The show goes on!

Got the selector rod modification done, yaaay!  No more grinding on the driveshaft!  Also did a thorough coolant flush and filled with corrosion-inhibiting Mercedes Benz coolant.

Trying to just drain coolant out, I noticed that very little came out from both the radiator drain and the engine block drain, so after a bit of trial and error, I realized that if I open the engine block drain valve and force water ino the over-flow reservoir, it flushes out the entire system including the heater core!

So basically, I held a hose in it until clear water came out of the block drain valve.  After that, it was just a matter of filling it, running the engine until warm, then bleeding air from the system.

Everything seemed to work fine, except that I noticed that it seems to be getting warmer than before, but my commute today didn't take long enough to really test it.  Will keep an eye on this...

Also, I took a read-out of the fault codes from the engine management system (I had reset the codes last week).  The fault code said 1-4-4-4, which is "all ok".  This is good and bad, considering I have no starting point for the hesitation at low revs...

Rain Delay... :-/

So I installed the short-throw shifter from the Z3 a couple of weeks ago.  I have to say, not *quite* what I was expecting as far as the crispness though...  However, everyone on Bimmer Forums says it's because of this one bushing I didn't install (because I couldn't figure out where it went).  They gave me some pointers as to how to reach it, so we'll see...

Also, the bigger problem is that the selector rod now rubs slightly against the drive shaft, so I'm going to have to bend it slightly (UUC Motorwerks has an excellent document on this).

As the topic suggests, current projects (selector rod modification and coolant flush) are all on hold due to rain... Stay tuned for our dancing hampsters, the show will resume when the weather permits...

Yet another small step...

Installed a new distributor cap over the weekend, along with a new intake manifold gasket.  I had installed a new one (gasket) when the head went in, but I had removed the manifold once afterwards and a friend suggested that this might cause a vacuum leak. The new one doesn't seem to make a difference though, leading me to think that the gasket wasn't (at least not completely) an issue...

One thing I remember from this ordeal?  It brought me as close to throwing things as I have been in a *long* time.  Lesson learned:  DO NOT attempt to remove and install the intake manifold without removing the surrounding coolant hoses.  It can be done, but believe me, you don't want that kind of "convenience".

But, at the end of a very tiring three-and-a-half hours, it's back on with a new gasket.  I started the car up just for a sanity check, started fine.   No improvement in the running though, still sputters if you blip the throttle from idle, regardless of hot or cold engine (well, more when cold).

While I was in there, I took the Mass Air Flow Sensor off to make sure it has smooth travel and is clean, that was the case. Looks like I'm running out of cheap fixes for this, I'm gonna have to break down and start looking at the fuel injectors and the MAF sensor next... Also want to reset the DME (Digital Motor Electronics, basically the central engine control unit) trouble codes and run it for a week, see what codes I get... Watch for further news!

New brackets are in!

It's been a few days and in the meantime, I've put in the new brackets, which had to be ordered all the way from Germany!  The first time I put on the AC belt, it started to squeal, although I surely had it tight enough...

So the only conclusion I could reach was that I had probably made it too tight.  So I took the AC belt off and a couple of days later, put it back on and made both it and the power steering belt only moderately tight (since the power steering belt is on the opposite side).  Voila!  No more squealing!!  However, I noticed now that the AC compressor is not engaging anymore, it definitely used to work before the head job...  Also, the AC system is empty, need to fix both before summer!!  As promised, a picture of the worn (read: rounded off by me!) brackets:

Worn brackets  (The bigger one is the AC compressor bracket)

On the news front, I'm still trouble-shooting a rough running engine (at low revs), got me a set of intake manifold gaskets, new self-locking intake manifold nuts with spring washers AND a new distributor cap!  That's all going in this weekend, hopefully along with the new short shift kit (courtesy of the new Z4 3.0i) that I ordered today!   Stay tuned!!