Joey's iS by JinormusJ

4 minute(s) of a 76 minute read

Slowly but surely
I'm sourcing the last bits of my 5-speed; it WILL be done by the middle of August. After that, I can start looking for some coilovers and looking for some of the BBSes

6-10-2013

Oil change today

Decided to get a little unconventional and use diesel oil for the extra ZDDP additives that our old m20 e30s desperately crave.

Used Dino (Conventional) Mobil Delvac 15w40 with a the Bosch 3421 filter.


Compared to the grime that was in there fr the PO, I instantly felt a difference in the engine performance on start up, idle, and WOT. Would recommend using Diesel Oil/Amsoil over leading Mobil 1/Valvoline oils. I've used all of them, and I've got to say, this has been the most dramatic oil change I've had so far. The former all have at least 1600 PPM of ZDDP which is almost double the amount any other oil company has, including Valvoline VR1 which comes in around 800 (which is still more than most brands, but is still mediocre compared to Diesel Oils/Amsoil)

With Mobil Delvac coming in at $17 for 5 quarts, you almost can't beat it

Gotta get dat ZDDP!

6-11-2013

Also fixed my brake lining light and ABS light. Officially cruising without lights on my dash. EVERYTHING WORKS!

For the brake lining, there is a resistor located within the cluster itself that is located behind the temp gauge (inside the cluster itself) that is the Brake lining resistor. Because the brake lining resistor carries a lot of current, the solder joints inside the cluster tend to crack with age and vibration from the car. All you need to do is reflow the joints, and, as long as your sensors are good and you don't have any shorts, your brake lining light will regain normal functionality.

To demonstrate, here is an extra cluster backing I have sitting around:


The green circle represents where the temp gauge is located.
The red circles demonstrate where the two solder joints need to be re-flowed. As you can tell, the joint in the circle to the right is completely cracked, a common cause of pre-mature Brake Lining light appearing


For the ABS sensor, I saw this write up, and fair enough, when I took my ABS relay out, that little disable link was blown.
http://www.e30tech.com/forum/showthread.php?t=112932

So following the essence of the writeup, I wired an external fuse holder found at any AutoParts store for about $3



Instead of wiring the pegs together INSIDE the relay, I mounted the wires and Fuse holder outside of the ABS Relay and drilled holes in the main metal housing to mount it externally. I used a stock 7.5a BMW fuse to top it off, and fair enough, when I first wired in the modified relay, the fuse blew due to a short, proving my system works better than the stock relay. A few modifications to the solders and a new fuse means my ABS light is off, and I am enjoying functioning ABS


A picture before:



And after:

(in ignition)

(after starting)

Oh, and an airbag-bolster-in-a-non-airbag-car-retrofit for the ladies


(+New black sport seats that actually work, fall, and rise)