ThanksFoggening
Ah it was so peaceful on the day of Feasting...
Once I saw Jon and Dean in the proper bloat and snore positions shortly before dessert, I knew my work was done here.
Ah.....
 
All was on schedule, the holiday stalls of shops installed in Union Square lit up the night and it was packed with shoppers on Black Friday.
Then came the news....
60 frikin degree days for the weekend.
Say what?
Look at calendar, look at weather forecast. All I could think of was driving.
And Fogging.
I wrote to Shawn thinking he would think I was out of my mind for suggesting he spend his Thanksgiving Sunday working on my frikin car.
He was up for it- and I jumped at the opportunity.
I forgot about Peter Paul and Mary at the Bottom Line, threw a few things in bag and ran out the door.
It was hot.
Last I saw Emmy she was perfection, except for that damn hesitation.
We're going to Florida in 2 months, this is a chance in a million to let Dr. Fogg check her out before I go. Otherwise, I will have to live with it until spring, since no Z3 would willingly drive to New England in the winter.
Good morning, here is your car, and here is your airbag warning light on for no particular reason, have a nice day.
Argh.
Airbag light? That feels like getting chicken pox at midlife. Isn't that a kid's disease? Didn't we do the damn airbag thing to death already? Fixed it so many times a couple years ago. Ended up being a connection under the passenger seat. Stabilant 22. Oh well at least it happened on the way TO Shawn's.
Oh how to get to Shawn's. Well I am so damn lazy having the Traffic Pro, I get into the car now practically without looking at a map. It's North and East and I have to take I-95 to get there, so what the heck.
Natch it was a sunshiney morning driving up the FDR as the sun rose across the East River over the 59th street bridge and Yankee Stadium. I was top down with only a light sweater and it was November 24. It's a crazy world.
I was having Traffic Pro problems. Later it turned out that it was the interface between the seat and the radio (me) that was at fault, as usual. I did learn though that Traffic Pro could conceiveably pay for itself, because it can route you up 95 without paying any tolls.
So, after some self-induced circular travel, I was hitting the multilane.
Despite the banal driving of so many yuckleheads up in the morning on Sunday (where DO these people come from?) I was making fine time. I knew I was getting off at exit 5, so as soon as the numbers dropped from the 90s to one, I started to pay attention. Already I had seen the road dotted with state troopers, every couple miles it seemed. By the time I got to Rhode Island it was more like I had a police escort and a V1 concerto.
It rained and got cold a little, but I was top down the whole way.
I was in the wrong state, I realized too late. Had to pass through Rhode Island to get to the Land of Fogg, Massachusettes.
OK, so Rhode Island is about 20 minutes long. La, la, la.
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Casa Fogg. Emmy pulled in next to Shawn's Supercharged HellRot 1.9 like when your cousin is your best friend coming over for holidays.
 
Red and Green, how festive!
Shawn was moving so fast ... From this point on all the techincal information that is correct is from Shawn, all the mistakes are mine. Please check out Shawn's web site for great information on the most frequently asked questions.
The Deluxe Dolly, holds your head up :)
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Happily, Shawn had just purchased a air bag light resetting device, and got to try it out for the first time on Emmy.
End of that problem. The light did not come back on, so it must have just been a blooper.
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::: up music ::::
IN SEARCH OF
The Hesitation.
A little background:
Last year in March my clutch went bad.
After the repair I noticed a hesitation that happened shifting into first and second gear.
I had the dealer re-install the clutch.
I took it back to Shawn's, he was able to reproduce the effect. Shawn said it was not the clutch, it was the engine. He demonstrated this by engaging the clutch completely then while only giving it gas, reproducing the annoying hesitation followed by the burp of acceleration.
I took her to several knowledgeable friends and mechanics and recommended shops.
Carlos at JMK BMWconfirmed that in his opinion also it was not the clutch. He tested for faults, Emmy had a clean bill of health. He thought perhaps there is a sensor that is functioning at borderline. His tests included engaging the clutch in third gear from a standstill. If the clutch is working properly, the car will stall. Again Emmy passed the test.
Carlos recommended trying to swap out my Bosch +4 spark plugs and replacing them with the oem plugs.
Mario swapped them out one day at his garage, bled the brakes, changed the oil. (Man, I am a lucky person to have friends like this!)
For a while we thought we'd licked it, but each time the hesitation would return.
I have forgotten how to drive properly. I compensate my leaving the clutch in far too long. :(
Next Dr. Fogg diagnosed the Throttle Position Sensor, using his computer attached to Emmy's console.
Another test passed.
Shawn went after Emmy's Dinan Cold Air Intake.
Using another great new toy, his dolly with the head lift. Very nice!
First he removed the pan behind the spoiler and Emmy coughed up a small pile of leaves.
Melissa brought in cocoa to keep us warm
Shawn asked me if I had been letting Emmy jump in the piles of leaves, because they were packed in around her radiator.
I love fall.
My car really sucks. (grin)
Shawn accessed the CAI via the front driver's side wheel well.
Rachel, the Prime Directive forbids us to tamper with alien civilizations. We might have to check with Star Fleet on a couple of these species.
Or the ASPCA
Or the ACLU
 
All kinda of little bugs and things in the filter and it was tar black. Strange how the flash shows the photo with some of the original pink showing. In real life it was black.
I don't know if all this is normal or if perhaps my penchant for the backroads means Emmy is sucking up more dirt than they average bear.
Shawn reasoned:
"When the throttle is completely closed (you stopped sitting at a light for example) the intake manifold will be pretty much empty of air (not quite as a touch will be bypassed around the throttle body through the idle speed valve which will let just enough air through to keep the engine running at its idle speed) and under about 18"s of vacuum. When you first crack open the throttle (like when you get the green light) the air ahead of the throttle body tries to rush in to fill the vacuum in the intake manifold.
You need enough air to fill that void. The air needs to pass through the filter. If the filter is restricting flow it will take longer for enough air to pass through it to fill the void. That delay can make the engine hesitate as it is basically the difference between when you opened the throttle (wanting to give the engine more air) and when the air actually reaches the engine in enough volume.
By cleaning the filter we are hoping it will pass much more air through it quicker to eliminate the delay/hesitation."
He also explained why it really couldn't be the clutch.
Shawn would have preferred to replace the filter, but it was the Sunday after Thanksgiving and I was terribly lucky he got a filter cleaning kit.
Cleaning the filter is a multi stage process.
First Shawn throroughly sprayed it down.
Then he dug some holes for Melissa to plant Daffodil and Iris bulbs, while the spray set.
Then back to the kitchen sink to rinse off the filter.
The reason why Dinan no longer recommends cleaning the filter is the sensitive HFM inside the canister. The HFM measures how many pounds of air per minute the engine is injesting. This ligature can easily be contaminated by the oil applied to the filter outside after it is cleaned.
Shawn cleaned this too.
While waiting for the filter to dry...
Cleaning the Throttle Body
Shawn is holding Emmy's Traction Control (ASC) throttle body in his hand, below is the main throttle body
Showing the throttle body closed and then open exposes the black ring of carbon inside.
Shawn cleaned this carbon out.
Compare it to dpeete's Traction Control Throttle Body and Main Throttle Body.
 
dpeete's euro MZ3, 3.2 engine is very much the same. The important differences for this discussion is his bored out main throttle body from Dinan, and the fact that his throttle bodies are already clean.
Shawn makes all this seem like playing with Legos.
You can see that the bored out Dinan throttle body has a wider opening to allow more air into the engine faster. There is some discussion on the merits of a wider main throttle body. What difference can a wider main throttle body make if air has to pass through a narrower ASC throttle body first?
dpeete removed his ASC throttle body in the hopes of taking advantage of the wider main throttle body upgrade from Dinan. Please check out his marvelous article, ASC Modification, for mo' better info.
This opens up a discussion of throttle bodies and traction control.
Newer Z3s have "drive by wire" and DSC instead of ASC- so they don't have the ASC throttle body pictured and discussed here. The gas pedal controls the new main throttle body by computer, and so does the new Traction Control (DSC).
On older Z3s like mine and dpeete's, the throttle is controlled by cable from the gas pedal, and the Traction Control is this additional ring. So, if you have a newer Z3 with Throttle By Wire (3.0 and, 2001 3.2) that doesn't need the additional traction control throttle body as the computer has direct control over the throttle.
 
Let's take one more step into Emmy's engine before we go look at Shawn's supercharged 1.9.
The main throttle body is attached to the black plastic intake manifold. Inside the manifold is the Intake Air Temperature Sensor (IAT). When you first start the engine it is used to determine initially how much extra fuel to inject to get it to start. After the engine is running it is only used as a trim on the ignition advance to avoid detonation. It is also used to determine if the car is being run in "unusual" conditions.
Grin.
Here is Emmy's air intake system. Air comes in through the Dinan Cold Air Intake, past the HFM where it is measured, turns a corner through a black hose into the Traction Control Throttle Body, then passes into the Main Throttle Body, then into the intake manifold, passing the IAT where the car measures the air temperature.
 
Now let's look at Shawn's air intake system in the supercharged 1.9.
 
Air coming in from the Fogg Air Intake Box through a black hose with the HFM inside into the throttle body then into the supercharger then into the intake manifold.
Very nice indeed.
While waiting for the filter to dry, alternately sucking it with a shop vac, Shawn kept cleaning and fixing Emmy.
 
He cleaned the rest of the Cold Air Intake Sleeve, and cleaned and reseated these important contact points. This is a very important connection for the computer. Who knew? ;P
 
Shawn then returned my Bosch + 4 spark plugs, since we knew that was not the problem. He found this anti seize compound had managed to get too close to the contact points on the plugs.
Using a mechanic's mirror Shawn got this shot of a coolant leak he found on Emmy's engine block. :(
Look for a whitish film reflected in the mirror. That is dried coolant that leaked out at some point.
I think Mario mentioned the same thing when he changed her oil.
Shawn glued the hood stop back on and made a band aid of blue tape.
He sprayed the dry filter thoroughly with oil, also ran it through the vacuum after oiling it to make sure an excess oil wouldn't damage the HFM. Then he replaced the filter and assembled the CAI under the wheel well.
Returning her wheels he used a
Wheel Installation Guide Tool
The one that comes with your car is plastic, and lives in your trunk. This little guide is a wonderful thing to have on hand.
Or so everyone tells me....
Shawn made everything so clean and perfect, these little chrome add ons I got stood out more.
Before/After
Ron Stygar Chrome Steering Pump Cap
Ron Stygar Chrome Radiator Tank Cap
I wish there were more chrome goodies I could get for Emmy's engine compartment. Oh well, maybe one day...
Unbelieveable, Emmy's engine never looked this good.
While we waited for the pizza to be ready for pick up, Shawn attended to various odds and ends...
My brilliant plan to drill a hole in my storage drawer to hang my BMW CCA USA badge was foiled because the only way to get the drawer out completely would require lifting the whole console.
Fugetabout it.
Hello, sticky tape?
Shawn cut off the knob in the back and mounted it with sticky tape. Sorry, I forgot to take a pic!.... OK OK I will.... Maybe Sunday at the BBQ.
Then we dealt with the anti theft device behind the radio head unit. In my case, the Traffic Pro.
I had unscrewed the gray "bullet" that screws onto the back of the BMW Radio. I tried to order a replacement "bullet" but as you can see, the screw in the replacement bullet is a lot fatter than the original radio screw.
To make matters worse, the hole for the screw in the back of the Traffic Pro Beta Unit had no threads, so it was pretty much a one shot deal.
The bullet is meant to fit into one of these holes, "RD" for right hand drive vehicles we presume, "LD" for left hand drive.
Inside the plastic bracket is another piece of plastic containing the trigger. I am so sorry I did not take a picture of this piece.
The idea is that the bullet sticks in the hole, keeping pressure on the spring loaded trigger. If the radio is pulled out, the bullet comes out of the hole and the trigger is released, setting off your car alarm.
Since I had no bullet attached, my UNGO had been beeping a lot.
Shawn disabled this for me. Later, the nice folks at Becker used the oem bullet and figured out how to stuff the trigger piece back into the hole piece.
I might as well mention here that my BMW CD changer now works with my Traffic Pro!
I can not tell you how awesome it is. I got music playing 24/7 and anytime I need help, gas, directions, resturant- whatever, I just call it up like a radio station. 24/7.
No changing CDs- ever.
La la la.
Our last serious installation was the Z pack
Linux the Penguin found a home here- the blur is Shawn's sister's new Shi-Tzu puppy.
(Try saying that ten times fast. "Shawn's sister's new Shi_Tzu". )
OK, don't :).
Natch, you can't see the BMW CCA badge... OK, later, I promise.
Well I am just rude.
Shawn and I had taken a little run around the block. Emmy was roaring. It was as if before she had been speaking with peanut butter in her mouth. Now she was James Earl Frikin Jones.
it was raining when I went out to pick up the pizza. How nice it is to be able to run out and pick up pizza in a neighborgood you don't know. No problem. Traffic Pro will get me there and back.
At the pizza place it sure was nice to get that nice single "chirp" from my alarm.
Traffic Pro'd back to the Fogg's, wolfed down a couple slices and like the rude guest that I am, I bolted.
Look, my car was running like a frikin raped ape, I had a three hour drive ahead of me on Thanksgiving Sunday, OK?
Ah so nice to be in the company of Z3ers. They completely understand, and I am off.
Traffic Pro'd myself to I-95, and it was just 200 miles of I-95 ahead of me.
I was having way too much fun.
One of the nice things about Traffic Pro is the "Are We There Yet?" function. I just keep hitting the left knob to hear Bernie say, "Please continue for 150 miles, estimated time of arrival, 1am."
Then I hit it again and again the whole way home trying to see if I am making good time, or to see how far long I have come.
"Please continue for 120 miles, estimated time of arrival, 1259pm".
:::snicker:::
Man, I love the hell out of this thing.
So all is basically well until I get to the West Side Highway. I don't really know how I ended up on the West Side Highway coming from Connecticut and East, but there I was. The traffic came to a sudden halt. People started backing up.
For those of you who are not familiar with the West Side Highway, this is not something we normally do.
Bad sign. Very Bad Sign.
So I manage to back up with a few other crazies, take the first ramp having no idea where I am.
Apparently, it is Harlem.
 
It was beautiful actually.
Beautiful or not, at what was now nearly 2am in Harlem, you can bet whatever you are sitting on that I was VERY happy to have Traffic Pro!!!!
Hello?
The city is magic at night. Magic Theatres are Magic Johnson's theatres. I think they were on Malcolm X Drive.
The only thing that really blew my mind was the king sized moguls on Martin Luther King Boulevard. Look in the rear view mirror to get an idea- but I tell you this was amazing. Watching the buses pitch and yaw. Unbelieveable. Ski Harlem.
It was all I could do to spare Emmy's spoiler. No way could I ever lower this car. No way.
 
As I pulled into t he driveway I noticed that somewhere in the last day, or maybe it was on the Vampire Drive, Emmy passed the 50,000 mile mark.
Shawn has completely elimated the possibility of a problem with the air intake causing the hesitation. It's not the spark plugs. It's not the clutch. I need to do some low speed driving to find out if it's gone. Meanwhile, my car is so much even MORE FUN to drive, so responsive, so fast, she sounds incredible. Tender loving care from the master, Mr. Fogg.
What a great Thanksgiving! Thank you!
Please check out Shawn's Web Site, the man knows what he is talking about!!! :).
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