1995 318Ti - Engine Temp / Loopy Idle

[AnuketTi]

Hi Folks -

Glad to have joined the community recently. I acquired a relatively clean 318Ti. It does have a couple of issues that I would like to attend to. The is a 5 - Speed with the M42 engine.

First one is the temperature. The car never gets to the mid / 12 O'Clock point on the dash temp gauge. At night on the freeway, it barely gets to the first 1/4 mark. I am assuming the thermostat is bad and stuck in the open position. I have ordered a new one and the housing as well.

I have been also advised to replace the maze of coolant hoses underneath the Intake Manifold as the cooling system apparently can be a nightmare on these cars - good ole BMW!

The second issue bothers me more. When I got the car, it had a slightly loopy idle. It would dip about 50 RPM +/-, but never stalls, never quits or anything. Yesterday, I finally fixed and replaced the stereo deck (and subsequently blew the rear speakers ) and on my next drive - the car's idle issue became worse. Now, it would dip down below 500 RPMs and then come back up.

Could this be the ICV? I have experience with the M62 and M62TU engines and also the M54 IL-6 engines and often times, if it is not the ICV it could be vacuum leaks or air leaks in hoses or intake assemblies, etc.

Any ideas, thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I was reluctant to get this car initially, but now it is growing on me.

Cheers,

Michael

[BlackBMWs]

Originally Posted by AnuketTi

Hi Folks -

Glad to have joined the community recently. I acquired a relatively clean 318Ti. It does have a couple of issues that I would like to attend to. The is a 5 - Speed with the M42 engine.

First one is the temperature. The car never gets to the mid / 12 O'Clock point on the dash temp gauge. At night on the freeway, it barely gets to the first 1/4 mark. I am assuming the thermostat is bad and stuck in the open position. I have ordered a new one and the housing as well.

I have been also advised to replace the maze of coolant hoses underneath the Intake Manifold as the cooling system apparently can be a nightmare on these cars - good ole BMW!

The second issue bothers me more. When I got the car, it had a slightly loopy idle. It would dip about 50 RPM +/-, but never stalls, never quits or anything. Yesterday, I finally fixed and replaced the stereo deck (and subsequently blew the rear speakers ) and on my next drive - the car's idle issue became worse. Now, it would dip down below 500 RPMs and then come back up.

Could this be the ICV? I have experience with the M62 and M62TU engines and also the M54 IL-6 engines and often times, if it is not the ICV it could be vacuum leaks or air leaks in hoses or intake assemblies, etc.

Any ideas, thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I was reluctant to get this car initially, but now it is growing on me.

Cheers,

Michael

Hi Michael, could be ICV, have you checked the valve and tried to clean it? Also check the to/from hose for cracking. You are on a right track.

When you are doing the cooling hoses, it's cheap to do the plastic coolant distribution pipe on the drivers side under the intake, since you are there anyway. Opinions vary as to getting BMW or aftermarket. I went BMW for both my M42s. Make sure whatever you get comes with the o-ring. You only have the one plastic connector, not two, like on the M44s.

Regards

[BRADESTAR]

Welcome.

With no mention of Check Engine light I'd think it should be on. Bulb may be pulled or not working. Should be able to pull a code from it to perhaps narrow things down.

I know OBD1 has blinking CEL so you might investigate that some.

[AnuketTi]

Originally Posted by BlackBMWs

Hi Michael, could be ICV, have you checked the valve and tried to clean it? Also check the to/from hose for cracking. You are on a right track.

When you are doing the cooling hoses, it's cheap to do the plastic coolant distribution pipe on the drivers side under the intake, since you are there anyway. Opinions vary as to getting BMW or aftermarket. I went BMW for both my M42s. Make sure whatever you get comes with the o-ring. You only have the one plastic connector, not two, like on the M44s.

Regards

Thanks! Going to pull the ICV and clean it out and see if that helps. Otherwise, the car drives fine.

I was going to change the thermostat, but I have decided to replace all the hoses when I do that job. I am concerned that if the car has had a bad thermostat for a while, the hoses might blow once they start experiencing full operating temperature.

Originally Posted by BRADESTAR

Welcome.

With no mention of Check Engine light I'd think it should be on. Bulb may be pulled or not working. Should be able to pull a code from it to perhaps narrow things down.

I know OBD1 has blinking CEL so you might investigate that some.

No CEL light coming on. Any reason you suspect it should illuminate? I have a full scanner, so I will plug this baby up and see what she has to tell me. I usually scan before I buy, this was an impulse buy... LOL!

[pdxmotorhead]

My 95 doesn't turn on the CEl unless Armegeddon is immanent..
I've yet to get a code that was even close....

The air intake rubber tube on the 95 is prone to cracking, its between the air flow meter and throttle body. You have to pull it off to really inspect it, its easy.. ALso all the rubber hoses for vacume under the intake while your doing the cooling hoses..

I'm on my 3rd intake tube in 200K miles..

[740isport]

Originally Posted by pdxmotorhead

My 95 doesn't turn on the CEl unless Armegeddon is immanent..
I've yet to get a code that was even close....

The air intake rubber tube on the 95 is prone to cracking, its between the air flow meter and throttle body. You have to pull it off to really inspect it, its easy.. ALso all the rubber hoses for vacume under the intake while your doing the cooling hoses..

I'm on my 3rd intake tube in 200K miles..

+1 on that intake tube. It dries out and cracks.

On the cooling system, it's more like a rebuild and you don't want to go aftermarket on the tube on the block or the one on the rear of the head. The aftermarkets are notorious for not being squared and not fitting properly.

The rebuild is a lot of work as you have to also remove the intake and squid assembly completely, which includes disconnecting the the wires to the starter. Which you have to disconnect before fully removing the intake as they go through the center of the intake from the top.

The pipe on the back of the head is also a bit of a pain, but I found it much easier to work on with the valve cover off. So a good time to replace the valve cover gasket if needed too!

There's a great write up in the Knowledge Base section and is located http://www.318ti.org/forum/showthread.php?t=18066

[zoner]

With regard to the plastic pipe under the intake- do not, repeat, DO NOT buy an aftermarket pipe. Use an OEM BMW part ONLY and put a very thin coat of silicone grease on the o-ring before you install!

As far as the idle- I'd reiterate what others have already said- it's probably either the intake tube rubber or the ICV. As the ICV is a PITA to get to on the M42, I'd start with the intake. You can spray carb cleaner around the connection joints and the rubber itself and sometimes that will tell you if there is a leak (idle will increase if it is drawing carb cleaner into the intake).

Also, as was my experience with the M42, you could have trouble codes stored in the computer without the CEL being tripped. Happened to me a couple of times. You've probably already checked it with the scanner...?

Good luck and welcome aboard!

[pdxmotorhead]

Make sure you also order the M42 not the M44 parts. 95 is the only year with M42 for the TI after that is was M44, uses different plumbing for the coolant.

There are 2 air hoses by the intake that are about an inch they seriously muck up the idle if they fail.

[AnuketTi]

OY VE! What in the world have I gotten myself into ?!?!?!?!?! LOL! That is a lotta work for the cooling system. And there I was thinking the M62 or M52 were a PITA!

Well, at the moment the car is down. Turns out my Diff was out of oil - found that out after a 500 mile hike. Will be needing a new diff as a flush did not help things. At least I now know why I was able to negotiate the car down in price and also the source of that bloody noise.

Now it moans, whines and grinds from about 40 MPH upwards. I will be researching what diffs I can use. I am being advised to get E30 diffs either from a 325is or 325es. I am hoping to get one with longer gears too.

[BlackBMWs]

Originally Posted by AnuketTi

OY VE! What in the world have I gotten myself into ?!?!?!?!?! LOL! That is a lotta work for the cooling system. And there I was thinking the M62 or M52 were a PITA!

Well, at the moment the car is down. Turns out my Diff was out of oil - found that out after a 500 mile hike. Will be needing a new diff as a flush did not help things. At least I now know why I was able to negotiate the car down in price and also the source of that bloody noise.

Now it moans, whines and grinds from about 40 MPH upwards. I will be researching what diffs I can use. I am being advised to get E30 diffs either from a 325is or 325es. I am hoping to get one with longer gears too.

Yes, lotsa hoses, but not too bad a job. I'll be doing the cooling hose and pipe replacement and all vaccum hoses once I order parts along with the oil filter housing gasket. It's a good day's work. I have a pair of stock 3.45 non-LSD diffs if you end up wanting to go that route. PM me if you are interested.

[740isport]

Originally Posted by AnuketTi

OY VE! What in the world have I gotten myself into ?!?!?!?!?! LOL! That is a lotta work for the cooling system. And there I was thinking the M62 or M52 were a PITA!

Well, at the moment the car is down. Turns out my Diff was out of oil - found that out after a 500 mile hike. Will be needing a new diff as a flush did not help things. At least I now know why I was able to negotiate the car down in price and also the source of that bloody noise.

Now it moans, whines and grinds from about 40 MPH upwards. I will be researching what diffs I can use. I am being advised to get E30 diffs either from a 325is or 325es. I am hoping to get one with longer gears too.

I thought you had checked the diff fluid? If not an E30 diff, you can still put in a stock diff in its place and you'd have longer than you have now.

We could knock out the cooling system on one of our "days" without too much issue if you have all the parts first.

[BlackBMWs]

Originally Posted by 740isport

I thought you had checked the diff fluid? If not an E30 diff, you can still put in a stock diff in its place and you'd have longer than you have now.

We could knock out the cooling system on one of our "days" without too much issue if you have all the parts first.

While you guys are down there replacing the cooling pipe, check/renew the gasket for the oil filter mount. Sometimes it is a source of oil leaks. You're in the vicinity anyway and the gasket and o rings are cheap.

[740isport]

Originally Posted by BlackBMWs

While you guys are down there replacing the cooling pipe, check/renew the gasket for the oil filter mount. Sometimes it is a source of oil leaks. You're in the vicinity anyway and the gasket and o rings are cheap.

+1 Had I thought of it when I did mine I would have done that too!