Oh dear, more problems :(

[Turbo-Brown]

oh dear (again)

Left Brown at a mates house for the weekend and went to pick 'im up this evening (there was a beer festival on and I woke up on Sunday feeling more than a little worse for wear so I got the train home)

Had some fun on the way back with an imaculate Mk1 Golf GTi which did a remarkable job of keeping up untill about 60!

Got back home and had to wait for a couple of mins with the engine idling which sent the temp gauge up to the 2nd line (above half way) but it didn't go any higher and the oil pressure was still around 20psi.

Anyway, the car's been sitting outside for about 2 hours now and at some point has pissed a load of coolant over the drive, and the expansion tank is still hissing!

What's more is that the whole of the engine bay's still scorching, it's like it's only just been turned off!

Suppose it is pretty hot tonight and it's quite still out there, but it's a little worrying!

Really must get around to fitting my electric fan!

[oguz327]

Off topic, i do alot of work in your area, Aldershot, Farnam and Farnbourgh.
Ive been on the look out for this beast, awsome project.
Why not come allong to the Guildford meet sometime would be great to see this in the flesh and meet you

[Turbo-Brown]

I was gonna make an appearance last night, but a phone call just as I went to leave the office put paid to that so I was 'ere 'till gone 8

What is it you do mate?

[oguz327]

Shame would have been good to meet you, mabie next time, Guildford meet has been on every month on the second wednesday since December so no worries, when ever your free pop down.
I am a self employed tiler by trade, are you in the building game aswel?

sorry to go so far off topic guys

[Turbo-Brown]

Yeah kind of, I'm a CAD monkey for the glass and glazing industry but as with all things associated with the building trade, everything's gotta be done yesterday! EDIT> Speaking of which, I'm working late tonight too!

Still, used to be a site manager and that meant really long hours!

[oguz327]

I know all about long hours, building trade sucks some times, alot at the moment lol
I do enjoy it though when thing are going well!
Site manger must have been a tough one, grieff from all angles.

[Turbo-Brown]

It really wasn't worth the greif either! Up at 5 to get to whatever site for 7 so I was there when people decided to turn up, and then back at about 10pm because some of the stuff had to be done after hours so that neighboring shops etc. didn't suffer interruptions.

Think I worked out at one point that I was on about £1.55 an hour cos I was salaried and they sure as hell didn't pay overtime.

Then there's being responsible for the H&S of my guys, constantly telling them to wear their safety gear, that thing about not working off ladders came in whilst I was working so I was forever sorting out platforms for people/telling them to come down off ladders. I had a couple of foreign plumbers on the last job I did, one of which spoke English, the other of which didn't, and trying to explain the concept of "hot works permit" to someone who doesn't speak English is pretty tough!

Thing is that they made out like they were all hurt and couldn't understand why I was pissed off when I walked!

[oguz327]

I dont blame you for walking
Sounds like you've got a much better job now, auto cads gotta be the way forward.
I know a few people who do this freelance and do quite well out of it, everything going auto cad theses days, gone are the drawing boards.

If you are free next month drop by the guildford meet, we are all a friendly lot and i am sure everyone would love to see the work you,ve done on you e30, sounds like a monster

[gareth]

careful, you'll start a AutoCad v Sold Edge v catia etc war!!!

Having 3D modelling and/or 2D CAD available at work and home is cool when it comes to designing bespoke conversion parts.

i doubt alex's beast would be anywhere near as cool without it!

[Turbo-Brown]

Couldn't have done the TBs without AutoCAD at home, although I did the productionised version in SolidWorks which is just amasing for that sort of thing!

Catia is just so expesnive it's not true, but no doubt you do get what you pay for! Could never get on with Solid Edge to be honest, but I've not used it in 4 odd years so it's probably moved on a bit

Will be there if I'm not working, you can all have a giggle at the mess of plumbing and straggly wiring that makes my car tick

Isn't quite a monster yet, needs more low end pull and some more top end I reckon! Gonna have a play with mapping the boost tomorrow!

Turns out that the temp was high on Monday cos the fan had jammed....again! Time to fit my 1p ebay fan this weekend and do away with the shitty viscous once and for all!

[E30Mark]

Taking this topic further off course....

I was a mechanical designer for 15 years.... started on the drawing board, then CADDS3, CADDS4X, autoCAD 10 / 11 / 13 etc, mechanical desktop (quite liked that one...) Inventor... Solid-edge, and ProE (what the hell was that system all about?) now I've got visio at home! oh how times change...

I keep meaning to install a decent CAD package on my PC, but which one?

Now I'm an electrician / kitchen / bathroom fitter...

PS oguz3001 i got your PM cheers

[Turbo-Brown]

Thought ProE was supposed to be quite good, as long as it was running on a UNIX system. They made a version for the PC though called ProDesktop or something which was poo by all accounts!

I'd recommend SolidWorks, it's just so easy and intuitive to use, and of course being parametric, you can edit things by just clicking dims and changing them! (Obviously this isn't new to you if you've used ProE but having been using AutoCAD for the last 10 years it's an absolute revelation for me!)

[gareth]

I'd recommend SolidWorks, it's just so easy and intuitive to use, and of course being parametric, you can edit things by just clicking dims and changing them! (Obviously this isn't new to you if you've used ProE but having been using AutoCAD for the last 10 years it's an absolute revelation for me!)

this is what i liked about solid edge having moved from AutoCAD.

has anyone tried EasyCAD??? we have drawings at work dating back over 30 years and EasyCAD was introduced while DOS was new! it got an upgrade to the windws 3.1 version and nothing then happened til i pressed for Solid Edge when i started in 2001!!!! talk about out of date!!! every command is from a pulldown menu! ARRRGH!!!!!!

our computer whizz had to rewrite some of it when we upgraded to windows XP a while ago as it simply would't run!!!

anyway

[E30Mark]

Thought ProE was supposed to be quite good, as long as it was running on a UNIX system. They made a version for the PC though called ProDesktop or something which was poo by all accounts!

I was introduced to ProE when my MD left a copy of the software on my desk and said get on with it.... i had never seen proE in operation so i didn't have a clue what i was doing. Took me two days to get it running on my PC (and yes all the setup programs were in UNIX...) ended up swapping out half my PC to get it working, then it took me a further couple of days to work out how to draw a straight line.

The MD was not willing to send me on any training courses, just expected me to 'pick it up' as i went.... yeah right buddy. The next day he then said he had an urgent job coming in that had to be turned around in a week! so i used mechanical desktop !!!! i only ever really used the ProE to read in customers jobs and output them into AutoCAD. Shortly after that i left, Amen.

[Turbo-Brown]

He he, some companies really do take the piss don't they?! "Here's learn this" says the boss "it's the most complicated bit of software in the world" says the employee "just get on with it" says the boss, and then you're off on your next adventure!

Anyway, slightly back on topic, I've fitted my electric fan at long last, just gotta wire it up and then unbolt the viscous, but now it's pub time

If anyone wants to fit an electric fan, I used the one from a Peugeot Partner van which is pretty big, and fits perfectly over the radator once you take the outer cowling off

[gareth]

is it a blower or a sucker? my BX fans are suckers... meant to sit inside the bay and suck through the rad, they do fit well and 'work' but the aerofoils on the blades are backwards as the're in front of the rad, running backwards to blow though... long story!

[Turbo-Brown]

It's a blow through so it fits conveniently in front of the rad, or at least it would if the cossie intercoolers I hacve didn't have little random pipes sticking out straight into the fan.

Still, a hack saw, a turned ali bung and some silicone sealant sorted that out.

[gareth]

that's what i like to hear!!!

never take "it doesn't fit" to be the end of the matter!!!!

[Turbo-Brown]

Anyone think it's a bad idea to cut the blades on the viscous fan down so that they can't jam anymore and have the electric fan as a backup?

Figure you can never have enough cooling!

Got a loooooong trip coming up on Saturday, going up to see a mate in Stafford so I've been bevering away with the wiring this eveing (and also installing the stereo at long last!)

[lentec]

(and also installing the stereo at long last!)

But how will you hear the engine

Still got guages in the hole in my dash!

As for the viscous i dont think they do much without the plastic cowling round them. Not 100% on that tho.

[Turbo-Brown]

Just need something to break the monotony of motorway driving!

I took the cowling off mine ages ago in the hope it'd stop the fan jamming. Seems to run cooler without it than with believe it or not!

Really can't get my head around why it's started doing it since the conversion!

It certainly doesn't run any hotter than it used to, but the tips of the fan keep curling forward towards the rad, then there's some witness marks where it starts to make contact, then it jams at the bottom!

Kinda surprised the viscous coupling hasn't completely dies yet because when the fan's stopped and the engine's running, it must take a hell of a beating!

Sooner or later it's gonna break the rad me thinks so something's gotta be done!

[gareth]

i seem to remember someone else having this problem on here a while back... not a problem i've ever had. is the fan genuine bmw?

[e30_Turbo]

Alex,

My fan only jammed into the rad when the enigine mounts snapped.....checked yours?

[Turbo-Brown]

It's fine for the most part, but some of the blades curl up quite alarmingly untill they contact the rad!

Mounts all seem to be fine, checked them yesterday as it happens

[e30_Turbo]

Blades curl up?

Weird, heat related?

I've never seen blades curl, break off for sure!

Mark.

[gareth]

i've been searching but can't for the life of me find who else had warping fan blades... but you're not alone! i have seen it..... i'm sure.............

[Turbo-Brown]

Well, been working on the loom for the leccy fan tonight, just gotta go out and see which way it needs to be wired up so I don't end up with it pushing air forwards

[gareth]

i would have thought with 270 bhp you'd need air brakes more than me with my mere 220 bhp

[Turbo-Brown]

Yay! We have leccy fan!

Seems I got it for 1p because it didn't work!

However, it only didn't work because the wire into the connector was corroded so I hard wired it into my new leccy fan loom and it works a treat

With the engine off it blows enough air through the rad to get the viscous spinning merrily away too, it's also powerful enough to pull the fairly hefty steel brackets forward so it just clips an IC, but spacing that forward seems to have solved that

Wired it up at a mate's house and it came on with the gauge pointing to half way (which is apparently 90degreesC) dropped the temperature to the 1/4 way mark but didn't switch off as it couldn't get down to 80. Have set it to turn off at 85 now so we'll see where that gets us.

Had a look at the viscous fan too, doesn't seem to have any BMW markings on it so it's presumably an aftermarket jobby, that's made of licorice apparently!

[Toby_Unna]

just gotta go out and see which way it needs to be wired up so I don't end up with it pushing air forwards

you'd have to be pretty daft to do that mate

good effort anyway

[Turbo-Brown]

he he, did think "Hmmm, the green/yellow wire's gotta be the earth and the white the positive" but gave it a test before crimping the wires from the loom on anyway.

Glad I did as it appears Peugeot's logic doesn't follow mine!

[Turbo-Brown]

And tonight's problem is......

....a producer!

Yes, come cheerful police chappy thought I didn't have a front bumper, so he pulled me, then realised I did but said that my intercoolers were a bit sharp.

Only doing his job I guess, but a pain in the bum none the less.

Asked if it was "turbo" though, said "two" he then said "dump valve?" yeaaaaah.

Ho well!

[WillG]

no cover on other cars? ohwell just a fine now isnt it?, had a IN10 5 year ago on a mx bike I was tuning for a friend, hardly effected insurance anyway they no really worried you had no insurance when thats what you are ringing up to get!

[Turbo-Brown]

I'm fully insured with all mods declared and it's taxed and MOT'd so it wasn't a problem legally, just a pain that I needed to present my docs at the police station.

Anyway, drove up to Staffordshire on Sat and back today without missing a beat!

The electric fan cycles in and out nicely keeping the temp between 90 and 85 degrees so the shitty viscous can come off!

Appears that it is a genuine beemer on though so seems odd it keeps buggering up!

[gareth]

how long was your engine stood while you re-engineered it? viscous couplings hate being stood in one place and tend to gum up. i've replaced most of the ones i've had on BMW's so far at some point or another! usually at the same time i replace the water pump as they have ALL failed, that's on 6 of them!!!