OriginalOwner

Completed yet another tune-up the other day:  cleaned & gapped the plugs, and cleaned & adjusted the points.

It got me to thinking:  how many tune-ups have I done on my '74tii over the past 38-1/2 years ??  So to maintain my Excel proficiency and have some fun, I spreadsheet'ed the following:

233,000 total miles

TUNE-UPS

assume 3,500 miles between tune-ups

thus:  67 tune-ups completed

assume plugs/points/condenser changed every 10,000 miles

thus:  23 sets of points/condenser

thus:  92 spark plugs

OIL CHANGE

assume 3,200 miles between oil changes

thus:  73 oil changes

thus:  73 filters

assume 4.5 qts of oil per change

thus:  328 qts of oil 

Cheers,

Carl

 brake cables .... mine are original and have always had different lengths.  IMHO, no biggie .... the parking brakes have always functioned as expected.

Cheers,

Carl

 my first thought:  it doesn't have to be water pump failure.  Could be as simple as belt breakage or slippage ..... or the thermostat decided to fail ...... or something else.

 but such things happen to all mechanical systems ..... eventually.

 it took 23 years for the original alternator to fail me.  I was 200 miles from the house and the red ALT light started flickering.  Fortunately it was early morning (wouldn't need the headlights) so I headed for home.  8 miles from the house the battery was drained enough to no longer power the electricals.  Traveled the last 8 miles on a tow truck.  Next day, new alternator installed and it's still going strong, 15-1/2 years later.

 then there was the original electric fuel pump .... only got 35 years out of it.

Cheers,

Carl

1974 BMW 2002tii  --  my daily driver

1948 Chevy panel truck --  sold

1976 BMW R75/6   motorcycle  --  sold

1983 BMW R65      motorcycle  --  sold

1982 BMW R65LS  motorcycle  -- my other daily driver

Cheers,

Carl

 Awesome !!

Cheers,

Carl

 sheesh, I missed that .... OOPS ....

 if this post can be deleted, that would be fine with me.

Cheers,

Carl

gotta pass this along !!!!!

http://www.petrolicious.com/i-drove-a-1970-bmw-2002-and-found-god

Cheers,

Carl

 I got a big dent in the bottom of my gas tank in 1977 when I doing some off-roading.  I ignored it then and it is still there as a badge of honor.

Cheers,

Carl

 my first idea was what Mike said:  drill a hole through the backing plate.

 and the nut and bolt idea from jgerock and kfunk seems reasonable and very workable.

Cheers,

Carl

 AWESOME !!!!

Cheers,

Carl

my nephew found this at the local 99-Cent Store .......

Cheers,

Carl

Atlantik Blue .....

Cheers,

Carl

ndog,

the dpf filter and the wtf filter get a 100% check every time the '74tii cruises Carbon Canyon ..... hasn't ever failed to reset the synchro lash back to 0.005% and 0.12ppm @ 900fps.  Gotta love a car that takes care of ya !!

Cheers,

Carl

(bump)

for those considering hanging around for lunch, I just got the word from Bernadette:  Oxtail Stew and Ribeye Steak.

Cheers,

Carl

 for some humor with more than a hint of personal experience .......

 lock nuts ??  don't need no locknuts ...... that's just another case of over-engineered design.

 a few twists of baling wire around the stud and nicely twist-tightened, will hold that adjustment arm firmly in place.

Cheers,

Carl

 that fixit that sislane links to ....... I did that a few years ago.  Not all that difficult, and have had no problems since then.  As noted in the link, the shaft just needs to be whapped to make it slightly out-of-round.

Cheers,

Carl

 as ndog says, "drain all the fluids."

 and when you put the new stuff in the transmission, here's the lesson I learned about using "the right stuff" .......

http://www.bmw2002faq.com/topic/135183-manual-transmission-gear-oil-use-the-right-stuff/

Cheers,

Carl

 I drove the car all over the place on Thurs-Fri-Saturday, so it was not a "sitting too long" problem.  And I get out and about at least once a week, so the charge level is maintained OK.

 I'm 100% convinced the problem was definitely the 4+ year-old battery .....

 Another reason why I still like the car so much:  the problem occurred at home, in the garage.  As I mentioned, I was all over the place for 3 days, the battery could have died anywhere along the way, in a variety of parking lots.  But Saturday afternoon I got that one more "start" that got me home and safely into the garage.  How can you not like a vehicle that takes such good care of you ??

Cheers,

Carl

 Yep, a nut needed to hold the adjustment arm in place.  If the adjustment arm comes off the stud, the alternator adjustment/fan belt tightness changes drastically.

 when that stud breaks, give me a call ...... I have an incredible story about that ..... not to mention a Redneck Engr'ing fix.

Cheers,

Carl

CONGRATS !!!!!!   the good life is just beginning !!

Cheers,

Carl

 my opinion, do not drive with the guibo band installed.

 +1 on the giant hose clamp to re-compress.  I've only had to do it once, but the hose clamp did the job and got it re-installed OK.

Cheers,

Carl

at 10:30am this morning I'm packed and loaded for a week's "vacation" to Simi Valley.  First stop:  lunch at Centro Basco in Chino.

SO, I jump in the '74tii and turn the key to "Start" ...... uh-uh-click-click-clickety-click.  Crap !!

--  I check my notes:  the battery is 4 years 3 months old ...... past expected life.

I jump on the motorcycle and 3 minutes later I'm at Pep Boys, buy a battery, and zoom back to the house.  8 minutes later the old battery is out and the new battery is in.  I wash my hands and jump in the car.

     It's 11:00am, only 30 minutes later.

Turn the key ..... starts right up !!  Zoom to Chino for an awesome lunch.  Then the 60 Fwy West to the 57 North to the 210 West to the 118 West into Simi Valley.  Perfect SoCal weather, and best of all, no traffic.

And that is why I still drive an old car:  99% of the time, I can fix the problem immediately and without any headache.

Cheers,

Carl

 Awesome !!

 I will be there, but not until 11am-ish .... I'll be cruising in from Simi Valley.

Cheers,

Carl

Fun,

I'm using a 71-deg thermostat, I'll soon replace with a 75-deg.

Yes, the temp stamping is usually near that small hose, on the radiator side, you may be able to see it with a mirror.

Cheers,

Carl

p.s.  I have a spare 80-deg thermostat if you want to try that temp and see how you like it.

Siggy soggy siggy soggy, hoy hoy hoy!!   one of my favorite sounds ...... my first visit there was early June 1974 ...... chugged a couple of beers standing on my head, it wasn't pretty.

and somehow you and I were never "small world" .... we were "big world" so we never met .......  I started at SDSU in August '79, over in the engineering school.  My tii transported quite a few kegs to the back patio of the engr'ing school on many a Friday afternoon.  I departed SDSU in DEC 1982 and moved to L.A.  My tii spent quite a bit of time on campus.

Cheers,

Carl