Project E28 from the Dirty South

[paul@brawlinpictures]

So it's been a month since my last post and even longer since the car has ran.

With so much of my time buried in school and filming, I have had very little time to work on the Bummer.

This project is supposed to be my daily driver. Yes, I haven't had a running car of my own in a few months. You can only imagine the pain that this has caused.

So I'm finishing all this up to say that the car is for sale and I'm in the process of finding a reliable daily. I still think that this could be a great little car and a fun cruiser for anyone with time to wrench. Hopefully I'll be able to get it running before it's sold. We'll see...


Until next time,
-Paul

[schroedin]

[paul@brawlinpictures]

oh how rude of me...

I forgot to post pics from yesterday

Jonathan (evilrduck) taking off the old wheels




Paul (Paul@RevoTechnik) sayin "Dadgum, mayne"





Buttoning everything up



Proper shoot soon

-Paul

[paul@brawlinpictures]

Yeah you can get one rebuilt. I don't know what kind of parts stores you have, but Autozone has E28 rebuilt alternators for like $60 with a core. Not bad, and they have warranties.

Something tells me the wiring is screwy if it just blew the alternator like that. Make sure all of the grounds are in place, clean, and tight. Also be sure that everything is routed correctly.

Oh, and massive props for using King Rat in the Dirty Dubs video. That song is epic!

Yeah I'm gonna yank the alternator out tomorrow and try to get it rebuilt same day hopefully. I have an AutoZone, PepBoys (douchebags), and an O'Reilly's almost within walking distance of my house.

I don't understand what could've caused the alternator to bbq itself like that. No wires were touched from the time we took out the old battery, went up to the store and got a replacement, and brought it back and installed it. It just doesn't make sense.

And I'm glad you liked the video it's always nice to hear when people like your work. I can't believe how long its been since I've made a video... hopefully I'll be getting my new camera gear this week (eventhough I've been saying that for the past month).

-Paul

[CSBolger]

Yeah so the battery was only operating at 30% so we dropped in a new one. As soon as it made contact is sent the alternator in a huge puff of smoke...

Could I pull the alternator off and have it rebuilt? Maybe if it stops raining

-Paul

Yeah you can get one rebuilt. I don't know what kind of parts stores you have, but Autozone has E28 rebuilt alternators for like $60 with a core. Not bad, and they have warranties.

Something tells me the wiring is screwy if it just blew the alternator like that. Make sure all of the grounds are in place, clean, and tight. Also be sure that everything is routed correctly.

Oh, and massive props for using King Rat in the Dirty Dubs video. That song is epic!

[paul@brawlinpictures]

An auto parts store should be able to charge it for free. Good luck, and hopefully it's just the battery.

Yeah so the battery was only operating at 30% so we dropped in a new one. As soon as it made contact is sent the alternator in a huge puff of smoke...

Could I pull the alternator off and have it rebuilt? Maybe if it stops raining

-Paul

[CSBolger]

An auto parts store should be able to charge it for free. Good luck, and hopefully it's just the battery.

[paul@brawlinpictures]

The humming is the ICV. Leave it jumped and go to the back of the car. If you hear something there too, it's the pump.

If it's making a clicking sound when you're trying to start it, the battery is too weak to turn it over.

The speed and reference sensor connectors like to break - try slightly bending the male connections for them to make sure they're making good contact with the female ends.

Throw a charged battery in there and see what happens. If that's it, go to Autozone (or whatever is local) and have them charge yours; the alternator just keeps a battery charged, it won't recharge a low one.

ICV = Ice Cream Valve? sweet, I didn't know I had one of those.

but seriously, folks...

I definitely was NOT hearing anything from the pump. Even after I pulled the trunk carpet back and pulled the pump cover off. I know usually I can hear it turn on from the driver's seat.

I don't have money for a new battery right now so I'm hoping it doesn't need to be replaced

It's 4am here so I'm going to bed. I want to jump on the car first thing when I wake up but this is what the map looks like right now for today, Saturday

[CSBolger]

The humming is the ICV. Leave it jumped and go to the back of the car. If you hear something there too, it's the pump.

If it's making a clicking sound when you're trying to start it, the battery is too weak to turn it over.

The speed and reference sensor connectors like to break - try slightly bending the male connections for them to make sure they're making good contact with the female ends.

Throw a charged battery in there and see what happens. If that's it, go to Autozone (or whatever is local) and have them charge yours; the alternator just keeps a battery charged, it won't recharge a low one.

[paul@brawlinpictures]

You're not hearing a fuel pump in the front - E28s don't have any in the engine bay. There's one under the gas tank, and one in it. The external is the primary. If the internal one doesn't work, it doesn't really matter.

Does the car turn over?

Hmm... when I jump the fuel pump relay, I immediately hear an electrical humming that sounds like its coming from the direction of the fuel filter near the top of the motor. Maybe the fuel pressure reg?

Before, the main pump was very audible from inside and outside the car. It's a new pump that was installed by the previous owner the day I got the car (slightly over a month ago). I hooked up the volt meter to the green/purple wire that connects to the top of the pump through the trunk floor and got nothing. That was while the car battery was being jumped off of another car, fuel pump relay jumped, ignition on (lights on the dash).

Fuse #1 was swapped out with another 16a fuse from the sunroof/rear defroster and the terminals were tightened.

I tried using the horn relay for the FPR and it didn't do anything when I turned the ignition on.

I've been reading through pages and pages on mye28.com trying to find the solution (including your no-start trouble thread, Chris)

The only thing I haven't checked was the sensors around the bellhousing. Mainly because it's late and I got frustrated.

There's over a quarter tank of gas in it and I couldn't really smell fuel while trying to start. That's what led me to do the volt test of the green/purple wire attached to the top of the in-tank pump.

The car will try to turn over then the starter just commences it's rapid-fire clicking.

I had just replaced that alternator bolt and in doing so, unbolted the alternator and slipped the belt off to fix it. I attached everything back to tension when I was done.

There is a broken coolant temp sensor plug on the top right of the radiator (when standing in the front, closest to the battery). There's two plugs going into the sensor and the top one is broken. I forgot the color of the wire.

That's about all I can think of off the top of my head right now. I'm still searching through mye28 trying to find hope...

-Paul

[CSBolger]

You're not hearing a fuel pump in the front - E28s don't have any in the engine bay. There's one under the gas tank, and one in it. The external is the primary. If the internal one doesn't work, it doesn't really matter.

Does the car turn over?

[paul@brawlinpictures]

Found the relay. Tried using the horn relay and it wouldn't do anything. I jumped it and you can hear the front puller pump come on but nothing from the rear pump (both are new). The battery is not holding a charge so I'm sitting there with a car running in front of mine, jumper cables pumping power into my battery, fuel pump relay hot wired, and not getting a volt reading at the rear pump...

I'm running out of ideas... well, at least ones that don't involve a sledgehammer

-Paul

[paul@brawlinpictures]

Nice! Post picture of dem reeems ASAP!

well I would except now the car won't start. My buddy came over and we tried jumping the car off with his accord but no dice. I was on the phone with Paul (from Revo) and he asked if I heard the fuel pumps. Hmm... nope.

Well according to the ETM all I have to do is either jump the fuel pump relay or swap it out with another relay. But I CANNOT find the stupid thing. It's supposed to be on the side of the fuse box but where the ETM says it is, I have a big grommet of wires going into the box. I'm really getting tired of this bullsheet

-Paul

[CSBolger]

Nice! Post picture of dem reeems ASAP!

[paul@brawlinpictures]

So much thanks has to go to Paul (Paul@RevoTechnik) for driving out to my house last night at almost midnight to help me figure out what was going on. We banged our heads together for a while tracing wire after wire. FINALLY... we figured it out


soooo..... I finished rewiring and fixing some stuff. I go to fire it up and the battery is drained I'm waiting on a buddy to come over and jump the car off since my brokeass doesn't have a jump box

THEN...

I'm headed to Jonathan (evilrduck)'s shop to do some mounting and balancing

-Paul

Here's the interior buttoned back up with my junkyard steering wheel