Installed new MAF sensor. Cleared codes. Started up to the sweet sound of secondary air flow jet take off sim then enjoyed the loping idle of misfire for a bit. Eased her out of apartment complex giving the worn out ball joints a good exercise on a few speed bumps. Quick acceleration into traffic until a red light. Crossing fingers it wouldn't die. Limp back home check OBD codes again. What a beauty.

Didn't do much, but added some items before I drive it around for the first time. I traded for the 2001 e53 3.0l with my neighbor that just moved away. I watched him restore/rejuvenate this truck for the last 3.5 years, but never rode in or drove it. I trust his work (an EE, and a meticulous worker on all his vehicles). My old Chevelle drag car for a classic e53... we've planned the swap for years. So, today I added seat covers over the front leather, put in vinyl/rubber floor mats, put a fire extinguisher in the door pocket (never leave home w/o one), installed a large cupholder for my 40 oz insulated bottle (never leave home w/o one), and restored the headlights with a 3m kit. Ordered license plate light cover and bulbs, and arranged to get extra parts he still has at his home. And to remind him to come get some Chevelle parts he left behind. All in all, much Ado about nothing. But it's a start.

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had to calm the wife down after she saw puddles under the car. I usually don't use the AC so looks and feels like condensation, though it's a bit weird it drips down from 3 spots under the driver/passenger seats several hours after driving the car....

Ok, still annoyed by the wooshing noise while driving, I decided to look a bit further into the clutch fan. With the car off it moves freely, with a good damping. Seems ok. Then I started the car (cold), the fan should be easy to stop from what I see on youtube... guess what: that's not stopping unless you do some serious damage (or turn the car off of course)


The funny thing is that usually when driving away with a cold engine when I get up to speed the noise drops at around 2500/3000rpm and the car sounds great. so that seems the fluid returns as normal and the clutch function actually works for a while. When the car gets hot again the fan gets loud, which I suppose is a good thing.

What worries me is that I don't know if this fan is properly capped at 2500rpm, because I can hear the pitch go up after that RPM range. This is a new fan that was installed after the old one grenaded and messed up the engine bay.

My feeling is I should replace the clutch fan again...

Got another alignment after getting the adjustable toe arms installed. Now I can replace my rear tires that I've scrubbed past the wear bars. Oh, all the tires. Fronts are too worn to be ale to replace one set only.

If the clutch locks up at high RPM, the blades will come off the fan and destroy anything in their path. You definitely want to replace the clutch.

What did you do to / for your E53 today??
 

Finally!! My wait is over! Found multi position seats with matching rear, door cards, heated steering wheel, grey cluster, and 4.8 exhaust.

So, I’ll have heated front and rear seats and 4.4 exhaust up for grabs, cheap!

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...1d578305bb.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...33ae5cc83.jpeg


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I know the 4.8 doesn’t connect, but I’m going to see how much it will take to make it.

Otherwise, there’ll be 4.8 exhaust up for grabs.


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What color was your original interior?

I am sorry not to see/respond to this earlier. You are describing the correct operation of a working fan clutch... It grabs on cold start up and sounds like a bus (whooshing). Then it will release and sound quiet. When engine temp warms up - particularly in traffic, it will grab again and cool the engine, which is what you want.

There are differences in the different brands. The Meyle fan clutch makes the most noise, and doesn't release as quickly on cold start ups. The Behr /Sachs (OEM) fan clutch is much quieter.. I buy the Behr/Sachs when I can.

But I recently discovered that both my fan clutch and aux fan (elec) were bad. Since I had two, new Meyle fan clutches in my parts pile, I installed one and was back in business. If the sound really annoys me, I will switch to a Behr/Sachs unit..