The official cold weather thread

[wengenstein]

With the cold weather setting in (for many of us anyway) I figured I'd start a cold weather thread for all those "is this normal", "what happened to my smoothe idle", "my doors won't unlock" type questions.

I'll start it off with my own is-this-normal question, as I already know what happened to my smoothe idle :) When the car has sat overnight in below freezing weather, my clutch pedal feels like the fluid's been replaced with joint compound. If I stomp on it a while, it gets back to normal but it's kind of annoying. Of course the brakes feel similar but it's not such a big deal.

I also have a door lock problem that only shows itself in the cold weather. If its real cold out then chances are that when I hit the lock button on my key, the passenger door won't lock. I have to lock it by hand and tap the lock button again to lock the doors. Anyone have any ideas on this? It's as if the actuator just isnt working hard enough in cold weather.

Dennis

[bimmerd00d]

haha my car did this all summer, (the passenger lock thing), now that it's cold, it works. Car goes and stops perfect, runs like a top. And my aux pump randomly started working again :)

[bahnstormer]

if your car dings at you, its telling you temps are near freezing or below at to watch for ice!!!! please don't ask this ques heheheh

side note, maybe this fits in this thread, just in case though
http://www.bimmer.info/forum/showthread.php?p=50640#post50640
radio code error, after i started the car...never touched the battery

[andyman32]

My worthless two cents: I had the splash guard off when I replaced the radiator over the weekend, and left it off when it rained Sunday. Temps got down to 13 F in Raleigh. I think a lot of splash and condensation got up into the belts and froze hard overnight, because when I started the car this morning (at 22 F, around 10am) it cranked and cranked, sputtered, muttered, grumbled, groaned, finally started, and then it made a racuous sound that didn't go away until it heated up. It sounded almost like... ice in the belts! :-o

[andyman32]

Someone emailed me asking what kind of oil I use, which my spam filter accidentally deleted. I could just barely glance at the email before it disappeared, so I apologise.

The oil I use is Mobil 1 0W-40. Right now, it is about 3 months old and has about 1,000 miles on it.

[rickm]

It was 4 here yesterday morning with a nice 25mph+ N wind. Car started right up though was a tad sluggish feeling. I let it warm up for a few minutes before driving off, once I had driven 1/4 of a mile it was fine. My neighbor, Mr "Foreign Cars Suck" wasn't too amused as he waited for AAA to come jump his new Jeep. :D

My locks did unlock rather slowly but they were ok after that.

[winfred]

it's the simple things in life ;)


My neighbor, Mr "Foreign Cars Suck" wasn't too amused as he waited for AAA to come jump his new Jeep. :D.

[billb]

I didn't notice it until this morning. I had moved it around in the driveway to let the Mrs. get the 525 in and out of the garage. Two puddles about 2"diameter each. Opened the hood on the 318is and saw evidence of slung oil on the hood pad and the top surfaces of the engine. I'm guessing oil filter housing o-ring at the moment, as I have not replaced it yet. Any other guesses on the M42? Didn't seem to be leaking this morning, but I never really got it warm on my drive to work...

[Derek A.]

http://www.opus45.com/pics/obc_it'scold.jpg

[632 Regal]

Someone emailed me asking what kind of oil I use, which my spam filter accidentally deleted. I could just barely glance at the email before it disappeared, so I apologise.

The oil I use is Mobil 1 0W-40. Right now, it is about 3 months old and has about 1,000 miles on it.

[Mr Project]

Well, winter brings out some fun issues on my car:

1 - Driver's door lock won't unlock cleanly. I have to pull the handle up and turn the key to the 'manual unlock override' position and fiddle with it to get the lock to go up all the way. I think I just need to pull the lock mechanism, give it a good cleaning, and lube it up.

2 - If it's below 0 (f), the clutch pedal has to be 'pumped up' the first time.

3 - My commute is too short, so I have to drive around for a bit before pulling into work. I'm seriously considering a block heater to avoid so much cold-engine wear. Anybody have any experience with these?

[bimmerd00d]

my block heater is a garage :D

[Mr Project]

Yeah, my BMW doesn't rate high enough for garage space....It's my own fault, though. My wife gets a spot, and my current project gets a spot, and that leaves the BMW out in the cold.

Current project: 1966 Corvair 4-door

[scott540]

when it get to about 10F or below, I lose the bottom half of the numbers on the dash display. They come back once it's warm.

[andyman32]

Apparently, cold weather also gives my car a loud "clang" coming out of the tranny/starter area after it's done cranking (i.e., when I stop twisting the key to start it). Yuck, whatever it is, I wish it wasn't broken. :-\

[tdgard]

Years ago I was driving from Denver to Vegas in January. Once you pass into Utah from Colorado on 70 there is a sign right around the second exit that says "next services 100 miles". Right in the middle of that stretch there is about a 20 mile hill--blew a transmission seal. Towed about 50 miles to Salina Utah (consists of a hotel, garage, and diner all in the same parking lot) in the dead of night. Temp was around -20f. When I took the car to the garage in the morning the guy in front of me was getting his clutch tubing replaced. He was leaving the hotel early in the morning & when he pressed on the clutch to start it the tubing over the pedal broke & fell on his foot. That's some damned cold.

[wengenstein]

I get this too sometimes...My indy says its probably the starter showing its age.


Apparently, cold weather also gives my car a loud "clang" coming out of the tranny/starter area after it's done cranking (i.e., when I stop twisting the key to start it). Yuck, whatever it is, I wish it wasn't broken. :-\

[Kakaire]

In my country, its either rainy season or hot season. Will be visiting washington in Feb, wonder how will it look like will be ma first time to see winter. Have happy Holidays FIVER'S.

[wengenstein]

Before going under the knife this morning: (new intake manifold gaskets, pcv plate, etc.)

http://www.geocities.com/bmacado0/e34_winter.jpg

Warming up the trusty saab...my ride to work :D

http://www.geocities.com/bmacado0/95_winter.jpg

[andyman32]

Warming up the trusty saab...my ride to work :D


Ahh, a 9-5. Good taste, man :)

[ben wilamowski]

I didn't notice it until this morning. I had moved it around in the driveway to let the Mrs. get the 525 in and out of the garage. Two puddles about 2"diameter each. Opened the hood on the 318is and saw evidence of slung oil on the hood pad and the top surfaces of the engine. I'm guessing oil filter housing o-ring at the moment, as I have not replaced it yet. Any other guesses on the M42? Didn't seem to be leaking this morning, but I never really got it warm on my drive to work...

This is very likely to be the profile gasket on the engine which is a known weakpoint on the M42 lump.

[billb]

This is very likely to be the profile gasket on the engine which is a known weakpoint on the M42 lump.

and it's not a LUMP!

[Bill R.]

the housing oring or gasket as seen here...
http://www.bimmernut.com/%7Ebillr/images/m42oilfilterhousing.jpg







and it's not a LUMP!

[billb]

the housing oring or gasket as seen here...
http://www.bimmernut.com/%7Ebillr/images/m42oilfilterhousing.jpg

I stopped by Ace Hardware last night and picked up a 24x3mm o-ring, and will try to source the gasket next week. 10-day backorder on the BMW o-ring...what's so special about it? Oddly, I could not see any leakage from above in that area, but it's really hard to see I suppose. I've definitely got something going on. Last year I replaced timing cover gaskets and front crank seal, so that should be pretty tight. I've been noticing some milkiness in the oil, but I saw that last winter, and it went away in the spring, summer, and fall (and I'm not losing coolant). I'll get to the bottom of this next week, I hope (off all week and temps might be in the 60's here).

Thanks for your advice, Bill.

[granit_silber]

With the cold weather setting in (for many of us anyway) I figured I'd start a cold weather thread for all those "is this normal", "what happened to my smoothe idle", "my doors won't unlock" type questions.

I'll start it off with my own is-this-normal question, as I already know what happened to my smoothe idle :) When the car has sat overnight in below freezing weather, my clutch pedal feels like the fluid's been replaced with joint compound. If I stomp on it a while, it gets back to normal but it's kind of annoying. Of course the brakes feel similar but it's not such a big deal.

I also have a door lock problem that only shows itself in the cold weather. If its real cold out then chances are that when I hit the lock button on my key, the passenger door won't lock. I have to lock it by hand and tap the lock button again to lock the doors. Anyone have any ideas on this? It's as if the actuator just isnt working hard enough in cold weather.

Dennis

After owning the 525 for 6 weeks now all my problems are cold weather problems :)

Here's my list...
1) Fog Light message (bulb out and lens cracked)
2) Driver side low beam cracked
3) Slight oil leak (after wife confused brake and throttle while starting)
4) T-stat stuck open = overcooling = almost no heat in cabin
5) Leak in rear pass-side footwell (clogged tube maybe)
6) no smooth idle
7) nice whine when using the CD changer (cold temps only)
8) casette player eats CD Tape adapter
9) rock chips
10) rust spot below rear driver side tail light
And this morning...
11) turned on blower, squealing from dash (varied with fan speed)

On the bright side...
Love the car
Windows work
Doors lock
engine starts
tranny works
radio works (see above)
wife loves it

things could be worse, I could own a renault

-ashley

[Rory]

I stopped by Ace Hardware last night and picked up a 24x3mm o-ring, and will try to source the gasket next week. 10-day backorder on the BMW o-ring...what's so special about it? .
They rarely fail and have a BMW logo :D

Best,
Rory

[billb]

Of course, neither of my local dealers stock the parts, but the dealer 85 miles away have six of each...
I cleaned the oil pressure sending unit last night with contact cleaner, dried up the connections, and started her up. The OP light went out, then began to slowly creep back on at idle. I looked under the hood, and could see a stream of fresh oil coming from under the oil filter housing assembly. It was too late in the evening to begin dismantling, but that's definitely a prime candidate. Guess I know what I'll be doing next week...

:D

[andyman32]

My oil filter housing leaks underneath, or at least, the pipes were oily. I just wiped 'em clean and moved the clamps up to the end of the pipes and clamped 'em down tight. At least so far, it appears to be holding, since the car never appears to lose a drop of oil between changes.

However, since I got the car in February, I still haven't checked the transmission oil... :-X