Big McLargeHuge’s 1990 JDM NSX Adventure Thread

[Big McLargeHuge]

Transmission Swap pt9 (Final)

The big one.

Putting back together the engine bay. Control box reconnected, made sure all the transmission sensors were connected up, starter cables, ground cable, air filter boxes, etc. Just following the FSM for the most part.

Everything reinstalled, and more coolant added. I needed a bit more than a full jug since I lost so much by removing the wrong thermostat housing hose. I didn't really bleed the system but will keep an eye on the level and top up as needed, it shouldn't have much air at all.

New steering column retainer. I read Richard @ LOTW had lost his and the steering had a lot of play so I figured I'd get a new one in case mine was missing/broken. Looked fine but replaced it anyways.

About to remove the key lock thingy. It's the yellow metal box next to the ignition cylinder. Two screws and one annoying connector.

Interlock control unit removed. On RHD cars (maybe LHD too?) it's to the left of the A/T control unit. Speaking of, I left it installed because I re-read the FancyCraft blog and it said that you need it for the EPS control, and he has a whole page where he makes his own PCB to fulfill that role so he could remove the control unit entirely. I don't personally care either way so I left it in, much simpler for me.

This is the best pic I have of the steering column re-installed. How I would have loved to have another person around to help me with this. Instead, it was just me bench pressing the heavy column up and then fitting the stupid U-joint and pinion together exactly the same way it came apart (w/ paint marks). Need to have the key inserted to allow the wheel to turn and help you align the yoke together.

After an hour or so of loud cursing I finally got them together and the bolts back on and torqued. There's a few connectors here and there on the column to put back together now, they're all easily identifiable so no problems there.

Out of order but I adjusted the clutch pedal free play before the steering column. Without the switch installed, the clutch pedal sat a bit higher than the brake pedal and there was a lot of free play. I didn't even really understand what that meant until I read this Kaz post which explained it very well (http://www.nsxcb.co.uk/entry.php?1163-Eng-Refresh-15&goto=next). Use one finger to push the pedal in until the resistance noticeably increases, that's the free play.

Switch inserted until the free play was 9-15mm as specified. With the Type-R pedal and no clutch damper, the pedal height it effectively the same as the brake pedal. I didn't touch the pushrod lock nut since Kaz also said the factory setting should be good. I ended up with ~12-13mm of free play to be on the safe side, and will recheck in 100 miles per the SoS specified clutch break-in period.

So very close. After the steering column went back in, just the seats left. After placing the seat in, connect the wiring connectors first, then the seat belt bolt, then the 4 anchor bolts. Worst part of those is getting the last anchor bolt to line up with the mount point, the correct way seems to be to leave all the bolts loose and then torque down after threading them all in. I also reinstalled the battery at this point since you need power to move the seats back & forth to get room to put the anchor bolts in.

All the important parts are back on the car. I'm leaving the rest of the interior off until I can verify everything works like it should, no sense in putting it back together if I just have to remove it again. There's a few little interior things I want to do before I put it back together too, so it might be a few weeks until absolutely everything is back on.

I have the '02 Type-R mesh shift boot which should look nice, also need to order another shift knob since I don't like the cheap one I have on now. Looking at the WC Lathe Works stainless (or titanium) teardrop design (https://www.lathewerks.com/nsx-stainless-steel-teardrop-shift-knob.html) with some options on it, should be a nice looking ergonomic knob.

Anyways, I spent some time and ran through all the swap guide points and FSM procedure again to mentally check through everything I had done. Every bolt, nut, connector, blah blah checked off to make sure I hadn't missed anything. All fluids at the correct level, battery installed, all that. Ready for the first start with the wheels off the ground to let the MTF circulate a bit without load on the fresh gears.

Here it is, folks. Forgive my poor camera work and heavy sighing, I felt like I was about to pass out from nervousness, lol. Months of planning, tons of work and money all came down to this.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jcXt4foje1I&feature=youtu.be

I can't state enough how much of a relief that was. I let the wheels spin a bit to circulate oil, then reversed it off the lift (for the first time with stick!) and drove around the lot a bit to check it out and drove it back in to check for leaks and all that. Then I spent some time sitting there saying I couldn't believe it actually works.

I made it home .

Man, I need a vacation from my vacation.

In summary, I'd guess I spent about 110 hours give or take a few over 9 days (Sept. 5 to Sept. 13) from start to finish. Not including anything else that wasn't during that week. I am COVERED in scrapes and bruises, haha. I had a helper at a few key parts (clutch bleeding, steering removal, driveshaft install/removal) but most of it was done myself.

Was it worth it? Yeah, only because it works, lol. The ONLY issue I have found so far is that the diff rattles a bit in sharp corners, which I heard might be an issue with some combo of a fresh rebuild and/or the Type-R diff spring. I'll see how it sounds after some breaking in. I also haven't had the chance to test the backup lights or cruise control yet but those would be minor and relatively easy to fix. The car runs great otherwise, no other issues of note (at the moment). (EDIT: Cruise works like it should, haven't tested the lights yet. Some minor gear noise at certain RPM when lugging the engine in high gears which you shouldn't do anyways).

It shifts and sounds great. The clutch pedal action is very smooth and feels great, very communicative. All the new parts (especially the new input shaft collar, fork & throwout bearing) make it a very nice experience, and the damperless hose/Type-R pedal setup feel great too. The shifter is great, very short throws and every gear engages nicely which is to be expected with all the time & money I spent on the parts. I might be doing some minor adjustments here and there to really dial in each shift (1 and 2 are marginally harder to engage), but I'm happy regardless. A nicer shift knob will make a lot of difference.

The power steering works flawlessly I'm happy to say. With the speed sensor from the A/T, the EPS still works even with the 4.23 NSX-R final drive with no other modifications needed besides a spacer on the sensor so it doesn't hit the diff. Works just like it did before, and hopefully the ongoing issue I've had after ~1 hr of driving where the EPS light would come on and the speedo would freak out is now gone with the new-ish VSS1 that came with the new transmission. (EDIT: More driving and the same issue came back. Might be the NC sensor from the auto that was bad, that's all I got...I need to do more diagnosis. EDIT2: Seems like the "new" (old) VSS1 is also going bad)

I have about 100 miles of break-in before I can really go as hard as I want, then I'll changed out the MTF with fresh fluid, check the clutch pedal play, check for leaks, loose bolts, etc. and keep driving. There are quite a few small spin-off projects from this big of a job, including (not in order):
-Testing the cig lighter socket
-Modifying the signal flasher for LEDs
-Nicer shift knob, center console re-install, rest of interior final install
-Testing my wiring work for lights/cruise/etc.
-Helicoil the front mount to trans bolt and one or two other minor ones, plus exhaust tip/flange alignment
-Professional wheel alignment
-Get a USDM M/T ECU or similar, copy over A/T engine data, also will unlock the JDM speed limiter @ 180 KPH
-100 mile clutch break-in, MTF change, free-play adjustment

I will probably be updating these swap posts to add/change info to be more clear since I wrote everything in a rush.

I'd like to thank, in no particular order:
Kaz, for his hundreds of blog posts and replies to my questions explaining all the little details
Honcho/Paul for working with me during planning and providing great info/suggestions
Motormouth/John for his transmission rebuild thread and replies to my posts which saved my ass several times
Drew for providing the swap guide several months ago and for his replies
Wayne for providing most of the hard to find swap parts and answering questions
SoS for providing the clutch kit & slave cyl adapter (and a cool polo)
GoldNSX for his NSXUK gearbox rebuild thread and replies to my question threads
Brian for providing the used 5-speed transmission
Joe @ Cycle Terminal for providing all the factory connectors & terminals
Blake @ Speedhunters for providing the inspiration for this project and for the Project NSX write-ups which are both informative and entertaining to read
Amayama (haha) for providing every single little bolt, gasket, important RHD items like the pedal/shifter/etc. AND all the transmission rebuild parts, which saved me literally $1500-2000 over buying everything in the States which is nuts
e3storage here in GA for providing the work space and lift which made this possible in the first place
Probably some others I'm missing.

I'm serious when I say that without everyone listed, there's 0% chance this would have ever happened. Thanks all above and those following along & commenting here, and I hope I can show you the car and talk shop in person sometime. I'm not even close to being done "improving" the car, so there's plenty more updates to come.

 

[bogle]

Incredible work!! And the work you put into each post is [emoji108]. Seriously, your employer should give you another week off for a job well done. [emoji106][emoji106][emoji487][emoji41][emoji1634][emoji483]

 

[Big McLargeHuge]

Incredible work!! And the work you put into each post is [emoji108]. Seriously, your employer should give you another week off for a job well done. [emoji106][emoji106][emoji487][emoji41][emoji1634][emoji483]

Thanks! I'm hoping this can serve as somewhat of a guide for someone doing this swap in the future, I haven't seen any detailed pics of the process personally. With all the supplementary info I was provided of course.

Wish I had another week to enjoy it but at least I can commute to work and get the break-in miles done. Feels sooo much faster with the short gearing in 2nd/3rd already.

 

[MotorMouth93]

Nice work! It's been interesting to watch the process from afar as no one else has documented this very well.

Post a pic of the guts of the JDM ECU if you can, I wouldn't be surprised if it could be converted to a USDM M/T ECU just by removing a resistor and installing a chip. They are externally identical to the USDM ECUs, and the NSX was low enough production that I seriously doubt Honda would go through the effort and expense of designing two separate ECUs.

 

[sca037]

Outstanding "build" thread, it was a pleasure (and a pain ;-) sharing this experience collectively with you....being several projects all wrapped into one big kahuna of an adventure!
You might want to add Covid-19 to your thank you list, or heck maybe even as a sponsor :biggrin:

 

[Big McLargeHuge]

Nice work! It's been interesting to watch the process from afar as no one else has documented this very well.

Post a pic of the guts of the JDM ECU if you can, I wouldn't be surprised if it could be converted to a USDM M/T ECU just by removing a resistor and installing a chip. They are externally identical to the USDM ECUs, and the NSX was low enough production that I seriously doubt Honda would go through the effort and expense of designing two separate ECUs.

Thanks John, and for all your help with the trans rebuild and post responses, they were really pivotal for a noob like me.

I will post pics of that, I also doubt there's much difference. The only ones I know of are the speed limiter and probably some missing I/O from the lack of a security/alarm system, plus maybe something for the cat converter overheat dash warning.
Still TBD on whether the cruise control speed limiter is handled by the CC control unit or not, I still have Honcho's USDM unit to install and see. The CC does work though, the clutch pedal disengages the cruise like it should at least. I'll message you about the ECU chipping and all that, like everything else it would be new to me. At the moment, the car runs perfectly fine, and the idle noticeably changes when I'm in neutral vs. in gear so nice and quiet sitting at a stop.

Outstanding "build" thread, it was a pleasure (and a pain ;-) sharing this experience collectively with you....being several projects all wrapped into one big kahuna of an adventure!
You might want to add Covid-19 to your thank you list, or heck maybe even as a sponsor :biggrin:

Thanks Brian, definitely a lot of little projects at once plus a bunch of spinoff ones still to go. I definitely chose one of the worst years to start dealing with big international & domestic shipments, lol.

 

[Big McLargeHuge]

Small follow-up stuff.

Car still runs great. Very happy with the clutch and shift action, the SoS 275 feels great so far. No noise or unusual operation, you pretty much don't even think about it when driving which means it's doing the job well.

If I had to come up with anything to complain about, sometimes the shift from N-1 or 1-2 takes a bit more care than usual but mostly due to my inexperience shifting and short lever travel. There was a section in the FSM where they insert a bolt into the shift bracket and somehow use that to adjust the play in 1st gear, I didn't really get that part so maybe that would help.
I've passed the 100 mile break-in mark with only one stall uphill in my driveway with a car right behind me, haha. Still taking it relatively easy since 100 miles seems kinda short for a break-in.

Backup lights do work, so all of my wiring is functioning as intended. While I was checking the lights a friend noticed my left brake bulb was ~half as bright, so I went to remove the bulb and noticed it had melted most of the plastic bulb holder on the lens backing since it was halfway inserted......nice. It might have fallen out of the locked position and bulb ended up touching the plastic directly which melted it over time judging by the residue on the bulb. Need to get a new bulb and do some multimeter testing to make sure it doesn't happen again or cause a fire or something. Yet another reason just to re-use these lenses for an LED conversion like I had planned and maybe just get a new JDM taillight set for normal use in the meantime.

Besides that, couple of items coming up this month:
-Just ordered the WC stainless shift knob, should be a nice addition without looking out of place. The knob I have right now has deep sharp grooves that hurt my hand...
-Ordered a new NC speed sensor to replace the one I transferred over from the A/T for EPS. The only other thing I can think of to fix is replacing the VSS1 that came with the M/T but very unlikely to me that both my VSS1's were going bad, I'm getting tired of the EPS light/speedo not working if I drive for too long. Haven't gotten feedback on my diag questions yet so just went ahead and ordered a Rockauto one.
-Will do a re-check of my work this weekend or the next depending on mileage to change MTF again, check for leaks, adjust the cables a bit, check pedal free-play, etc. then hopefully I'm home free.
-Interior will be re-installed in ~2 weeks once the shift knob arrives so I can have a decent interior again, will test cig lighter, mod signal flasher first.
-So much other crap

Should be a good time. Plenty of other major maintenance updates on the horizon too, namely coolant system refresh and brake system rebuilding. Wheels/tires/coilovers should round out the year.

 

[NSXGB]

Good job, well done!

 

[Big McLargeHuge]

Good job, well done!

Thank you! . Will post another update in a few days with further improvements and/or developments. New NC speed sensor just arrived.

 

[natcc99]

Congratulations!!
As other have said already, it is fun joining you with your adventures. Thanks for taking the time to take photos and comments.

 

[bigdare23]

Welcome to the AT2MT club!

 

[Big McLargeHuge]

Congratulations!!
As other have said already, it is fun joining you with your adventures. Thanks for taking the time to take photos and comments.

Thank you. It's fun sharing my progress with other knowledgeable people, especially when I didn't break something.

Welcome to the AT2MT club!

Do you need my club shirt size :wink:?


Here's some other minor side projects from tonight.

Went to start the car and move it around the shop but no cranking at all, wheeee. I checked the obvious stuff like the main & fuel relays, both click, battery good, then I went to the back since I had a feeling what happened. The little spade connector to the starter had fallen of from vibrations and disconnected it. The little boot that covers it is mostly in pieces from age so it didn't really suction the plug onto the terminal, zip ties it is. I'd like to come up with a bit more permanent solution but not quite sure how to accomplish it without a new boot.

With the car working again, I went about replacing the NC speed sensor from the A/T. Here's the new one from Rockauto.

Old one replaced. You can do so without removing anything else from the car, just need a 10mm and dexterous hands to d/c the 2P connector and pop the sensor out. I tried two spacer washers instead of one to see if that had something to do with the failure, it actually made the EPS light come on faster so I figured two washers pushed the sensor too far from the ring gear. Replaced with just one spacer and drove for almost an hour, no lights yet so hopefully this is the final chapter in that story.

Also went about replacing the cruise control computer with the USDM one I bought from Honcho a while back to see if it unlocks the JDM speed limiter at 100 KPH. Glove box is removed and a plastic air tube are removed to get access to the two bolts and connector holding the unit.

Old JDM unit on top, USDM on bottom. Different part numbers and markings, both originally from A/T cars. Pleased to report that this relatively cheap replacement does in fact unlock the speed limiter, so I can now cruise at 75 MPH just like the rest of Atlanta traffic. Might be doing something similar for the ECU to unlock the 180 KPH limiter and change to the M/T ECU at the same time if I can find one cheap used.

Also spent some time messing with the fuel pump relay & main relay, can you guess why ? It's surprisingly hard to kill the car, lol. It still runs without the fuel pump relay connected and with a few wires disconnected from the main relay, bit more redundancy in the circuits than I expected.

 

[bigdare23]

We actually transitioned to fanny packs for 2020


I have a spare US AT ECU if you're interested. I purchased it as a spare to convert the board over to a MT, but decided against since my car runs perfectly fine with all the AT components. Plus, I'm still using AT cams, so it isn't really needed now.

 

[Big McLargeHuge]

We actually transitioned to fanny packs for 2020


I have a spare US AT ECU if you're interested. I purchased it as a spare to convert the board over to a MT, but decided against since my car runs perfectly fine with all the AT components. Plus, I'm still using AT cams, so it isn't really needed now.

Ah, could be a good storage place for our main relays and paperclips on-the-go.

Might take you up on the ECU, job is TBD after I finish some other leftover items.

 

[drew]

Did you get any photos of the JDM/USDM PCB's to determine if there is a hardware switch that can be made to convert the units from one to another.

If you could include me on AT ECU reprogramming conversion process I would be thrilled. I'd like AT fuel maps with MT operations as well.


search
Auto Cruise
36700-SL0-921 (JDM)
36700-SL0-A11 (USDM)

 

[Big McLargeHuge]

Did you get any photos of the JDM/USDM PCB's to determine if there is a hardware switch that can be made to convert the units from one to another.

If you could include me on AT ECU reprogramming conversion process I would be thrilled. I'd like AT fuel maps with MT operations as well.


search
Auto Cruise
36700-SL0-921 (JDM)
36700-SL0-A11 (USDM)

I didn't take the units apart since the case is crimped on instead of using fasteners, but I could pry open the JDM one if you'd like though you're probably more interested in the US one.

I'll post updates here and let you know what's up too . It's a bit lower on my priority list but I'll get to it soon.



Here's some more punch list items I took care of yesterday.

Nice and toasty brake light bulb holder. I think the old bulb came loose and sat against the plastic bits, turning the holder into a lump of goop. Unlucky, but finally took Drew's advice and found LED bulb replacements for the incandescents. They were a prettier penny than I was expecting but hopefully run cooler and less likely to melt things.

Of course, LEDs have a different beam pattern and don't have perfect uniformity in the stock light housings. LED on the left, stock bulb on the right.

Christmas came early this year.

All 4 LED's installed, zip tied the melted socket one and holds just fine. The camera makes the light diffusion look worse than it actually is, in person it's not really noticeable. I could've replaced the inner two bulbs as well but didn't plan for it at the moment.

I also applied some silicone snot to finally try to fix the water intrusion issues in my badly warped right taillight lens. The cartridge said "clear" silicone which is actually more of a bathroom-tile translucent, oh well...maybe I can color the silicone black to blend in better. Not particularly proud of this. More reason for me to get a new or good used set of JDM lenses as a spare for when I do the full custom LED project soon, still undecided whether I'd use these or use the "new" set.

Back in the engine, I finally replaced the half-peeled air box sticker with a new one. Not the same blue as the old one but maybe the black matches better.

I also removed the right-hand engine bay fan and relay since it was removed in later M/T NSX model years, there's some discussion about whether or not it actually does anything. Now that I'm M/T I feel like I can remove it for some weight & complexity reduction.

I also did the ~200-300 mile break-in service of changing out the MTF again, cleaning the strainer, checking clutch pedal free-play, and going through the bolts and stuff again. The old oil looked good, strainer was mostly clean with some small expected bits to clean out, and I found that I had mixed up the nuts on the right-side lower control arm bolts so I had Continuously Variable Camber on the right wheel since the nut was too short to clamp down on the bushing...I took both nuts off and swapped them to the proper sides.

Finally, I started putting the interior back together again. I got as far as the steering column/lower dash and the rear bulkhead and called it a day before I got to the center console. I had to JB weld the lower dash support back on since I found it was already pretty much broken off completely, and had to superglue back together the knee bolster tabs and center rear bulkhead panel since it had big cracks in the plastic. Nothing visually wrong with the panels but even gently screwing them back into place has the chance to shatter a tab into a million pieces. Soon when I go through to reupholster various bits I'll try to make more permanent metal tabs.

It's amazing how much engine noise the rear bulkhead panels attenuate. Without the panels I almost thought something was wrong since the valvetrain and everything was so much louder, with the panels installed it's significantly quieter.

More stuff to come.

 

[MotorMouth93]

The ECU speed limiter code is stored in the 28 pin EPROM chip soldered to the PCB, the only way to change that is to chip (or replace with a USDM model) the ECU.

 

[Big McLargeHuge]

The ECU speed limiter code is stored in the 28 pin EPROM chip soldered to the PCB, the only way to change that is to chip (or replace with a USDM model) the ECU.

The latter is the most likely current plan, I know there's a plug in HKS "defencer" for ~$140 to unlock the limiter but will probably just get a US ECU if I can find a cheap used one.



Coolant parts are starting to arrive. First was the Koyorad from Evasive Motorsports, UPS delivered today.

Looks great, the shipping boxed is oversized with good protection so no damage was done. Feels super light but high quality.
Since the next major project is likely the coolant system refresh, I figured there's no better time to replace the "consumable" factory radiator which might still be original even if I didn't see any leaks or crystallized coolant from the crimped ends.

Amayama order is in progress for new OEM clamps, misc. hoses, and a new main relay. The clamps were an extra ~$100; I don't mind overbuying a bit in this case so I never have to worry about them or mess with them again. A few of mine were somewhat crusty anyways but the aluminum pipe ends I've seen so far look pretty good.

I would've also ordered the largest 8 or 11 hoses from Japan too but the shipping was way higher than I anticipated, so I started looking for other options. I'm a bit more limited since some hoses are RHD specific.

ASM offers their own silicone hose kit here http://as-motorsport.com/site/en/catalog-c-6/nsx-c-1/engine-c-18/silicone-coolant-hoses-p-454 which I'm about to order. It's slightly more in overall cost than just ordering every OEM hose from JP but I'd like something a bit more appealing functionally & aesthetically. I've seen the Gates video and MotoIQ article about the high water permeability of silicone vs. EPDM which tends to concentrate coolant levels over time, something to keep in mind I suppose. I'm in the engine bay all the time so should be able to top up with distilled water as needed, or I might just eat my words again, hah.

 

[MotorMouth93]

You probably already know this but make sure to flush out the radiator backwards and forwards before installation. A garden hose works pretty well.

 

[Big McLargeHuge]

Yep, thanks for the heads-up. It's still somewhat surprising that these might have crap inside considering that they come in a sealed bag and are pressure tested thrice before being sent out, there should be some engineering controls in place and a final QA flush, right ?

 

[Big McLargeHuge]

Roadside Stuff & Coolant Parts

There be parts in our midst.

CRF timing belt shield, the heavier spec one for a bit more protection. Back in the Before Times when I did the whole timing belt thing, I didn't replace the crank pulley since I just didn't want to spend that much, and I figured (i.e. read on Kaz's blog) the A/T pulley design is less prone to rubber separation. If I'm not going to spend the money on a new pulley, the least I can do is add some protection.

I also got one of these weird exploding stick things. Called a fire distinguisher, so it has a little LED on top that lights up when you point it at a fire to let you know there's something wrong.

Rather, I came across a random article about these potassium salt based fire extinguishers that slot nicely into the JDM flare holder on the passenger fuse cover, and I liked the idea a lot more than the cheap Home Depot extinguisher I didn't have a proper bracket for.

How's that? Fits right into the flare bracket. It does stick out a bit though, sorry passengers. I'm not sure if this satisfies whatever autoX/track event requirements I'd do in the future, but if it doesn't then I'll get a proper extinguisher bracket.

Finally got around to putting together a travel kit to keep in the car. Thanks to Richard of LOTW that made this great video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fBr48AS-b0I. Worth a watch.

Here's some of the stuff. I have an Acura first aid kit and spare ignition switch on the way which I'm sure is backordered. There's a lot of other little items from the video above that I'll also throw in. This should cover most of the random issues I might encounter in my travels, I'd like to be the guy offering a wrench rather than the one having to ask for one or a tow.

Sponsor me Home Depot?

What's this? More parts from Japan? This is a bunch of misc. coolant hoses, all new OEM hose clamps, plus a new main relay for good measure. I'll re-solder my current one and keep it as a spare.

This box from the Netherlands smelled vaguely of the devil's lettuce.

It's blue! These are a bunch of silicone hoses in NA1 RHD spec, quite hard to find. My first choice of color was red, but they didn't produce them anymore so blue looks cool enough.

Most of the reason I went with these is that Amayama quoted me a ton for Fedex shipping because of the shipping box size, which I cut by 80% by removing the largest hoses from the order. That money plus a bit more let me "upgrade" to these silicone hoses which ASM shipped for much cheaper. Of course I'm not fooling anyone, I just think colorful shiny hose = more better. Blue makes the coolant even colder right?

Also got a new coolant temp sender and 4 more gallons of blue coolant. There's an updated spec of front heater pipe with a bleeder instead of a rubber cap but I didn't bother, plus the NSX-R coolant condom which was a bit too much $$$ to stomach at the moment. My coolant tank still looks translucent enough with no leaks so I'm keeping it, and already put on a new pressure cap a while back.

When I get a free weekend soon I'll post about the hose & radiator replacement experience. Once that's over with I should have a very robust cooling system that should serve me well for the foreseeable future.

 

[natcc99]

Hey there....I bought the same fire extinguisher. Nice thinking about attaching it to the flare holder. :star: Other than it being a little long, it does look like it is at home.
I'm sure you agree that the holder that came with the extinguisher isn't very good.
I currently have mine between the driver seat and door panel so it is in easy reach. (I have an aftermarket seat) Hopefully neither you or I will ever need to use it. Fingers crossed.

 

[Big McLargeHuge]

Re-Coolanting

Back on the lift where I belong. First off is trying to drain as much coolant out as possible from the 5 drains under the car. First coolant shower of the day was from the rear engine drain where the bleeder was stripped previously, so the whole plug came out and dumped coolant everywhere.

Second order of business is radiator removal. So easy a caveman could do it.

Old radiator removed. Besides some unfortunate bugs it didn't look too bad.

Transfer over the fan shroud and fan resistor. Everything fit perfectly onto the Koyo. Nice change of pace for most aftermarket parts.

That was easy. Couldn't ask for a better install.

Yeah, the battery is installed backwards. The one the dealer installed has the terminals mirrored so I can't install it the other way around. Probably will switch it out for a lightweight battery in the future when this one dies and I can stomach the cost. I do need another angle bracket since my hold-downs are at the limit of how tight they can get.

Starting to remove the front bay & heater hoses. The ones on the heater are a different 3 prong clamp design that's a bit harder to get a grip on.

All of the front hoses replaced. Two blues are from the silicone set, the rest are OEM, all new clamps as well. It took an extra bit of time to figure out my technique for hose removal. The long articulated pliers were pivotal to access a lot of the clamps.

I found that using a pick (small one for smaller hoses, large dedicated hose pic for big ones) to stick under the edge of the hose allowed me to work it around parallel to the pipe nipple. Once the pick opened up a gap in the hose with the pick still inside, I sprayed some silicone spray with a thin nozzle inside of the gap and worked the pick around as much of the hose circumference as possible to let the silicone work its way in. Once that was done, the hose could almost always just be popped off easily by hand. Also minimizes markings on the pipe nipple since the pick is parallel.

The hardest part of the front bay was actually positioning the clamps on the radiator hoses. Tight space on the bottom and the clamps require a lot of force to spread enough to slip over the ridge on the pipe nipples. The Koyo and ASM hoses fit together well though.

Center tunnel hoses removed. These weren't too bad. For the larger hoses, I could wedge the large pick in parallel and then pull the end of the pick down and rip a small relief line in the end of the hose. That plus silicone spray made them slip off easily enough without using a box cutter or similar.

Quite happy with the condition of the pipes. I cleaned them off a little bit but no major corrosion of note. In all cases I used a thin layer of silicone grease to protect the pipes and facilitate the install of new hoses.

New silicone hoses installed with new OEM clamps. Start with the heater hose buried up top, then move down to the large straight hose. The heater hose clips with 3 prongs came with red temporary clips that allow you to position the clamp, then pry off the clip and the clamp springs into place. I wish all the clamps came like that..

Old hoses. I think the front radiator hoses were replaced more recently based on their condition, but these ones felt older. I wouldn't say they were overly bloated or worn but were quite squidgy. I know they're supposed to have date codes but not sure how to read them.

Moving on to the engine bay. Most of the stuff I've removed previously so it went fast, but I had not taken the throttle body off before. Normally not required but I wanted to package the VVIS screw & throttle butterfly inspection together since I had not done it before.

Uhhhh......yeah....

Let's pretend that didn't happen.

Trying out those new fingerless gloves. The box I'm trying to go through is not the highest quality.

Wiped off the intake manifold too. I'm sure the idle & exhaust valves need cleaning & adjusting but not in the current scope of work.

Endoscope pictures of the VVIS screws. Quite hard to get a good view of the rightmost screws but they all looked normal.

Rear bank right-most screws.

Front head screws look ok.

Front head right-most screws. Hard to get a good shot but this is the bottom of the screw that is staked (swaged?) to stop them from backing out and pinging around the cylinder head. At some point when I take the intake manifold off I'd like to affix these permanently so I don't have to worry about it anymore.

Main engine bay hoses removed. These were a little harder but still not much corrosion to deal with. I cleaned them off pretty well and treated them with silicone but didn't get a pic for some reason.

New coolant temp sender because why not. It's cheap and buried pretty deep so now's the time to replace.

These annoying hoses around the thermostat & intake are probably older than me.

Work in progress. I marked the hoses and pipes with a paint marker dot to keep trace of directionality. I found it useful to keep the old hoses as reference for staging the new clamps in the right orientation for installation.

Basically, everything was going pretty well so far, just a bit tedious with the number of hoses. The only issue I had the whole job was with this expansion tank hose and the lower tank hose. Both had outer diameters that were much larger than the OEM hose, so there was no OEM clamp that would fit them. I had some stainless worm drive ones that fit, but that turned out to be a stupid idea.

All new engine bay hoses in place. You can see the worm drives on the coolant tank hoses, I didn't want to use them anywhere but I thought it might be ok for those two since I had no other option at the time. Yeah..

Small detour to replace the VSS. I was still having intermittent issues with my speedo & EPS codes on long drives so I had planned to replace the VSS head with a new one. There are plenty of aftermarket replacements for the VSS head but they need a pigtail harness since the early years had an integrated wire harness.

The old VSS smelled strongly of burnt electronics and was filled with black goop.

I decided to take it apart for curiosity's sake and more of the same cancer-goop inside. Not sure if it was melted potting or what, but the smell alone probably was enough to justify replacement.

I got a Dorman female wire pigtail to attach to the new sensor, and cut off the male end from the old sensor to make a new harness with butt connectors. The wiring was odd since the OEM sensor had the black and yellow wires switched between the sensor body and connector, plus the aftermarket connector I got had different wire colors altogether. Just matched up the wires from L-R (ylw, blk, blu) to the new plug and hopefully that works.

All in all, the new sensor is about as Chinesium as it gets but I paid $15 instead of $200 so if it works it works.

New sensor installed. With everything removed already it made the most sense to do it now.

With all the new hoses and sensor installed, the coolant tank, throttle body, and airbox go back on. I'll be the first to say the blue looks kinda dumb in this context, I really wish the red was available. I probably would've gone with black if I could do it over. Which I'll have to because the two hoses with the worm drives leaked like a motherfucker.

Now begins the coolant refill and bleed. A vacuum filling would be nice but I don't have the means. I followed the factory procedure of opening all the bleeders and tightening them once coolant started coming out, which usually takes ~3.2 gallons until anything happens. Once I had closed all the bleeders, I started the car to push more air out and open the heater/tstat.

I had suspected this already but the radiator fan started immediately when the car was cold. I need to resolder the fan relay and main relay which is on the short to-do list. It took a while for the car to heat up with the fan going constantly.

I watched the temp gauge over ~15 mins but it started climbing past halfway probably from trapped air. Might have been a good idea to try the "raise the rear to bleed more air" thing but I've read mixed reviews. I shut the car off before it overheated and went around and opened the bleeders again, it'll work the extra air out eventually.

Big box of old hoses and clamps. Pictures don't quite capture the pain of getting all these things off...

I *had* no complaints about this project, but the two hoses I had to use worm clamps on turned out to leak horribly. The clamps just can't get tight enough to prevent coolant escaping, but apparently only when the engine is running. There was a constant drip of coolant from right under the thermostat water passage that ran along the top of the trans to the rear mount.

I had to order two OEM expansion tank hoses to replace the silicone ones, and will have to figure out how to replace them without spilling coolant everywhere. The tank has to come off again and I can probably save most of the coolant, but installing the new hoses with the throttle body in the way will be challenging to say the least, probably will make a big mess (again). Kinda pissed off but all the other hoses fit perfectly fine. At least the ones I need are actually in stock for once so I can get it dusted during this week.

 

[bogle]

Nice work. Too bad about those expansion tank hoses, hopefully they won’t be too much of a pain to replace. Good call on the temp sanding unit while you’re in there.

How long did the hose replacement + fill and bleed take? I’ll be following in your footsteps here in the next couple months and will definitely be referencing this post!

 

[I_M_Legend]

Perhaps try some higher quality worm clamps. I've had some cheap ones fail on me as well. The OE BMW ones are very solid. There are no holes in the clamp. https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/bmw-hose-clamp-64218367179