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Changed my brake fluid today with the pressure bleeder from Bav auto, and it worked really well. No problems, no air in the system. Also, I got one of those wheel alignment tools, and it was easily the best $12 I ever spent.
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Jul 21, 2014 01:57
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Question for owners of pre-E90, pre-E61, pre-E65 cars: Would you buy a new non-M BMW today? Are the things you like about your car still present in the F-code cars? I'm leaving out E90s, 61s and 65s as transitional cars from this question as they were transitional to the current state of affairs.
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Jul 21, 2014 03:06
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E46 owner, and I'd consider owning a newer one but I'd be leery about owning one for the long run now that everything is a turbo-charged, direct-injected, computerized, high-pressure-fuel-pump-blowing time bomb. The E46 is already a complicated car compared to its contemporaries, and the F-code cars make it look from the stone age in comparison. It has it's faults and flaws, sure, but nothing like a $3000 turbo replacement.
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Jul 21, 2014 04:22
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Funzo posted:Also, I got one of those wheel alignment tools, and it was easily the best $12 I ever spent. More info?
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Jul 21, 2014 04:27
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Guinness posted:E46 owner, and I'd consider owning a newer one but I'd be leery about owning one for the long run now that everything is a turbo-charged, direct-injected, computerized, high-pressure-fuel-pump-blowing time bomb.
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Jul 21, 2014 04:33
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Ziploc posted:More info? http://www.reverselogic.us/lug-bolt-guides.html I've managed to assemble the whole set. They're also a great gift idea.
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Jul 21, 2014 04:51
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bolind posted:http://www.reverselogic.us/lug-bolt-guides.html Oh, just a thing for mounting a wheel more easily. When I saw alignment, I (and presumably Ziploc) thought you meant alignment tools: http://www.amazon.com/E-Z-Red-EZLINE-Laser-Alignment/dp/B002SEZ6BO/ref=lp_15709161_1_4?s=automotive&ie=UTF8&qid=1405916072&sr=1-4 http://www.quicktrickalignment.com/shop/qt-quickslide/complete/ http://www.hunter.com/ ...which are defintely much, much more than $12 normally, and I was intrigued by the possibility that I could get a set of tools to align my wheels for that cheap.
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Jul 21, 2014 05:20
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Keyser S0ze posted:
I can confirm this, picked up a custom order '14 550i with most everything in April. It is actually fast enough that I can't imagine actually driving an M5. Part of my build was the DHP, which gives me both pretty firm when I want and soft when I have sleeping babies or elderly grandparents in the [strikethrough]trunk[/strikethrough] back
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Jul 21, 2014 05:44
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GentlemanofLeisure posted:Also an e46 owner, and my feelings are pretty much the exact same. I feel like the only way I would feel comfortable owning a newer BMW would be if it had warranty and I would then likely want to get rid of it after the warranty ran out. I'm sure the guy on the last page who has had 3 turbos in his car is an aberration, or the shop hasn't diagnosed it right, but the thought of that being an out of pocket repair turns me off. Everything on my car is well-documented online as well, which helps. I feel like the cars newer than the E46 haven't aged long enough to develop that confidence boosting aftermarket and knowledge base that the older BMWs have. BMWs have always been overcomplicated German engineering boners but with the older ones you have niceties like Dr. Vanos and guides on exactly what pin to solder on your HVAC board to fix it, etc etc. It's that support that turns "holy poo poo this variable valve thing sounds like two garbage cans loving" from a $2000+ dealer job to $300 paid to the good doctor vanos and 6 hours of loving around in your garage.
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Jul 21, 2014 05:50
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The fact that everything is controlled by computers probably scares a lot of people off but dealing with that is starting to change. I have a bluetooth OBD dongle and a phone app that allows me to pull and reset codes on my ECU. I can also use it to code in new features or remove features I don't like. I got rid of my turn signals being on as DRLs. I made it so I have a digital speedometer. In the winter I can change the rest button on the AC to instead be a residual heat button to keep my car warm while I go into a store or whatever. Eventually changing settings in your ECU or coding for a new battery or whatever will be as simple as wrenching on your car.
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Jul 21, 2014 06:03
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What phone app do you use for that?
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Jul 21, 2014 12:21
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ColdPie posted:What phone app do you use for that? https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.iViNi.bmwhatFull
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Jul 21, 2014 13:00
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Can anyone tell me the part number of a e46 rear spring "cup" or what the correct term is? Thanx.
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Jul 21, 2014 16:29
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http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do?model=EW53&mospid=47726&btnr=33_0841&hg=33&fg=45 Reference: #15 and #18 15 SPRING PAD LOWER 33531094518 $6.62 18 SPRING PAD UPPER 33531094754 $13.25 This is for a 2003 330xi, the part numbers might be different for RWD standard or sport suspensions.
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Jul 21, 2014 19:05
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HotCanadianChick posted:Oh, just a thing for mounting a wheel more easily. When I saw alignment, I (and presumably Ziploc) thought you meant alignment tools: Yes sorry I meant the wheel mounting tool. I tried to just wrestle the wheels back in to place hte last couple of times I had them off, so having something to hang them made everything much easier.
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Jul 21, 2014 19:32
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Taking one last fast shot at getting the E39 running before I put it into storage. Fuel filter. Ten times the size of my SBC's.  If that thing's clogged, would explain my random misfires that don't follow coils or plugs. Won't rev past like 3k, acting like it was when I ran it out of gas. swapping tonight, if it gets running well, great, if not, I'm having it flatbedded to Colorado in the fall anyways and can work on it there after we get settled from moving.
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Jul 21, 2014 22:34
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concise posted:http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do?model=EW53&mospid=47726&btnr=33_0841&hg=33&fg=45 http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do?model=BL92&mospid=47621&btnr=33_1025&hg=33&fg=45
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Jul 22, 2014 00:59
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e39 fuel filter status: i'd estimate roughly 80% clogged. Dated 2006, probably 100k ago. Replaced, charging battery now as it seems to be getting pissy ARRRGH GOD drat FUEL AND ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
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Jul 22, 2014 02:02
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How much work was it to swap the fuel filter?
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Jul 22, 2014 02:22
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Very easy to do on pre-vanos M62. The -TU's had the FPR built in so there are four lines and those awful single-use clamps - the vanilla M62 is just that one line in one out. Most of the work is removing the underpanel - five of those awful body rivets BMW loves, couple of 10mm's underneath, couple of 8mm's at the trailing fender edge. And a hex bit for the filter clamp - 5mm maybe? somewhere around there, I just grabbed ones out of my toolbox until one fit. If you have time to plan, order a fistful of those plastic rivet things because they will disintegrate when you try to pry them out. Matter of fact, you should order a couple dozen and every weekend, replace a few of them all over the car.
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Jul 22, 2014 02:30
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Ugh, gently caress those plastic rivets. I used sheet metal screws in select locations on my old e39. 
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Jul 22, 2014 03:40
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How can I find out the bolt size for my E46 rear drop links before I go in there hamfisted and break the current ones? Edit: real OEM to the rescue, m8 x 43 cakesmith handyman fucked around with this message at 12:39 on Jul 22, 2014 |
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Jul 22, 2014 12:37
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So i bought an E39 with a non functioning AC, the guy who sold it to me said the AC blower fan needed replacing and he included a new unit with the purchase. I took a chance and replaced the "final stage unit" resistor first thinking maybe i'll save myself some work, but nope. So i looked up how to replace the blower and oh god. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P6dLWOseGYw has a decent tutorial and i basically had a heart attack watching it. How much is a reasonable (mmm) price for having this done by my local BMW resaler? I sent them a mail but haven't heard back yet. Should i do this myself, even though i have 0% experience working on cars? Will i break something and having to end up sending it in anyway. Will i brick my car instrument panel and kill myself with the airbag? What do i do. Car is so nice though, basically rust free and runs like a dream.
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Jul 22, 2014 17:52
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BMW dealer will probably want 2-4k for that job. I'd do it myself. I did it on my E36 and you go in from the firewall rather than the interior, and it's a shame you have to pull the dash, but to be honest that doesn't look that bad compared to what I had to do. I'd set aside a week and do it slowly, carefully and methodically, taking pictures and notes the whole way through. Be _extremely_ careful removing interior trim pieces, they will have some of the biggest "BMW tax" of anything on the car and they like to snap and break. Also assuming this grants you access to the heater core you should probably replace that as well. revmoo fucked around with this message at 18:02 on Jul 22, 2014 |
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Jul 22, 2014 18:00
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ExecuDork posted:televiper - I think I have your order complete, but finding a long, skinny box to take the body part that goes above the bumper and surrounds the kidneys might take a bit of time. Note that piece is also dented, where it goes under the driver's side headlight - I was told somebody backed a trailer hitch into the front of the car there, sometime while it was owned by my PO's PO. The rest of your stuff - front-right (passenger side) headlight assembly, front bumper shocks (those were fun to remove, seriously I enjoyed that) and front fender liners (driver's side from car, dusty and some damage, passenger side new-in-box) - are ready to go. Everything else under the front end is either missing, destroyed, or heavily damaged. The jack is bent, but still functional. Please let me know if you want it. Thanks again for the effort on this, it's greatly appreciated. Sorry to belabor the point, but I want to make sure we're talking about the same part. I question whether we are because the part I'm talking about isn't all that much bigger than the mustache piece, and it doesn't sound like you're particularly concerned about the shipping rate on that piece. I need this guy:  Rather than the huge plastic bumper cover. For that, I'm probably just going to get a cheap Chinese polypropylene cover for $100 from DDM or something. Because I'm a bad BMW owner who cares more about having a working car than a perfectly factory one. If that's the part you were talking about..then...well.. a new one is $250 shipped from Pelican, so as long as shipping is cheaper than that and yours is basically undamaged, I guess I'd still be ahead, money-wise? I could use your passenger-side fender panel as well, since mine looks like this:  but if you think shipping would be nuts on that, I can probably find one somewhere else. e: oh, and as to the jack, I'll pass on it, but thanks. I've got a nifty lolly-pop thinger that goes into that hole and lets you use a standard floor jack, it's just handy to be able to lift half of the car at once to make jack-stand placement a little less stressful. Maybe I'll get a second adapter and use my back-up floor jack 
televiper fucked around with this message at 19:00 on Jul 22, 2014 |
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Jul 22, 2014 18:53
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GentlemanofLeisure posted:Since he's never posted what year his car is, I searched for a 2005 Europe model, RHD M3 to see if it used the same part numbers, and it looks like it does. Just figured I'd check since I know a lot of the e46 M3 stuff is different regarding the suspension and brakes/wheels stuff. Cheers guys. I did the very same thing. Forgot this site existed. Very useful. Yeah it's an 05 M3. Suppose I should get these ordered at a dealer. Thanks again.
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Jul 22, 2014 18:53
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Killstick posted:So i bought an E39 with a non functioning AC, the guy who sold it to me said the AC blower fan needed replacing and he included a new unit with the purchase. I took a chance and replaced the "final stage unit" resistor first thinking maybe i'll save myself some work, but nope. So i looked up how to replace the blower and oh god. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P6dLWOseGYw has a decent tutorial and i basically had a heart attack watching it. How much is a reasonable (mmm) price for having this done by my local BMW resaler? I sent them a mail but haven't heard back yet. Should i do this myself, even though i have 0% experience working on cars? Will i break something and having to end up sending it in anyway. Will i brick my car instrument panel and kill myself with the airbag? I'd replaced the HVAC blower on my E46 coming in through the top of the firewall rather than disassembling the whole dash like BMW recommends. I don't know how different your E39 is from my E46, though. Apparently it's easier to do this on E46s than E36s, and E39s are larger than E36s... It took me a couple of hours and a lot of patience, but I got it done and works perfectly. It doesn't require very many tools, it's just in very tight spaces. I do recommend using a magnetic grabber for taking out/putting in all the little screws and bolts, though, don't want to drop them! 
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Jul 22, 2014 19:57
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Killstick posted:So i bought an E39 with a non functioning AC, the guy who sold it to me said the AC blower fan needed replacing and he included a new unit with the purchase. I took a chance and replaced the "final stage unit" resistor first thinking maybe i'll save myself some work, but nope. So i looked up how to replace the blower and oh god. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P6dLWOseGYw has a decent tutorial and i basically had a heart attack watching it. How much is a reasonable (mmm) price for having this done by my local BMW resaler? I sent them a mail but haven't heard back yet. Should i do this myself, even though i have 0% experience working on cars? Will i break something and having to end up sending it in anyway. Will i brick my car instrument panel and kill myself with the airbag? Have you gone through the other parts of the A/C to be sure it is the blower fan? do the a/c lines under the hood get cold? It could bet he aux fan, aux fan resistor or the 2 fuses for that which aren't located in the fuse panel because BMW.
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Jul 22, 2014 20:10
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I know people panic about dash removal, but it honestly isn't that hard. The key thing is to document EVERYTHING. Take pictures (or video), write notes, keep screws with the panel it goes with, etc. It's tedious as hell but generally you don't have to mess with moving wiring harnesses so it's just a ton of screws.
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Jul 22, 2014 20:50
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If i don't hear from BMW tomorrow i'll get to it and do the swap myself. Expect an after action report of my Powershift posted:Have you gone through the other parts of the A/C to be sure it is the blower fan? do the a/c lines under the hood get cold? I haven't, all i did was switch out the final stage unit to no avail. I'll check that out before scattering my interior to the wind. Killstick fucked around with this message at 22:11 on Jul 22, 2014 |
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Jul 22, 2014 22:08
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televiper posted:Thanks again for the effort on this, it's greatly appreciated. I'll get shipping costs figured out for two packages for you - the bumper&moustache and everything else in a normal box. I assume you'll want the fender liners, headlight, and bumper shocks even if the shipping on the bumper/moustache turns out to be silly because of oversize package fees. Those pictures are very helpful - they really show me why you want what you want. What happened to your car?
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Jul 22, 2014 22:13
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Killstick posted:If i don't hear from BMW tomorrow i'll get to it and do the swap myself. Expect an after action report of my One trick I use is to clear out a rectangle of garage floor--really really clean it--and then place every item I remove from the car in order down on the ground, grouping fasteners together. Then when it's time to reassemble you just follow the order in reverse.
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Jul 22, 2014 22:19
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ExecuDork posted:Those pictures are very helpful - they really show me why you want what you want. What happened to your car? Seattle roads and drivers and a foolish assumption on my part :\ I was on an exit ramp that went from two lanes at the top to three lanes at the bottom and T's onto the crossing road, and I wanted to be in the center lane to be able to turn left and then immediately turn right once I got onto the cross street. The middle lane grew out of my lane (left lane), and, due to the red light being backed up a bit, I was stopped right where it starts to grow. Turn on my blinker, check my mirrors for people in the right lane signaling to go to the middle lane, see a guy (in a VW R32, as it happens) but he's not signalling so I figure he's turning right at the light, so I pull out to take the middle. He decides he wants the middle and makes an unsignaled lane change. We meet. Metal bends and plastic shatters. Geico says since he was already moving and I was not, it's wholly my fault for presenting an obstruction during his illegal lane change. Estimates for repairs start at $5,000, but I've found a couple of reputable shops who will fix the only part that I can't handle - the apron damage - for a few hundred and now that I live in a place that has a covered carport I can take care of the rest myself, because it's all bolt-off/bolt-on. Except for paint, of course. But the paint has many ugly spots, so the car needs a whole-body solution for paint anyway, so I'm not really stressing mismatched colors for now. I just want my bimmer on the road again 
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Jul 22, 2014 22:40
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revmoo posted:BMW dealer will probably want 2-4k for that job. I'd do it myself. I did it on my E36 and you go in from the firewall rather than the interior, and it's a shame you have to pull the dash, but to be honest that doesn't look that bad compared to what I had to do. It is bad, but not terrible. PROTIP: I got an FSU from Autozone that was out of the box bad and commenced to tearing into my dash. Got the fan out, hooked it up to a battery and it moved. Figured the FSU was poo poo and ordered one from Pelican Parts. Fired right up, so I went through the dash autopsy for nothing.
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Jul 23, 2014 02:07
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Crustashio posted:I know people panic about dash removal, but it honestly isn't that hard. The key thing is to document EVERYTHING. Take pictures (or video), write notes, keep screws with the panel it goes with, etc. It's tedious as hell but generally you don't have to mess with moving wiring harnesses so it's just a ton of screws. One thing I did was "practiced" on a pick a part salvage car. Even paying for trim I broke cause karma and poo poo.
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Jul 23, 2014 02:11
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Wow a BMW is probably the best car I ever owned. Just said gently caress it and bought it did no research but wow I am amazed. Suprised how awesome this car is.
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Jul 23, 2014 02:25
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So, you got an Isetta?
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Jul 23, 2014 05:24
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My aux fan was stuck somehow and it caused the engine to overheat a bit today. Nothing catastrophic, luckily, just GDCS. Turning it over a few times manually fixed it. GDCS.
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Jul 23, 2014 05:50
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EvellSnoats posted:Even paying for trim I broke cause karma and poo poo. LOL you know the yard paid pennies on the dollar for that car right?
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Jul 23, 2014 06:07
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EvellSnoats posted:It is bad, but not terrible. PROTIP: I got an FSU from Autozone that was out of the box bad and commenced to tearing into my dash. Got the fan out, hooked it up to a battery and it moved. Figured the FSU was poo poo and ordered one from Pelican Parts. Fired right up, so I went through the dash autopsy for nothing. Any way to test the fan without taking it out first? I have a new Valeo FSU that i'm pretty sure works... probably, and i know it's not the intake fan thing under the hood because that spins fine. What can i do to diagnose it more? I'm pretty sure it is the fan, what with the previous owner having bought one and included it with the sale but still.
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Jul 23, 2014 09:42
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