Glow plugs - Which ones

[Clavurion]

Beru has its own grease for glow plugs. I've always used Molykote HSC plus which also enhances the electrical contact as the glow plugs are grounded via body.

When intake manifold is off, besides vacuum hoses I would also recommend to renew the coolant connector (Nr.9) which is prone to leak when it ages.

https://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/sho...diagId=11_3465

[Spartan]

Originally Posted by Clavurion

Beru has its own grease for glow plugs. I've always used Molykote HSC plus which also enhances the electrical contact as the glow plugs are grounded via body.

When intake manifold is off, besides vacuum hoses I would also recommend to renew the coolant connector (Nr.9) which is prone to leak when it ages.

https://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/sho...diagId=11_3465

Sound idea my good friend. I am getting tired of taking this sucker apart . I have done all the vacuum hoses and the intake seals less than 200km ago, I'll get new seals again, be my luck to tear one on removal anyway.
At the moment it is working fine again, but I'll not leave it to chance, it is not like this is a hard job.
It is just our weather is neither one or the other here right now. 20c and showers or 32c and showers...then the humidity comes when the showers stop and it has been rated at 94%...that knocks the stuffing out of me.
65 next month and I said I would stop doing this crap...LoL The only person I trust is me and that's pretty iffy at times.


I will say working on the BMW is far easier than I expected, especially when I compare it to my previous cars. Australian designed and built Ford SUV of the same year, in petrol and a Mitsubishi Verada GTV 3.5 ltr. Even the Wife's Merc W203 C Class is a doddle to work on.


I may take a week of three hour sessions instead of one day, but it is thorough work and everything is spotlessly clean in there. Wish my back was the same but thirty years of infantry and recon work in the Army will do that to you as well.


Thanks again for the heads up, better go and find a part now,
Jeff

[Spartan]

I have not started yet, still waiting on parts to arrive..I guess the Xmas parcel rush this year is big and Aus Post decided to cut down deliveries to every other day. We are not sure which every other day, but that was their Xmas present to the public.


So, having said all that I had to venture out in the BMW as much as I did not want to, so I chose less traffic roads and drove like a 90 year old. I expected to arrive as the problems started, but no...Nothing!
I had my Dr Appt, then expecting the worse I drove back home, again carefully choosing the most advantageous route to minimise the risk to traffic when the problems manifested themselves...Still nothing!
To clarify, the oil change in the transfer case was done and the fault cleared, wheels are all equal now and yet three drives after having this configuration it just managed 3-4 km before the dreaded surging started and engine cut out effect.
Each diagnostic only showed the glow plugs 3 to 6 as being faulty. Investigating diesel issues outside of BMW as well as on other car models of BMW, it was found that faulty glow plugs can indeed cause this effect as well.

So the E53 has been parked up for two weeks, just the mandatory start and run for a few minutes. I have a battery saver charger on the rest of the time.
Yesterday, curiosity got the better of me and I thought I would see how far I could get and so I told a friend who had a car trailer and a landcruiser that I was coming to visit. I also told him the problems, just in case I was late.
Needless to say I arrived without drama with the maximum road speed reached being 100km/h. I had coffee, a BBQ lunch and decided to head for home using the same quiet back roads. He offered his assistance if I had problems and said to just call him.
Again the Beemer drove flawlessly, so now I am stunned beyond reasonable belief. I feel like saying "Oh the oil just needed to soak in", which is dumb and I know it.

I considered the possibility of the fuel filter and crap settling and not causing flow problems...WTF knows.
I am still going ahead with the glow plug change when I have all the parts, but honestly, I have to say this is like chasing a ghost. I will try another drive today, Sunday and just travel the old roads and not the Express way, see what happens.
No news all went well, if it turns to cow manure...I'll post it!


Jeff

[Spartan]

Well, after a month of flawless smooth driving, the day I really needed the POS, I went all of 400 mtr onto the expressway. Then it turned to the same shit once more. I drove towards the first exit to return home and it cleared, stupid me thinking "Aaw it might have been cold"...FFS.. what was I thinking? drove on past that exit and no sooner had I passed under the overhead road and away it goes again with this hiccuping propulsion down the road.


Next exit I was off, but it stalled off completely as I was slowing down and man, that steering is heavy as with out some power into the steering. Stopping at the lights, I restarted and it went first go, and I returned home with hardly any issue at all.


The more I think about this the more I am really starting to think of a blocked fuel filter as it was last time.

[wpoll]

You might need to monitor some of the engine parameters while driving - assuming you can set up the Foxwell to do this. See if anything stands out.

I know INPA has a really useful screen I have watched while driving - it shows a bunch of engine parameters.

[Spartan]

Originally Posted by wpoll

You might need to monitor some of the engine parameters while driving - assuming you can set up the Foxwell to do this. See if anything stands out.

It does have that capability, but being able to drive and see without having an accident, is like juggling with your ol fella and five balls.


There was one thing that I did do and whether it has any bearing will have to wait till we get back in March from China.
I drove all that time with the plastic cover off the engine without an issue, the day I was needing to use the car I decided to put it back on earlier in the morning. It does not use the factory hex bolts to hold it on, but they are the correct thread. I was thinking it may be possible that the length could be too much and at some point it could be pressing down on an injector wire.
Yeh, I know it sounds crazy, but you start to look at every single thing you have done when it is misbehaving. Clutching at straws after sitting on the Titanic


I have renamed this car, it is now known as "The Punisher", all BMW wheel caps are gone in place of Punisher chrome and black centers and the front bonnet badge which had no colour in it is also a Punisher Skull.