Need Help/advice With The Hot Soak

[pettas]

Hello again everyone. I drive a 1987 325es, with roughly 286-287,000 miles on it. The car was taken care of kinda shitty so it seems. Ok interior and body, but the motor is really rough and all that, mostly do to my huge exhaust leak.

What I am wondering is, I have 287k miles on my car, engine seems to have seen a lack of consideration in its life. I have been reading up on the hotsoak, and some people have also mentioned that they change there oil and vacuum lines after they do the hotsoak. I have not yet done the hotsoak, seems kinda obvious that my car might need it. Problem being that I just changed my oil about a month ago with expensive mobile 1 synthetic oil ($6 something a quart) and cannot afford to change it again. Would it matter if I did not change my oil after this. Also Is it important to change the vacuum lines after the hotsoak.

Any suggestions and opinions on the information above plus the Hotsoak is encouraged. I need all the opinions and information possible, please give feedback. Thank you

-Andre

[guywithblack88e30]

not really mandatory 2 change oil but it wouldn't hurt i did mine and didn't change the oil the vacuum line thou needs to be replace cause the gas will eat out that hose

[pettas]

Umm about how hard is it to change the vacuum lines, and which ones do I need to replace. I am not to mechanically inclined. I've only learned what my car has needed =(. But I think I should be able to figure it out, mind giving me some help?

-Andre

[Halfnhalf325]

Sorry to ask but what is a hotsoak?

[idanity]

1st thing is that your car should use the regular oil, as the synthetic will clean off all the build up of oil close to your seals and perhaps leak all over.

the old style oil will cover leaks and lube just fine , as the synthetic oil is for newer cars with smaller (more refined) holes and stuff to lube...

so that said its just in time to change back to the regular kind of oil and also if you do get a leak you should try straight 30 weight or 40-50 wieghts, just for thickness and will help the gap and compressions a bit...

my 325i conv. has 200,000 miles and is a champ and if you find my old posts it has a number of photos and a great reference on how SKEPTICAL i was untill i did this job.

it was sooo easy and painless and afterwards my car was improved by 25% at least.

the topic was posted by me and labeled im copy-pasting.. check POST#19 it has a pic of what hose to use... i recamennd a longer hose but its a great pic
"
http://www.bmw-forums.com/forum/inde...howtopic=26356
"
and the vacuum hose was free because the clerk was busy and didnt want to look it up , so he said, just take it, therey about 10 cents a foot, im too busy...

so i recamend buying about 5 extra feet for doing this job yourself as i had a friend help me with the really short original vacuum hose and he couldnt keep the tip at the bottom of the bottle so i had to do it again, anyway ask if you need any more help...

i also (after the hot soak twice) did it with a bottle of upper engine lubricant/cleaner and my car actually became sooo quiet i couldnt hear it run anymore...

remember our cars have over 200,000miles and are still purring along.

name any other country that does that with their autos...?

[pettas]

When you talk about the old oil leaking, are you talking about it leaking from the oil pan gasket and all that? My oil pan gasket is about shot anyways, I'd like to replace it, but do not really want to tackle the feat of replacing it while still attending school. I work, so I think ill save that one for the Christmas Vacation.

How hard is it to replace a timing belt. I know the acual process is a bitch, but does one have to know any kinda information out of the ordinary? Your help will be appreciated.

-Andre

[idanity]

in a messege board (perhaps this one) eve read the oil pan was a MAJOR PAIN.
2. i just replaced all of my belts (AT A BMW-STRICKLY shop) for 385.00 with labor and a new tensioner too. (every time=new tensioner)
3. my bimmer doesnt leak at all and the great thing about regular oil is it builds up a cake around the seals and tiny leaks so unless your racing the car and replace all the gaskets for SYNTHETIC FRIENDLY gaskets, always use regular oil ..

and BTW if you have a small leak try using a thicker oil, i owned a 81 Datsun (200,000+miles) and one cylinder was raeally loose, and clanked.---well after i started using 50weight oil it completely tightened up the loose parts to run better and sound smoother. also it stopped leaking.

[idanity]

Originally posted by pettas@Nov 29 2004, 02:28 AM
Hello again everyone. I drive a 1987 325es, with roughly 286-287,000 miles on it. The car was taken care of kinda shitty so it seems. Ok interior and body, but the motor is really rough and all that, mostly do to my huge exhaust leak.

What I am wondering is, I have 287k miles on my car, engine seems to have seen a lack of consideration in its life. I have been reading up on the hotsoak, and some people have also mentioned that they change there oil and vacuum lines after they do the hotsoak. I have not yet done the hotsoak, seems kinda obvious that my car might need it. Problem being that I just changed my oil about a month ago with expensive mobile 1 synthetic oil ($6 something a quart) and cannot afford to change it again. Would it matter if I did not change my oil after this. Also Is it important to change the vacuum lines after the hotsoak.

Any suggestions and opinions on the information above plus the Hotsoak is encouraged. I need all the opinions and information possible, please give feedback. Thank you

-Andre

[snapback]239310[/snapback]

...
HUGE EXHAUST LEAK...OHHH-NOOO !!!

THAT is a huge power sucker and may be all your problems due to back pressure, or lack thereof...

go for a oil sealent and use regular thick racing oil and then get the exhaust fixed, i highley recogmend a header with a cat-back system it may give you not just ALL YOUR POWER BACK BUT 20-30 HP to boot...

let me know what, where , how long the problems are, good lucks

[Numark318i]

dude!!!! what kind of stuff do i use. I bought fuel injectior cleaner...is that what i need?

ahh i need to know cause i want to do it tomaorw.

does the vacuum hose run into the throttle body?

[guywithblack88e30]

yes it does not sure how to do it on a 318 engine isn't the same as a 325 but don't just any injector cleaner cheveron with techron is much better the black bottle with red writing says fuel system cleaner better cause it cleans intake depoist not just cleans injectors.

[idanity]

Originally posted by Numark318i@Dec 2 2004, 10:27 PM
dude!!!! what kind of stuff do i use. I bought fuel injectior cleaner...is that what i need?

ahh i need to know cause i want to do it tomaorw.

does the vacuum hose run into the throttle body?

[snapback]242458[/snapback]

okay
1 there is a post on this board about 1week ago with a total explanation
2 i will sum up w/out the great picslike this http://www.bmw-forums.com/forum/uploads/po...61196_thumb.jpg
SORRY THATS SOOOOO SMALL... ITS "orig."LOCATI0N IS AT THE BOTTOM
3. sum up begineing now

A. first get-
- a pair of surgical gloves
- a length of 2 feet of new vacuum hose (using original for procedure)
- a shop rag
- a 24oz. empty, clean,dry, clear bottle (plastic=ok)
- a bottle of 20 oz. "TECHRON concetrated "fuel system" cleaner ) (not-injector)
- eye protection (just for standing next to a revving eng.)

B. steps
- pull off your old short hose (which is okay to use for this procedure except for me it was too small and i had difficulties keeping it at the bottom of the bottle)[SIZE=1] and pour the "TECHRON" into the clear bottle.


1- after its normal operating temperature (maybe drive it a while ) put the V.hose in the "INTAKE MANIFOLD" (ABOVE THE VALVE COVER) and then:
1a- then while the car is still running stick the v.hose in the bottle of "Techron" and the Other person will---


2- (or yuo) control either the throttle (will want to die) OR the bottle & hose. keep the vacuum line ( for me the 2 foot length) at the corner bottom of the bottle ( or cut the hose at a deep angle so it doesnt stick to the bottom)

3- keep the engine revved up... (the eng, will want to sputter but rev it all the wayand itll suck it down fairly fast.20seconds.) until you see about 10% left of Techron.


4- let off the throttle and allow your car to die, ( my suggestion would be to have a eng fuse ready to pull in case your car keeps running, ) ( its imp. to let it die while sucking up the Techron)...

- thats it, clean off the hose and dump the 5% of Techron into the tank, I kept the vacuum hose off my car untill i finished the next step just incase any reversed into the "Fuel Regulator"

5- wait 1 hour ( i waited 1 hour, 1 minute just in case)

6- when you start your car do 2 things.

1. tell your neighbors to close their windows
2. find and play with a laser pointer

3- Start your car and give it some gas, it may take i while but mine started and :

smoked a bunch of white smoke, all over , looked like there was a city on fire...
played with my laser for a while and the cats in the hood went loopy...

then after the smoke died away drove around...

i made some mistakes when i did it...here they are below

i did this around 5 p.m. so when i was driving around at 6pm i was in heavy traffic
this was bad because of at least 3 things.
1. you may have to race a little bit.
2 other cars are going to want to pass you
3 poeple may not think much of bmw's after seeing the El-Nino that is emited

4 may get pulled over too.
5its just better to do it at night or before 4am

let us know how it went and if you need pictures look for the post below
http://www.bmw-forums.com/forum/inde...howtopic=26356

at post # 19 is a great photo of the hose you need

also its always a good idea to have a #2 fire extiguiser because of fuel