OriginalOwner

Another fine cruise yesterday on SoCal's freeways:  605 north to the 210 West, up & over past JPL to the 118 West into the San Fernando Valley.  A couple of stops in the valley (including coffee and the discharge of firearms), then the 118 West into Simi Valley.  Miracle of absolute SoCal miracles:  no traffic to speak of, zipped along at whatever speed I wanted to.  Great weather:  nice and dry.

In the background is the Blue Ice Cafe, being considered for a BMW gathering.  A perfect venue, most important being acres & acres of parking.  http://blueicecafe.com/  

Cheers,

Carl

drifted into the Blue Ice Cafe for a cup of coffee this afternoon ..... will be a great place for a gathering !!!!

Cheers,

Carl

 kiddie pool ..... once again I'm am red-faced and embarrassed ..... NEVER thought of that in all these years !!  Fantastically Simple Idea !!

 antifreeze dilution:  have never researched the topic.  And I do use some wetter water.

Cheers,

Carl

Mike,

I've considered the drain plug petcock for years ..... but as smart an idea and as easy as that is, and as lazy as I am, well ..... I just didn't think far enough ahead to have it immediately available ......

and then there is the major sploosh of coolant when the water pump is popped off from the block ...... 

Cheers,

Carl

Excellent !!

and I've just been informed the menu for Sunday lunch includes Lamb Stew and Rib-Eye Steak.

Cheers,

Carl

I just read that daylight savings time ends at 2am Sunday morning ..... should you need to be anywhere on-time on Sunday.

Cheers,

Carl

 I just read that daylight savings time ends at 2am on Sunday morning ..... an extra hour of sleep !!

Cheers,

Carl

p.s.    I am told the menu for Sunday lunch at 12:30 includes Lamb Stew and Rib-Eye Steak.

(another bump)

I found one several years ago on ebay but don't recall the seller.

Cheers,

Carl

Hero's .... great place !!!

unfortunately I'm outta town on the 17th.

Cheers,

Carl

Harry,

Great News !!  See you and the 2002 on Sunday !!

Cheers,

Carl

 He should show up here and pass out some cards ....... his shop is only 5 miles away .....

  http://www.bmw2002faq.com/topic/146730-beemersbasco-sunday-nov-3rd-1030am-ish/

 and he's not 30 minutes from Ontario airport .... he's like 3 minutes from Ontario Airport.

Cheers,

Carl

Here on the flatlands of SoCal it doesn't get cold, so lots of antifreeze/coolant isn't a necessity.  And since I learned that a 50/50 mix will run hotter, I thinned it out to 80% water, with some coolant to keep things from rusting up (which the cast iron block will do quite quickly with 100% water).

The biggest headache with the water pump was/is all the water on the garage floor, not all of it gets into the bucket.  I used lots of newspapers to soak up so I wouldn't be "wading" in it while underneath the car.

Cheers,

Carl

Coolant mix:  I've been running 18% coolant, plus-minus.  Distilled water:  yes.  More water makes my engine run much cooler.

Just finished the install on the new water pump.  Proverbial piece of cake, another reason I've never considered selling my '74tii.  When I started the engine this morning I got some decent squealing.  Now the new pump is nice and silent.

SCOPE CREEP.  Because it is "easier" to remove the alternator when the radiator is out of the way, I decided to (gasp) join the 21st century and (double gasp) do something not stock:  I installed urethane bushings in the alternator mounting.  The rubber bushings were 4 years old and the alternator was definitely a bit sideways.  And as always, getting a tii alternator out from underneath continues to be a minor hassle.  Good thing I have a big crowbar.

    The alternator bearings seemed a little loose, so I was sweating the load, wondering if the radiator was the actual problem.  But no squealing upon reassembly, so it seems the water pump was the actual problem.

Cheers,

Carl

For the past couple of weeks I've been hearing a new "wind noise" while driving ...... couldn't figure out what it was, but something was definitely there and out of the ordinary.  I would have the wind wing open and hear "something" unusual.  In my own special land of denial I was hoping it was just a fan belt that needed some 'belt dressing' on it, so I put some on it.  It helped, but then "the noise" returned, faint, very faint, yet unrecognizable.  I was thinking/hoping it was just some new wind noise whistle.  I did open the hood with the engine running a few times, but the noise wasn't there.

Finally discovered it this morning when I started the engine:  a very noisy water pump.  All of a sudden, there was the familiar squeal of bearings gone bad.  Not bad service though:  88,600 miles (SEP 1999) since I installed the last one.

So that's my big project tomorrow:  new water pump.

Cheers,

Carl

(bump)

  WOW, glad you're safe and the damage minimal.  That is heartpounding just thinking about it.

and I thought I had it bad when a ladder leg centerpunched my front kidney grill at 65mph...... but my as-installed '74 giganto bumper saved the day and kept the leg out of the radiator and everything else.

Cheers,

Carl

YES !!!

http://www.bmw2002faq.com/topic/146730-beemersbasco-sunday-nov-3rd-1030am-ish/

Cheers,

Carl

Time again for Beemers@Basco ..... and I've even washed and waxed the '74tii to a rosy glow !!

Sunday

November 3rd

10:30am-ish

Centro Basco

13432 S. Central Ave.

Chino

For those staying for lunch, I don't yet know the menu, but for those of you who have been there, you already know the meal will be fantastic !!

Cheers,

Carl

p.s.  strictly FYI, I'll be there around 9am ...... 

after you get the tuna can sorted out .....

here is something else to check:  Throttle Return Spring.  Not on-topic per se, but you could have "this problem" and not know it, failure of which would lead to more operational problems ...... 

http://www.bmw2002faq.com/topic/139215-tii-throttle-return-spring-maintenance-needed/

Cheers,

Carl

 Paul,

 if you're only getting 21-max mpg, IMHO there is something seriously wrong.  That brash statement, and my earlier story, necessarily requires a big qualifying explanation. 

First is to say that my car has always been and is now 100% stock from the factory.

Second, my '74tii in those days was easily getting 30+mpg (sometimes 33 !!) because the national speed limit was a mere 55mph.  With the stock 4-speed, the engine was turning about 3100rpm.  When in 1987 the speed limit increased to 65, my mpg fell off a bit because the engine was of course spinning faster.  Note also I'm talking about long-stretch cruises.  I made a lot of trips between San Diego and San Jose in those days, plenty of flat-land constant-rpm cruising for max mpg.

  I noticed a certain rpm, around 3400, which seemed to be the "magic" point between higher mpg and lower mpg.  If I could loaf along at 62 or 63mph (under that magic rpm) I could get 30+mpg.  An rpm over the magic point and the mpg dipped to 30- on the highway.

 And to check actual mpg, I would fill the tank 100%, right up to the point where I could see gas in the fill tube.  Then I would cruise at least 275 miles before again filling up the tank to that exact same level.  The obvious statement is, ya gotta know "exactly" how much fuel you actually use so you can compute a true mpg.  And that consistent fill method was how I did it, so I'm confident in my numbers.

And, I'll say that with my "broken" KF pump, the engine still ran perfectly, I was just getting very low mpg.  And the stalling thing mentioned earlier.

Just for fun, I Googled Wes Ingram and found these .....  Perhaps it is time to go pay him a visit to discuss the topic ..... 

http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum/showthread.php?326587-Wes-Ingram-on-upgrading-tii-Kugelfischer

http://www.bmw2002faq.com/topic/122890-wes-ingram-hp-kugelfischer/

Cheers,

Carl

 I had these same problems 30+ years ago on my '74tii:  lousy mileage (down around 18mpg) and the stalling thing just as bendoty & danz3 described.  There used to be a place in San Pedro called Diesel Marine, the guy was reputed to be an expert on the KF pump.  I called him and he said, "you got a broken spring inside the KF pump, and I know how to fix it."  Not knowing anything from anybody, I took the chance.  A local guy removed the  KF pump for me and sent it to Diesel Marine.  He got it back a week later and did the re-install.  I have no idea what was done except perhaps replace a broken spring ??  I have no real knowledge.  All I  can say is, the fuel mileage was immediately back to 30+ on a long-haul freeway drive, and no more of the stalling thing.  Sometimes I'm the luckiest guy in the world .....

So definitely check all the easy stuff first.  It could be that my "luck" was just some hose disconnected that got re-connected or something else that got "fixed" during the KF removal & re-install. 

Cheers,

Carl