tires and wheels A couple of mechanical questions for my '71 2002...pls help?

[SA2002Guy]

Hi all,

I recently posted some pics of my new baby, and now I have some questions that I hope someone can help with. Let me start out by saying that I am not the most mechanically apt person, and am still waiting for my '02 manual to arrive so I can start learning the intricacies of my new love. With that being said, here are amongst others my biggest issues:

Under braking the steering wheel judders quite a bit, the harder I brake the worse it gets, so my conclusion was wheel alignment.

Another thing is that sometimes the car pulls to the right quite a bit under braking, so a friend told me that might be because the car has different tyre sizes, so I checked , and all the tyres are 195/65/14, except back right is a 185/65/14....

So here's the deal, I went to go and get my wheels aligned this morning, the guy says he can't do it, cause the tie rod ends are shot. So I have to replace those before he can do the aligning, and he also mentioned that the wheel bearings are stuffed. My question is, are the '02s tie rod ends the same as those of another car (E30 BMW???) or are they '02 specific? Same question for the wheel bearings?

Could the braking judder and pulling to the side have anything to do with the tie rod ends being stuffed or would it be something else? Another thing I noticed is that I have quite a bit of brake fade after some heavy repeated braking,and sometimes also a bit of a somewhat burnt smell. My guess would be there's a LOT of air in the system, and hopefully bleeding the brakes will help....any other ideas?

The other thing is that my car tends to die every now and again after I come off the accelerator and put it into neutral. This happens under all sorts of different circumstances, i.e not always when hot, or when cold, or whenever, it really happens under all sorts of conditions, and very eratically. The car starts just fine after it has died (except for the battery being a bit weak), so my guess is that it's some sort of fuel delivery problem...? Any ideas?

The last thing is that when the car is standing and running the temperature rises quite quickly into the red. As soon as I take it for a drive, the temp comes down again (the needle sits in the middle of the gauge), so it's only while standing. Yesterday it stood while running quite a bit, and I noticed that when I pulled it into the garage, the water was coming out of the radiator overflow pipe. I'm guessing that's no good. I have heard about replacing the thermostat (I don't know which one my car has installed). I need the car to not run hot, cause I will spend quite a bit of time in traffic and it gets hot here in SA (+- 100 deg. Fahrenheit in summer). What's the best way to fix this?

I have looked quite a bit through older posts, but found nothing relating to my problems specifically, so I was hoping you guys could help...

Sorry for the long post, I'm just worried about my baby and don't want anything bad to go wrong...

Thanks in advance for any responses!

Oliver

[granth]

Brake problem sounds like warped brake rotors, please do a brake job. But also sounds like the whole front end track rod, tie rods and bushings needs to be replaced, maybe this has never been done on this car...

[JackBennett]

I just replaced the tie rods and center track rod on mine and bled the brakes and it is like a brand new car. I had some of the same symptoms as you... fading brakes, shudders and pulling to the right. Best thing I ever did and with the right tools to get the tie rods apart it is beginners stuff... simple. Good luck.

[peteinjp]

Given what you said about the availability of parts there in SA I suggest that you figure out everything that needs to be done to the car and get the parts in one bulk shipment from Blunt or some other supplier. It is very possible that if the tie rods are shot and the car has not had any front end parts replaced that you will need to do it all. See this thread:

http://www.bmw2002faq.com/component/option,com_forum/Itemid,50/page,viewtopic/t,334077/

The car looks great- but how well has it been taken car of? From what you have mentioned it seems as if a good thorough going thru is needed. If you need to drop a 2+ grand into in labor and parts to get the suspension and brakes overhauled..... What if it turns into 4 grand? Might you be interested in learning to fix it yourself? If so then we can help. Find out exactly what the overall condition is mechanically and try and get it taken car of all in a few extensive efforts. Otherwise you'll always be running into the next problem just when you got the last one fixed. I highly recommend getting a Haynes repair manual regardless of whether you'll be doing the work yourself or not and learning what and where everything is.

Not to be pessimistic- it may very well be that you car only needs a new thermostat, a carb rebuild, igntion tune, brakes bled, 2 new tires and a set of tie rod joints. But in the case that the car is needing attention in many areas it is generally most effective to address the each system... systematically- eliminating all possible causes is often the process of diagnosis.

pete

[SA2002Guy]

Hi guys,

thanks for the replies.

I have been out and about this morning and found a few places that can do the work for me at a reasonable price, and parts are available here in SA (the inner and outer tie rod ends and the front wheel bearings), so those will all be replaced, and the brakes will be bled, and the wheels aligned, and then I'll take it from there. Only issue is that the parts need to be ordered first from suppliers which will most probably only happen next year some time in Jan.

I was quoted R1350 (ZAR) to replace the tie rod ends (inner and outer) replace the front wheel bearings, have the breaks bled and have the wheels aligned. R1350 equates to $180. I must now just find out if I can get the inner tie rod ends (the only part now availble right away) from somewhere.

I have ordered the Haynes manual, and do want to learn as much about the mechanicals of the car as I can, but again, being in SA the manual needs to be brought in and will only be available towards the end of Jan.

So we'll see what this does for the car, and see if it remedies any of the issues, and then take it from there. ANd then next on the agenda is the cooling system.

Thanks again for all the help!

Oliver

[peteinjp]

Best Oliver- get the car tip top and you'll never want to let it go!

pete

[M3M3]

sounds like it is time for a front suspension rehab.

do the whole tie rod, not just one end.

replace the center track rod while you are in there.

replace front wheel bearings

have mech check the front ball joints and strut top bearings, if bad, now would be the time to replace since half the front suspension is already apart anyways.

[ray_]

Hi Oliver,

Welcome to the forum. As you can see, we're all helpful here. Well except for Pete. Hi Pete ;-) (j/k!)

Let me introduce you to realoem. Oliver: Realoem!

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/select.do?kind=P&series=114&body=Lim&model=2002&zone=ECE∏=19710700&motor=M10&steering=R&trans=M&arch=1

Realoem will show u all part numbers for BMW parts, along with somewhat incorrect pricing (for some reason).

Also realoem will show you part number cross references here, such as for tie rods:

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/partxref.do?part=32211103076&showus=on&showeur=on

Welcome to the madness!

Cheers,

Ray

[Paul7002]

As long as you're in there,

You might consider new control arm bushings, and any other bushings too. Also, brake rotors and new pads are not too expensive.

Make sure the rear brakes are adjusted correctly too as that can cause pulling or squishy pedal feel.

It's amazing what a difference fresh suspension and brake bits can make. Additionally, tires, brakes and suspension parts are SAFETY items that should be tended to before any performance items.

[M3M3]

LOL, i think we have once again properly defined "Scope Creep"....aka "while you are in there, may as well rebuild the whole car". Love it....;-)

I too, have a 2002SC......