316 - 1977 - petroscf - Greece

[petroscf]

well, when I did have, some years ago, my mechanic replaced the factory (80 deg) thermostat by one for southern climates, (70deg?? 75 deg??), and now in summer the car keeps VEEEERY cool
I don't know what damages might this cause in winter, but anyway greek winter is rather short...

[cobbler2u]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BMW-E21-3-SER ... 2eb9f79db9

[petroscf]

Thanks cobbler!!!
I 'll have to check the car first of all, though....I think the fan has all its five blades in place...

[Jeroen]

Mmmmm looking at the eBay picture the fan looks just as weird with the blades not spread out evenly. So perhaps it's just me causing panic because I don't see too many 4 pot E21's. And I even drove one last Sunday!

[petroscf]

Yes, I also noticed that...Weird, however, isn't it, with the blades like that? I am going to check this today, and let everyone know about my car's fan!!
Thanks for the interest anyway, guys!!!!

[bartgouda]

Most fans aren't exactly symmetrical, to avoid (eigenfrequentie, ik kan niet op het engelse woord komen) it developing it's own frequency.
However, this one seems very irregular like this... I must say though that I don't remember what mine looks like though.

[petroscf]

Checked the fan last night:
OK, 5 blades. With this weird, irregular, assymmetrical division.
Could not take a photo as it's understood, you can't find a good angle for photo in there, unless you dismantle the radiator.

[Jeroen]

Well as we've seen from the eBay pic as well, that's how it should be I guess so I might have caused alarm for nothing. Still weird if you see how much more symmetrical the 6 cil versions are.

[petroscf]

hahahaha, thanks all the same Jeroen, better cause a false alarm than discover a real problem in the middle of nowhere during a trip !!!!

Now another issue is what concerns me too much these days...:

This summer I replaced my front solid disks by vented ones, using BREMBO calipers from Alfa Romeo GTV (I think??)
Everything cool, except for the whistling issue!!! Too much whistling during light-medium braking, from the front-right wheel...Thought it would stop after a while, with a bit use of the totally new brakes. It never did.
October replaced tyres. With the new tyres we fdiscovered that the front right wheel was hit (greek roads full of bumps and potholes) and tortuous (right term in english? hopefully understandable at least)
replaced the wheel by the spare one, for 2 days in order to give it for straightening. I moved the car only for a couple of kilometres, (tyre shop-->home and home-->tyre shop) as my time is very limited, and saw that this whistling noise was stopped!!!! I was very happy, thinking that all was due to the wrong wheel. Last evening fitted the straightened wheel and...the whistling started again....

[Jeroen]

Weird! Isn't the wheel rubbing the brake caliper or perhaps the tie rod end slightly? Can there be a balancing weight in the way that is rubbing?

[petroscf]

Don't think so...
These wheels sit on the car using spacers (as they had not the right offset), so they really sit quite at a distance from the calipers...

[petroscf]

Weird! Isn't the wheel rubbing the brake caliper or perhaps the tie rod end slightly? Can there be a balancing weight in the way that is rubbing?

and, anyway, shouldn't in that case, this be happenning all the time? it does happen only during light braking not even during hard braking!!!If I keep brakes pressed at low speeds, I hear the whistling. Press them a bit harder and this stops...

[Jeroen]

Nope, nothing strange about that. But if rubbing is not the issue, take the pads out, rub the brake material up with some sand paper or block and give the backing plate surfaces some copper grease. Usually that's the cause (throwing pads straight in), influence of different wheel should be minimal but still worth a try I'd say. While you're there, check if the brake caliper is centered correctly just to make sure.

[petroscf]

"... give the backing plate surfaces some copper grease."

Which are these??

[nas80]

the back of the pads (obviously not the side that presses against the disk) - in the UK we say "squeeky brakes are good brakes because you can hear them working"