of the ac system on the left and the horns I'm guessing on the right.

If BMW engineered a Big disconnect plug where all those wires come out of the hose, it visually would have been easier to take the engine out.

For some reason, the rotation didn't work for posting to this thread.

These three wires definitely should have had another plug to disconnect them from the engine bay.

It's coming along nicely.

It's almost out!

And yes, that Camaro in the background is the same as my avatar picture. It got put in a ditch a couple of times.

It's close.

Look at all of that space. If I had 7 or 8 grand, I would probably put in a LS1,LS2, or LS3 with TR6060 in it. I also give big props to guys that pull out all the wiring to clean and paint the engine bay. I will do a little cleaning and that's it. No more wiring removal for me. I do want to paint this car black next year since I dislike white cars.

The M52 and trans in all its glory.

Now I can drill out that stud I hacked off on the bottom of the exhaust manifold.

This is my first engine pull and it was fairly easy. It helped out tremendously that I watch Eric the Car Guy videos on Youtube. He did a couple of videos on pulling engines but I just watched the one on the S10. I just took my time and started moving and unplugging things as they kept getting caught on the engine. As I went along, it got easier since I knew even more what to look for. This was easier than installing the steering rack, but much longer. It probably took about 7-9 hours in the span of a few days from unplugging the first connector to it in this position.

Engine leaks, I'm assuming that it's coming from the valve cover gasket.

Here's the close up of the exhaust I had to hack off.

The oil canister is leaking too. I will probably get a new gasket and oil filter if an auto parts store is still open today.

I ordered a seal for the transmission so hopefully that will solve the oil on it.

Here is it's temporary home. I need to check the "while it's out items" really quick. One I will do is to get the starter rebuilt by my local shop. I hope they will do it. I'm definitely not going to get an aftermarket starter.

Mr_Clutch42 wrote: I got this far before I had to go to work. I am highly considering buying Evan's waterless engine coolant. Jay Leno does a short video of it here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t7PykrgzWPQ If i don't, how do I change the ECU programming so this fan here comes on when I turn on the ignition. With my avatar Camaro, the cooling fan comes on whenever I turn on the ignition, and that may be one reason that it doesn't overheat. Two cooling fans and overheating problems is a little much.

Looks like you are chasing an overheat issue.
Can't remember if you have the original radiator, but if you do its a timebomb
Water pump (i do remember that this is original)
Mechanical clutch for fan
Air bubble in coolant (not sure where the bleed is on an e36
Electrical cooling fan is fubar'd.
Properly sorted, you shouldn't need the electrical fan to be always on.
Good luck, its probably the water pump.

Mr_Clutch42 wrote: If i don't, how do I change the ECU programming so this fan here comes on when I turn on the ignition.

No ECU programming required. On the side of the radiator is temp switch. Make sure it stays thinking it's hot and you will get low speed on the fan. Turn on the AC and you get high speed. If you always want full blast, remove the resistor block on the fan and unhook the high speed wire.

I leave the switch there but wire a manual toggle. That way it comes on when it really needs to (in case I forget) but I can choose to turn it on early (for cool-down laps and such).

I also replace that monster factory aux fan with a 16" SPAL puller (leaving room for oil cooler on the outside of the radiator) and ditch the mechanical fan entirely. Mine is a trailer'd race car sans AC though... not sure I'd go removing AC on a southern daily driver.

In reply to Timeormoney:

I wasn't overheating when I parked it. I just had overheated twice since I purchased the car and I had an original radiator.

In reply to Giant Purple Snorklewacker:

Okay, I will try that when I get the car put back together. I think that people that remove the AC from their non-race vehicle car or truck (or never repair/recharge it) anywhere in the continental US is crazy. I've vacationed in Buffalo, NY in July and it's just as hot there in the summer as in NC.

I got more pictures! Is this regular clutch wear for 3 (practically 4) autocross events and 137,000 miles? I never did a clutch job before.

It is warped a little.

How about the pressure plate?

But this is the big one.

How about the flywheel?

No leaking from the rear main but it's going while I can reach it.

I believe that this is the input shaft for the trans.

It needs cleaning in there with the oil leak.