My M30 swap, few Q's

[charlE30]

If your engine is in the furthest back posistion 3 then any of the rads you've listed should fit. Did you have to "massage" the bulkhead at all?

Front pulley looks like it's already been removed in that photo so yes chu there would be one more belt to the PAS pump.
Mine still has the aircon pulley on and is no were near the radiator but then mine is properly back in P3... pleased I didn't remove it as it'll soon be powering my air con compressor again

[chu346]

Baz, I'm saying that this radiator isn't fitting correctly in MY car. I'm not saying that you've gave me the wrong radiator, just that for some reason it's not working in my car. If I really thought that it was your fault, wouldn't I be saying something along the lines of "Baz has gave me the wrong radiator, what can I do?". I know it was working in your car that is why i'm trying to figure out why it isn't in my car.

The other day when the engine wasn't sparking, I had just had a go at firing it up after working on it all day and it wasn't sparking. The next time I looked at the car, I unplugged most of the electrical connections, plugged them back in and it ran fine. Not sure what the problem was, but thought I'd ask you incase I'd done something wrong. I'm sorry I didn't get back to you to let you know this but I've been really busy lately because I've moved house and haven't had a proper internet connection, just my mobile phone to log on here.

Hi Charlie, The engine when in position fine and no massaging was needed. The pulley is not a problem, it's just dizzy is touching the rad.

325i rad

320i rad

[stbaz]

there it is as it was in my car

[Rav335uk]

Mine is touching the rad too with the dizzy cap, no major issue apart from then you need to change the rotor arm or t-stat.
It woun't damage the rad on hard braking.

[gcs325i]

Looks like it's in position 2? is it bolted to the rubber mounts through the front or rear holes on the engine mounts?

[chu346]

It's in the front holes, P3

[leeparkes]

This is the clearance id got with an M20 rad





Who's mounts are they? or has you E30 ever had a bang on the front?

[chu346]

Not sure who's mounts they are, and as far as I can tell the car hasn't had any crash damage.

Anyway, I've got the car running with the 320i rad for now. I need to sort the electric fan out, bought an o.e. thermo switch that fits in the rad. I need to know how to wire it up, it has 3 pins, anyone know how to wire them up?

[zaust]

That's the duel speed one for an ac fan, So on pin will be unused, Or see if you can take it back and get a 2 pin one.

[chu346]

I thought so, but how do I wire it? Just suck it and see?

[Rav335uk]

Elec fan diagram.

http://www.aaroncake.net/rx-7/efaninstall.htm

[zaust]

One of the the pin's should have a number (1) or just and eart sign. This is the permenant earth, If there are no marking's then it will be the one that sit's proud. The other's you can use either.

[chu346]

Well I've left my conversion till today because my insurance had ran out. But I'm back on it now, and have a few probs.

1.) the 3 pin temp sensor doesn't have any numbers on, nor do any sit proud, so I can't tell which is pin 1 (earth). Is there a way of testing with a multimeter?

2.) I'm struggling to bleed the cooling system. I normally remove the heater matrix top hose and run till all the air is out. What is the best method on the m30?

Also what diff do I have? The car does a top speed of approximate 125 mph and was a 320i previously.

[Rav335uk]

Well I've left my conversion till today because my insurance had ran out. But I'm back on it now, and have a few probs.

1.) the 3 pin temp sensor doesn't have any numbers on, nor do any sit proud, so I can't tell which is pin 1 (earth). Is there a way of testing with a multimeter?

2.) I'm struggling to bleed the cooling system. I normally remove the heater matrix top hose and run till all the air is out. What is the best method on the m30?

Bleed valve on the thermo housing

Also what diff do I have? The car does a top speed of approximate 125 mph and was a 320i previously.

Sounds like a 4,27

[leeparkes]

My bleeding method is, front end up high, ignition on with the blowers set on number one (hot) open the bleed screw, unclip the expansion tank and hold it as high as possible while you fill it up slowly. when you get water through the bleed screw shut it off, once the tank is full get the cap back on and fire it up, get it up to temp (every now and then hold the revs @ 2k) lift the expansion tank up again then open the bleed screw till you get no more bubbles. Shut bleed screw, clip the tank back in, lower the car, job done.

Just a tip, cable tie's joined together are perfect for holding the tank up in the air

No idea on your temp sensor though, im shoit with electrics

No idea on you diff either, but i expect its a small case so im guessing it wont last long with the M30 torque bellowing through it

[chu346]

Anybody experienced this taken from http://www.e30.de/335i/09.htm
"Problems with Bursting Hoses

The experiences of brankoboldizar@gmx.de with the placement of the cooling system components:

From top to bottom the system should look like this:

There needs to be 1.5-2 cm height difference from the top of the thermostat to the top of the radiator. Put another way, the output hose of the of the overflow tank must be higher than the thermostat.

For proper flow the overflow tank must be mounted as high as possible, or air will remain in the system.

I had a lot of problems with air in the system, even though I bled the system properly. Again after a week there would be air in the system and the bubble would go to the thermostat. This posed a great problem as the thermostat would read the engine as hot, but not open and thus not use the radiator. Finally I came to understand the importance of the height of these components and got it under control.

Ever since these were remedied I have had no problems with bursting hoses or overheating!"

I think I have this problem, my header tank is lower than the thermostat. Isn't everyones like this with a facelift M20 tank?

[johnl320]

This is what I did, got hole of an early type header tank and made my owm mounts raising it as high as possible, not pretty but bled very easily



HTH
john

[leeparkes]

Ive never had an issue with the M20 set up but you can fit the E34 tank to the baulkhead and use that for peace of mind.

There's someone on here using that set up but i cant think who it is, i remember seeing pics of it....

[Rav335uk]

I have my header tank in the same position as it was for the M20, and never had any issues with the pipes bursting

[gareth]

same here. (with a E28 rad for what it's worth...)

[chu346]

Ok, I'll give it a go as it is then.

But I'm getting confused about wiring up the electric fan. Got the sensor for the radiator, a relay and the pins for the fuse box but can't work out how to wire it up? had anyone done it though the fuse box?

[Rav335uk]

Nope, but heres a diagram.

http://www.aaroncake.net/rx-7/efaninstall.htm

[chu346]

Thanks, but that don't tell me what pins etc in the fusebox.

[Rav335uk]

PM Danthe, he has a loom for the fusebox wiring, maybe he can shed some light.
I wired mine as the diagram in the link.

[chu346]

I'm following this but where it says "Power leaves the fuse box via fuse F19 and goes to the input side of the temp switch" The pin on F19 already has two green/black wires connected to it. So I'm not sure what to do with it. Any ideas where these wires go and what they do?

The fuse box already has the correct 12v feeds etc, so you don't need to find power. There's two fuses needed for a single speed fan (F18 & F19), and 3 fuses for a dual speed (F3, F18 & F19). You will find that one side of the fuse already has an internal connection. You just need to add the wires that run from the outer end of each fuse.

Here's a description of how the circuit works, and how it's connected etc.

Power leaves the fuse box via fuse F19 and goes to the input side of the temp switch. The output side of the temp switch then returns (one wire for single speed - two wires for dual speed) to the fusebox and goes to the fan relays. Relay K1 is the low speed relay, and K6 is the high speed. The return wires go to relay terminal 86 (If you are wiring a single speed fan, you only need to use K6). Pin 85 of the relays needs to be connected to GND. You can just run a wire to any suitable GND point.

Once the wiring is installed as above, you will find that when the temp switch closes, you will get 12v leaving the fuse box (via F19), and returning to the relay which will close. If you have wired both the low and high speed, then the relays will switch at different temperatures. Initially the low speed, and then the high.

You now need to wire the output side of the relay to the fan. The high speed is on F18, and the low speed is F3. Just run a wire from these fuses down to the fan +ve wire. If you are going for a dual speed fan, you will need a low speed fan resistor to give the slower speed. This should already be present if you are using an E30 A/C or M3 electric fan.

What you basically end up with is both the high and low speed wires connecting to the same +ve fan wire. It's just that the low speed wire needs to pass through the resistor before it connects to the fan. The -ve side of the fan just connects to a suitable GND point. There's a good one just behind the passengers side headlamp assy.

[Brianmoooore]

I'm following this but where it says "Power leaves the fuse box via fuse F19 and goes to the input side of the temp switch" The pin on F19 already has two green/black wires connected to it. So I'm not sure what to do with it. Any ideas where these wires go and what they do?

The two green/blacks go to the mirrors and the interior light timer. You need to add another one to the thermo switch in the rad.

[chu346]

Ok, I'll give it ago later, thanks.

[chu346]

Wired the fan today and when the temp gauge got to 3/4 the coolant blew from out the pressure cap and the fan never came on. What does this mean and what can I do?

[Rav335uk]

what temp switch you using?

[chu346]

The E30 aircon switch 61 31 8 361 787

[Rav335uk]

Is the switch working properly,it could be faulty

[chu346]

Dunno?

How do I check?

[Brianmoooore]

Pull out the relay and link pin 30 to 87 of its socket with a short piece of wire.
Does the fan run?

[chu346]

The fan didn't come on, but I switched the engine off when it releived itself of coolant. Tbh, I'm more concerned about it losing coolant like that. Should I Buy a new pressure cap?

The fan did run before wiring it up through the fuse box. Didn't get a chance to test the wiring today as it got dark.

[Rav335uk]

Did you get a new cap when BMW did a recall on them a few years back?