koozy's ST

[koozy]

Nice work and I am glad you finally got it sorted out. Not to burst your bubble but I would still keep an eye on this. My background is diesel mechanics and these type of full metal turbo drain hoses are not common. They are usually a combination of metal tubing and high temp NB rubber and clamped joints to allow for some movement because of thermal expansion and contraction of the exhaust manifold as it going through constant heat cycles because of the turbo boosting. What worries me a little is the SS tubular exhaust manifold. These types of manifolds expand and then contract more than a cast log type manifold and it would not surprise me if this was the reason your drain tube cracked in the first place. Just saying

I'm definitely keeping an eye on it. I believe it cracked because it was a bit too short and being pulled apart. The weakest point gave way at the bellows. I made the new one a bit longer without the stress of being pulled on. Originally DHM sends out studs to use with the drain tube. Everyone I've talked to with their DHM kit had the same comment, that the oil drain tube is a bitch to get on with those studs. To get the drain tube on you have to bend the tube into position and this bending doesn't feel natural and may cause stress fractures in the bellows. I eliminated this bending and twisting process by drilling out the mounting holes to accommodate bolts that match the turbo and allows the drain tube to slide into place without having to overcome some protruding studs that are in the way. As for heat, we'll see... only time will tell. My oil which doesn't exceed 250deg F flows through it and cools it to some degree. The area that cracked was the furthest from the manifold, a foot down by the oil pan. I can wrap the tube with heat barrier, but I kinda want to see myself how it will fair bare. I think I'm the only one that has experienced this issue so far, I hope.

 

[Sekred]

I'm definitely keeping an eye on it. I believe it cracked because it was a bit too short and being pulled apart. The weakest point gave way at the bellows. I made the new one a bit longer without the stress of being pulled on. Originally DHM sends out studs to use with the drain tube. Everyone I've talked to with their DHM kit had the same comment, that the oil drain tube is a bitch to get on with those studs. To get the drain tube on you have to bend the tube into position and this bending doesn't feel natural and may cause stress fractures in the bellows. I eliminated this bending and twisting process by drilling out the mounting holes to accommodate bolts that match the turbo and allows the drain tube to slide into place without having to overcome some protruding studs that are in the way. As for heat, we'll see... only time will tell. My oil which doesn't exceed 250deg F flows through it and cools it to some degree. The area that cracked was the furthest from the manifold, a foot down by the oil pan. I can wrap the tube with heat barrier, but I kinda want to see myself how it will fair bare. I think I'm the only one that has experienced this issue so far, I hope.

Yeah, that bending and stretching during installation may have been your problem then.

 

[arlisscm]

Glad to see you got this issue sorted out, looks like a nice piece as well. I've been keeping track of mine since you brought it up, no issues as of yet, but I will continue to keep an eye on it, probably until the end of time if it never fails. haha.

 

[M-Sport fan]

Yes, they DO deserve major 'repping' after that experience!

(I also have that hat, wear it often, like whenever I'm not wearing my CP-E hat, or the Ford Performance or M-Sport team caps)

 

[koozy]

Probably one of the most neglected component, I decided to give the original Motorcraft battery that came with the car some TLC. After 3yrs. of use it took in 1qt. of distilled water. The battery was put on a slow trickle charge to top it off, I also cleaned the terminals. Battery is still strong, holds 13 volts and should last a few more years.

clean terminal ready for service

 

[FearTheSnail]

I bought my car in 2014, it is still on the original battery as well. I haven't opened it up to see how low it was though. I was thinking I should just replace it soon.

 

[koozy]

I bought my car in 2014, it is still on the original battery as well. I haven't opened it up to see how low it was though. I was thinking I should just replace it soon.

I wish I had done it sooner. The most important thing is to make sure none of the plates are exposed, corrosion is irreversible. Just top off each cell with distilled water so that the water is about 1/4" above the plates and top of the charge if you have a charger. I had one cell with the plates barely being exposed closest to the negative post, but was surprised the battery took in 1qt. of water across all cells.

 

[koozy]

Update for the guys waiting who are kind of stranded with leaking tubes. The new and improved tubes are ready to be TIG'd

 

[Perfblue15]

Update for the guys waiting who are kind of stranded with leaking tubes. The new and improved tubes are ready to be TIG'd

Hot damn!

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

 

[V_2]

Very nice! You sir are a lifesaver.

 

[Truth in Ruin]

Nice work, koozy!

 

[koozy]

Glad to be able to help a few enthusiasts out, thanks.

 

[koozy]

it's been a minute since I posted about the car. it's nice out today. still patiently waiting for the dekagrams to arrive

 

[M-Sport fan]

Didn't you have other aftermarket wheels at one time?

The Dekagrams will look wicked on that car!

 

[koozy]

I did, but never mounted and sold them in favor of the dekagrams, which fit my ideal weight and size specifications for my needs.

 

[koozy]

So my attention has been away from the ST for awhile, it happens when you have several projects

Thought I'd share my recent CA Smog experience with my 1985 e28, which has increased my knowledge around this cloud of emissions mystery.

For those that want to read about the FiST having to go into visit the California (BAR) Bureau Of Automotive Repair State Ref. http://www.fiestastforum.com/forum/threads/3074-koozy-s-ST?p=177708&viewfull=1#post177708

Now back to the e28... trying to get simple common sense info from smog techs was frustrating. My experience has been that many don't know, want to share or take the time to diagnose even for a fee and instead are quick to guess, which exacerbates confusion. I'm not surprised why people give up on their older cars and send them to the crusher, many mechanics fail to properly diagnose and owners just throw in the towel. I inquired shops and mechanics that specialize in classic BMW's and was disappointed with their lack of emissions knowledge. I found this surprising because if they're in the business of restoring or maintaining classic cars you'd think having knowledge and being well versed with emissions is paramount for post 1975+ vehicles.

It was time for the bi-annual CA Smog test, which it has passed the last 3 times over the last 6 yrs. This year it failed and pretty bad. Here's the test result that deemed it a "gross polluter" with excessive high NOX values, which usually indicate high combustion chamber temperatures. Personally I don't care for the moniker as I don't ever plan on selling the car and the status only means that it failed at that time. It doesn't mean that the car can't be brought up to spec to pass with flying colors, which is what matters in the end, at least to me.

After doing some research it seems that an e85 blend is what may have caused the NOX to go way out of spec. I hadn't done this in the past, but I put in 2 gallons of e85 and the rest was 87 octane in the tank to help, but it appears to have done the opposite. The car is pre-OBD2 with only one O2 sensor before the catalytic converter and can't compensate for the higher than e10-15 blend. The CO and HC were great, but the excessive e85 blend significantly increased the NOX emissions.

Test #1

I replaced some of the rubber intake plumbing that showed signs of wear and possible leak issues which would also drive up the NOX values, checked the spark plug gaps (Bosch WR9LS (.028) which had 20k miles on them but still looked good. I cleaned out the Idle Air Control Valve, used half a can of the Seafoam spray into the intake to help clean out intake/valve carbon deposits and added a can of Techron into the tank. After the tank was depleted of the Techron I filled it up with Shell 91 octane, which has Nitrogen in it for cleaning but apparently does not contribute to elevated high NOX emissions. Here are the results from the 2nd test. So, the 15mph NOX results significantly improved. I attribute this to not having any e85 in the tank. However the 25mph NOX value was still high and out of allowable specs. I suspected the O2 sensor being the issue, which was 5 yrs. old and had 40k miles on it.

Test #2

After changing out the O2 sensor and filling up with 91 octane I head back for test #3 and it failed both 15 and 25 mph tests. The 25mph test significantly improved which showed that the new O2 sensor helped. Here are the results, but still indicated that there's still a problem. The car still has the OE catalytic converter with ~200k miles, but I did not suspect the converter being the issue because for test #2 the 15mph test results were great. Thinking back I suspect the car was hot after idling too long as the smog tech was prepping, he probably thought it was helping to get the catalytic converter warm but I don't think idling would do that. This smog test center was different from the first place and had the front of the car into the shop with no circulation and no fans placed in front of the car during the rolling dyno emissions test. After the results the techs were telling me that the catalytic converter was too old and was probably the issue. They even went so far to do a back pressure test and confirmed that the converter was plugged.

Test #3

I didn't believe that the catalytic converter was dead just yet because the HC and CO results were great. Sure I could throw on a new catalytic converter which would probably make the car pass, but I wanted to get to the root of the cause and not a bandaid. The OE cat is known for being very stout and better than any aftermarket unit if it's working right. Before I was willing to get a new DEC 50 State Approved Converter I was going to at least give the car it's best shot before doing that. I decided to drain the fuel tank to clean it and the transfer pump out making sure no gunk was in there. New parts include a new fuel filter, new WR9LS spark plugs, all were perfectly pre-gapped at .028, new Bosch distributor cap and rotor, flush out the cooling system and install a new thermostat with Prestone LongLife and Hyper-Lube Supercoolant additive to help bring down the coolant temp. The Castrol High Mileage 20w/50 With Mann filter were recently installed so I left that alone. These were the things I was willing to try before getting a new catalytic converter. Having good results with 91 octane with the previous test I decided to continue to use it for the next test. I also didn't want to have too many variables if things went awry. I normally fill up with 87 octane and have historically passed smog checks in the past with it, but with the high NOX values I wanted something to help keep the combustion chamber a bit cooler. Here are the results, note the slightly higher but well within specs HC value probably due to the 91 octane. The car went back to the first smog place in which the car has to be backed into to shop to get on the dyno roller, leaving the front of the car out of the shop with fresh ambient air. This time I chose to bring the car in early in the morning when the ambient temp would be cooler. My focus was to bring down the NOX values, as the other two perfect values for HC and CO had some room to give for better NOX numbers. The tech also put a fan in front of the car this time to help with cooling and simulate being on the road.

Test #4 Passed

Final Notes to self: Don't have more than e10 in the fuel tank for the emissions test. Go early in the morning, make sure the car is in perfect tune before considering a new catalytic converter. Don't patronize a smog test center that doesn't give you car a fighting chance like having the car point into the shop with poor air circulation or not using fans during the rolling dyno tests.

Somethings I should consider having done before the next test: R&R the fuel injectors and get a new airflow meter.

 

[Dpro]

I ran into the same car not passing when I was in a shop facing inwards with no fans or circulation. My current smog guys rollers are at the door opening of his shop. Your car does face inward but his shop is deep and has circulation and he runs a big fan as well.
I also learned with the M3 that fresh oil makes a big deal and the makeup of the oil as well. Regardless of what people think a lot of cars are oil burners by nature BMW’s being famous for it. They do burn a ittle bit of oil.
Oh and like you discovered ambient temps make a difference as well.
Fact is CARB has actually stiffened up the pass rating levels in the last few years in an effort to get older cars off the road.
I won’t deny CARB can be quite fascist when they want too and have their own ideas about what you should or should not own and drive on the street. I won’t go beyond that statement here as there are a lot ofmpolitica involved.

 

[GAbOS]

Technically all cars burn crude oil. That's where fuel comes from. Motor oil as a lubricant shouldnt be in the combustion chamber unless it's a two stroke or a rotary. My BMW burned oil until I fixed it.

Sent from my ONEPLUS A3000 using Tapatalk

 

[slowcord]

Fact is CARB has actually stiffened up the pass rating levels in the last few years in an effort to get older cars off the road.

Really? My Oldsmobile was already having a though time passing any kind of test already, im cringing at the thought of putting it back on the road.
[MENTION=235]koozy[/MENTION]:
These are the kind of posts that I am here for. Im glad you were able to get your e28 to pass.

 

[koozy]

[MENTION=235]koozy[/MENTION] These are the kind of posts that I am here for. Im glad you were able to get your e28 to pass.

Me too, I didn't want to resort to buying a pass or getting Montana plates.
Glad I got it to pass legit, which buys me 2yrs. until the next rectal exam LOL