1976 BMW 2002 - First Drive Impressions and questions?

[Santawillis]

@John76 Do you have any diagrams handy on what I need to plug where vacumn wise? If this is a "use your search skills" I will proceed accordingly but you seem like you have a lot of knowledge that I may need! Sounds like I have a bit of a frankenstein....

 

Vacumn is not my area of expertise, neither is electronics but it seems like I need to get up to speed rather quickly. 

 

 

[John76]

3 minutes ago, Santawillis said:

Vacumn is not my area of expertise

I know ... it "sucks". 

 

Here are sketches of the emission and fuel systems for your car.

Go through the diagrams and cross out all the stuff that you do not have. Examine and plug the rest as needed.

Have fun ... doing this yourself is the BEST way to enjoy our little cars.

John

 

 

 

 

[Santawillis]

@John76 you are a savior, these are fantastic and will make things a lot easier today when I am doing my exploratory mission. I am glad this community is so great! Ill post back my findings. 

[Son of Marty]

Check to see if one of your front brake lines is conected to the brass coupling shown below, this is a pressure maintenance valve for the rear brakes if by chance one of the front lines is conected here that piston will pump up a little more every time you apply the brakes.

[Santawillis]

@Son of Marty good call! In the brake refresh I may have swapped lines around, I will double check!

[Mike Self]

1 hour ago, Santawillis said:

I did notice the fuel filter is not filling with fuel anymore, i

If you have a transparent or translucent fuel filter, and especially if it's upstream from the pump, it never is completely full of gas, even with the car is running.  So don't take a partially full filter as a sign of a failing fuel pump or clogged inlet screen in the gas tank.  But I'd check the latter anyway, just on general principles.  

 

Agree with everyone else.  You should be able to start out from rest in 2nd gear (not that it's recommended), given level ground and a fairly light load (one person and a toolbox, perhaps). 

 

Quick & easy clutch test:  put the car in 4th gear, sitting on level ground and let out the clutch with the engine idling.  It should stall immediately.  If not, you have a clutch in your future (or perhaps linkage lubrication--you hope!)

 

You should be able to find a good used tach in the FAQ classifieds.  They don't often fail (and yours may just need the wire connected) so there are plenty around.  

 

Keep on plugging--these cars are simple to work on--especially with all the emission stuff residing in the neighbor's pool--and there's a ton of help/information here on the FAQ.

 

Keep us posted on your progress and Eureka! moments.

 

mike

[Mark92131]

16 hours ago, John76 said:

Looks like you have an electronic ignition module, but no vacuum advance.

 

John:

 

In the first picture, it looks like the vacuum advance pod is clocked to the back on the distributor and I can't tell if it is hooked up.  It does appear that it is running a Pertronix module or some variation.

 

Santawillis:

 

That fuel filter should be on the line before the pump, to keep crap from entering the pump.  Those fuel filters only partially fill, so what you are observing may be normal operation.  It is always a good idea to insure you are getting fuel from the tank to the carb without any restriction, so checking this is a good idea.

 

I would also check the operation of your ignition.  The advance pod on your distributor should be connected to the vacuum advance port above the base of your Weber carb facing the passenger fender.  You can test the vacuum advance pod by pulling the distributor cap and sucking on the hose attached to the pod, the points plate should move slightly.  If you have a timing light with advance feature, verify the degrees of advance at idle, 1000, 1500, 2000, 2500, 3000 RPM and report your findings.  If you don't have a timing light with advance, set the RPM to 1500, stick the timing light down the flywheel viewing port and turn the distributor back and forth until you can see the flywheel "Ball" in the viewing port (25 degrees BTDC).  Lock the distributor down and use the timing light to observe the timing marks on the front pulley at 1500 RPM.  Increase the RPMs to 3000 and you should observe the timing mark change at the front pulley, this means your ignition is advancing properly beyond 25 degrees BTDC and should be all in at 3000 RPM.

 

I suspect there may be a few things pulling down your performance (sticking caliper, vacuum leaks, clogged fuel delivery, ignition issues, jetting, etc.) but all these are cheap fixes that we can help you with.  Part of the fun of 2002 ownership.

 

Mark92131

 

P.S.  I used to sail against SDYC back in the day, never saw that car in the parking lot.

[Santawillis]

@Mark92131 The fuel fitler was filling about 1/3 of the way if not a bit less and the car seemed to be running stronger, now its maybe 1/8th of the way and sometimes just fumes (surprised its running honestly) so I am guessing that is too little gas to get the car running well at speed?

[Son of Marty]

If the filter on the pressure side (which is the correct side) is not filling you have a restriction in the fuel supply cloged screen at the sender or air leaks in the rubber lines.

[John76]

31 minutes ago, Santawillis said:

maybe 1/8th of the way and sometimes just fumes

Sounds like you are sucking air.

Most common source is the hose connection to the gas sender on the tank. 

You probably see gas on the tank and smell fumes in the car. Seach the forum for a simple, cheap cure.

 

Is there a vacuum pod on the distributor? Can't see clearly in your picture.

Also tell us what the number reads .

Two wires into the distributor (red & black) indicate an electronic ignition module.

 

[Santawillis]

Alright, a bit of an update as I had a free hour to work on the car and some time to head to the autozonneeee

 

Replaced the fuel hose from the sender to the plastic line and moved the filter before the pump and replaced all of the rubber hoses there while I was at it, the fuel filter fills well with fuel but after it runs for a bit the fuel reduces level drastically. I have attached the video, please don't mind the brake clean on the manifold as I was trying to make it a bit more presentable lol! @John76 and @Mark92131- There is a vacuum pod that has a vacuum line straight to the carb, I was able to take a few extra pictures post-plugging some of the vac leaks. I think its time in San Diego was in the early days of its life, so around 1976 and a bit after, and at the time it would have been red

 

Fuel flows cleanly from the sender to the filter so my best guess is a bad pump unless the level in the filter is normal. @Mike Self I did try from a level surface to move in 4th and it indeed stalled immediately, no clutch in my future hooray!

 

@Son of Marty - The brake master does indeed look to be hooked up incorrectly, the line currently on the brass coupling is heading to the front passenger calipers, I am guessing they are flip-flopped? 

 

Anywho, the car still runs a bit rough but I did see a slight improvement from before by plugging the vacuum leaks, or at least what I believe are leaks, I still have to trace some of those down. The diagram was incredibly helpful @John76, thank you!

 

So depending on the verdict a new fuel pump is incoming! I may have missed some suggestions above and I apologize if I I have

[2002iii]

You might be sucking air from the fuel line to pickup connection.

 

To confirm the fuel pump is the issue you can gravity feed fuel directly to the carburetor from a fuel can.

 

You can get a rebuild kit for your pump or buy another one, doesn't hurt to have a spare on hand.

[John76]

3 hours ago, Santawillis said:

The brake master does indeed look to be hooked up incorrectly

Here's how to hook it up correctly.

Front calipers have a top and bottom connection (noted below).

 

[Mike Self]

From your pictures above it appears that the fuel filter is resting on one of the hot water choke hoses.  Don't do that!  The heat from the hot coolant can cause vapor lock.  Wire the filter up out of the way so it doesn't touch anything...

 

And before springing for a new pump, did you (1) remove the cap atop the pump and clean the filter screen underneath and (2) disconnect the outlet side of the pump and crank the engine to see how much gas the pump squirts into a jar--or remove the pump altogether and do this manually (the former is much easier).  

 

mike

[Santawillis]

@John76 I will make sure the lines are connected as follows! That will be the first thing I do today after work. Thank you again for your diagrams they have been extremely helpful. 

 

@Mike Self Will be giving this a shot today after work, @2002iii I have also picked up a gravity feeder so I can test if the fuel lines are indeed the issue, the more I think about it the more likely it is that those lines are on their way out but that shouldnt been too bad to replace, I believe Blunttech has fresh lines at a quite affortable price, but first lets see if that is the root cause! 

 

Do you guys think the engine is running o.k from the video posted? 

 

Rafael