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#1. The dreaded gold goo - from Zachary Eyler-Walker
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Date: Thu, 9 Dec 2004 17:44:48 -0500 (EST) From: Zachary Eyler-Walker <zwalker@cs.utk.edu> Subject: The dreaded gold goo I changed my oil the other day with my new, super cool mity-vac topsider. Took longer than I expected to suck out the old oil, and I had to pump the thing several times, but still very convenient. My guess is that the oil wasn't hot enough. I'll warm up the car more thoroughly next time. Now to the point, though: I found the dreaded gold emulsion on the inside of my oil filler cap. I believe this is supposed to be a telltale of water getting into the head/oil, and that furthermore, it probably means a blown head gasket. A few questions, then: 1) Is there any other reason enough water could get into the oil system to put some gold gunk on the inside of the oil cap? 2) If it is definitely the gasket, what next? Do I get it fixed right away for umpteen billion dollars, or can I wait and see what happens without running risks of doing much worse damage? If I had a place to work, I might give it a go myself, but that's not really an option right now. I am planning a 10 hour road trip soon for the holidays, and I'd rather not be stranded somewhere with a wildly overheating motor. 3) If I have to get it fixed, are there better replacement gasket options? I hear about 'cutting' head gaskets sometimes that might seat a little better, for example. I'm assuming right now that it definitely is the HG going, and I'm pretty bummed out. I drive the car pretty hard, but still. Thanks, Zach
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#2. Re: [E36M3] The dreaded gold goo - from David Ngo
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Date: Thu, 9 Dec 2004 14:53:32 -0800 (PST) From: David Ngo <rudngo@yahoo.com> Subject: Re: [E36M3] The dreaded gold goo Do you always drive the car long enough for it to completely warm up? You can also get this goo if you make a lot of short trips. Dave --- Zachary Eyler-Walker <zwalker@cs.utk.edu> wrote: > Date: Thu, 9 Dec 2004 17:44:48 -0500 (EST) > From: Zachary Eyler-Walker <zwalker@cs.utk.edu> > Subject: The dreaded gold goo <snip> > Now to the point, though: I found the dreaded gold > emulsion on the inside > of my oil filler cap. I believe this is supposed to > be a telltale of > water getting into the head/oil, and that > furthermore, it probably means a > blown head gasket. __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail - now with 250MB free storage. Learn more. http://info.mail.yahoo.com/mail_250
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#3. Re: [E36M3] The dreaded gold goo - from Zachary Eyler-Walker
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Date: Thu, 9 Dec 2004 18:01:27 -0500 (EST) From: Zachary Eyler-Walker <zwalker@cs.utk.edu> Subject: Re: [E36M3] The dreaded gold goo On Thu, 9 Dec 2004, David Ngo wrote: > Do you always drive the car long enough for it to > completely warm up? You can also get this goo if you > make a lot of short trips. > > Dave Hmm. That's a good point. I used to walk to work, but now I have to make about a five, maybe ten minute drive to get to a lab I'm working in sometimes. I'd say that the car only gets fully warmed up about one in four times I drive it. Could that produce the effect? How would I figure out what's going on? The car has always lost a little water (we're talking on the order of a cup or two of fluid in a year's time -- I assumed that was normal) -- should the fluid drop be noticeable if it's the gasket? I should also mention, the car is a '96. No bastard jokes, please: we're feeling sensitive right now. Thanks, Zach
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#4. Re: [E36M3] The dreaded gold goo - from Jamie Howton
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Date: Thu, 9 Dec 2004 17:37:36 -0600 From: Jamie Howton <jhowton@gmail.com> Subject: Re: [E36M3] The dreaded gold goo Send a small sample of oil for testing. That'll tell you for sure if there's any Ethylene Glycol in it. Try: http://youroil.net/index.html or http://www.blackstone-labs.com/ I have used the first and was very happy with the service. Regards Jamie Howton
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#5. '96 M3 Alternator, Belt Tensioners, etc. - from Stan.Shaw@Excell.Net
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Date: Thu, 9 Dec 2004 18:48:49 -0500 From: <Stan.Shaw@Excell.Net> Subject: '96 M3 Alternator, Belt Tensioners, etc. It looks like I may be changing my alternator, so will likely change any tensioners, etc. at the same time. Does anyone have the part numbers for the parts required? Has anyone researched the best prices for those parts? Thanks! Regards, Stan Shaw Stan.Shaw@Excell.Net Phone: (413) 599-0399 Fax: (413) 599-0421 Excell.Net Owner/Operator http://www.Excell.Net/ 928 Owners Club President http://www.928OC.org/ 928Racing.net Team Member http://www.928Racing.net/ "Liberty once lost is lost forever." - John Adams
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#6. Shifter problems in cold weather/Roundel fix - from mikeymaigs@comcast.net
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Date: Fri, 10 Dec 2004 01:21:10 +0000 From: mikeymaigs@comcast.net Subject: Shifter problems in cold weather/Roundel fix Hi all, I have seen the threads concerning manual transmissions hanging up under 5th gear when the engine is cold. I had this problem on my '98 M3 and performed the Roundel fix some time ago. The problem went away entirely; however, I did not actually modify the piston, but rather the cylinder in the transmission that the piston slides in-- a bit of fine sandpaper took care of the problem in <5 minutes. Regards, Mike
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#7. Re: [E36M3] The dreaded gold goo - from Zachary Eyler-Walker
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Date: Thu, 9 Dec 2004 22:28:56 -0500 (EST) From: Zachary Eyler-Walker <zwalker@cs.utk.edu> Subject: Re: [E36M3] The dreaded gold goo On Thu, 9 Dec 2004, Jamie Howton wrote: > Send a small sample of oil for testing. That'll tell you for sure if > there's any Ethylene Glycol in it. Try: > > http://youroil.net/index.html or > http://www.blackstone-labs.com/ > > I have used the first and was very happy with the service. Ah, a very good idea. I knew about these, but hadn't made the contextual leap to checking for antifreeze rather than oil breakdown. I've even still got the oil I took out during the last change, which would be much more affected than the almost entirely fresh oil in now. Thanks for the suggestion. Zach
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#8. Re: [E36M3] Shifter problems in cold weather/Roundel fix - from Jim Bassett
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Date: Thu, 9 Dec 2004 19:52:17 -0800 From: Jim Bassett <jim@jimbassett.com> Subject: Re: [E36M3] Shifter problems in cold weather/Roundel fix Quoting mikeymaigs@comcast.net: > however, I did > not actually modify the piston, but rather the cylinder in the transmission > that the piston slides in-- a bit of fine sandpaper took care of the problem > in <5 minutes. Pretty much what my mechanic told me too, when I picked the car up this evening :-) Although he did buff up the piston, he felt the main cause of the "stickiness" was the cylinder in the transmission. Initial result indicate it's fixed (yay!). I'll do some more checking on it tomorrow. Cheers, Jim Bassett ---------------------------------------------------------------- This message was sent using IMP, the Internet Messaging Program.
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#9. Adjusting HID's - from Mo Karamat
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Date: Fri, 10 Dec 2004 00:43:27 -0500 From: Mo Karamat <karamatm@optonline.net> Subject: Adjusting HID's Dear All, Happy Holidays to everyone on the list! Hopefully the Holidays will bring you everything that you want! I bought a set of ZKW's + HID and installed them. I have been playing with the adjustment screws as per the TIS, and the pattern does not seem correct to me.. Here are my questions.. 1. From what I have read, the height of the beam should be at the first/bottom row of the plating on my garage door @ ~20 feet? 2. I tried to turn the lateral adjustment screw, and even though it is turning the wheel, I do not see much of an adjustment.. How much of a change should it make? 3. How do I know when the lights are correctly adjusted? Should I adjust each of them while covering the other light? 4. What should the pattern look like? Is the pattern very focused, and directed to the front? Mine seem to also illuminate a path that is wider than the car, is this correct? Should they not? Thanks in advance for any help... Mo
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#10. RE: [E36M3] The dreaded gold goo - from Patrick Goss - PA
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Date: Fri, 10 Dec 2004 09:52:38 -0500 From: Patrick Goss - PA <Patrick_Goss@GMACM.COM> Subject: RE: [E36M3] The dreaded gold goo Don't forget that specific materials used in engine parts can facilitate this residue also. Aluminum comes to mind. Frequent oil changes can help also....I've seen more than one dealer serviced e36 that had this residue in the cap, more the reason to ignore the bmw oil service intervals and perform them yourself more frequently. Patrick Goss 97 m3/4 -----Original Message----- From: David Ngo [mailto:rudngo@yahoo.com] Sent: Thursday, December 09, 2004 5:55 PM To: E36M3 Subject: Re: [E36M3] The dreaded gold goo Date: Thu, 9 Dec 2004 14:53:32 -0800 (PST) From: David Ngo <rudngo@yahoo.com> Subject: Re: [E36M3] The dreaded gold goo Do you always drive the car long enough for it to completely warm up? You can also get this goo if you make a lot of short trips. Dave --- Zachary Eyler-Walker <zwalker@cs.utk.edu> wrote: > Date: Thu, 9 Dec 2004 17:44:48 -0500 (EST) > From: Zachary Eyler-Walker <zwalker@cs.utk.edu> > Subject: The dreaded gold goo <snip> > Now to the point, though: I found the dreaded gold > emulsion on the inside > of my oil filler cap. I believe this is supposed to > be a telltale of > water getting into the head/oil, and that > furthermore, it probably means a > blown head gasket. __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail - now with 250MB free storage. Learn more. http://info.mail.yahoo.com/mail_250 ************************************************* Please help support the E36M3 list by visiting our sponsors: Bimmerworld http://www.bimmerworld.com Turner Motorsport http://www.turnermotorsport.com Eurosport High Performance http://www.eurosporthighperformance.com Rogue Engineering http://www.rogueengineering.com DIGEST INFORMATION: http://www.bmw-m.net/resources/digest_info.htm *************************************************