Knock-knock

Who's there?
Diff mount (thanks to wise folks at MyE28.com for helping to pinpoint the problem).

Symptoms: heavy sharp knocking sound when sharply dropping off the gas, or accelerating in reverse.

Cause: rubber in the diff mount (part #33171125290) has split apart.

Advice given: don't replace it with the same part (around $200 today), replace it with part #33171129786 (around $80 today), rationale being, quote:

If you replace your diff mount three times in the same time it takes for the 535 one to break, you break even. Chances are you won't be doing that. In fact, I'd be very surprised if that was in fact the case. -- ck"

It is interesting, though, that the part that failed seems to be that very part, not the original #33171125290. If that's the case (will know for sure when the part arrives), it's time to start counting.

Cheap[er] Oil

Mobil 1 High Mileage engine oil:

• Froogle: about $7.99 + shipping per quart
• Checkers: $6.99 + tax per quart
• Walmart Super Center: about $20 + tax per gallon.

Just don't go changing your oil at Walmart - though if you're reading this, you're probably safe.

Funny, Walmart worker I asked about how many quarts are in a gallon thinks there are five. Figures.

REPLACE FASTENERS!!!

Lesson learned the hard way (one, two, three):

• Either plan on replacing fasteners and grommets that are in your way;
• Or remove and inspect them before ordering replacement parts.

It's the tradeoff between your money and your time (which is, by the way, also your money, and also non-renewable, unlke money).

Latter practically means doing the job twice and in some places that means risking weakening parts that are extremely expensive or troublesome to replace (trailing arms, engine covers, head and body), so just bite the bullet and buy extra fasteners and grommets. They may not be cheap, but at least you won't be caught unprepared with your car non-driveable, or have to do the job twice.

Pitman Arms

I mean, what's there to do - unscrew four bolts, screw them back on, right?

Wrong.

Maybe so if that's the car you've owned from the day one. Then you may probably get away with just the pair of dogbones like this.

Not so if that car is used, or should I say pre-owned, or should I say pre-<censored>-up. In that case you're likely to find, say, a missing washer or two (part #33311125916), or a destroyed bolt (part #07119914848).



So either you spend more cash on the complete set with fasteners like this, or you're going to be running around looking for bolts and washers anyway.

It's up to you to decide what's more expensive - about $50 in price (that's the difference between the pair of arms and pair of complete sets) or the most non-renewable resource that you have in your life - your time. Plus some money on missing/bad parts, of course.

One more thing: dogbones that have gone bad (picture on top) look identical to new ones, made by Karlyn. I don't know how much time does the metal need to go dark and gloomy in a hot and dry climate, but the old dogbones look very, very new and shiny after so much as being dipped into white spirit and cleaned lazily with a toothbrush. Rubber on them is absolutely thrashed, though - look at the big picture. I have no clue whether the new parts are any good or not, but you bet that if they aren't, you'll see the update here as soon as I find them going bad. For now, though, I'd say that if I had to make a decision again, I would've gone with the more expensive complete kit.

UPDATE: The story is far from over. Check out this thread at MyE28.com, and take a close look at this picture:

The Pipe Is Back

Even better than before - now it's got three hangers, as it is supposed to. Oh, and it's no longer sideways - damn, I thought that it was supposed to be that way, and it actually looked kinda cool :)



The whole thing looks horrible, though. Good time to start budgeting for new exhaust system.

Dude, Where's My Pipe?

If not for Joe The Neighbour who took a moment to look up from figuring out why his Ferrari is consuming so much oil and angrily spitting it outside through exhaust pipes (impressive sight indeed), we would've ended up with a very, very expensive repair - all the exhaust system at least, and quite possibly the catalyst as well, would've most probably ended up being torn away and eager to meet the lucky road traffic participant following this car, for there was one hanger remaining - the right one. The other (left) hanger was long gone by the time the exhaust pipe was inspected for the first time.



Alas, big disaster was diverted, and for now the temporary fix is in place (about $10 in parts and couple of hours of procuring right parts). Permanent fix is coming Fridaydone.

Front Brakes: Good News, Bad News

Following up on brake bleeding session...

Good news is that there's more than enough brake pads, and apparently rotors left. Bad news is that the wear sensor (part #34351179819) is broken (best guess is that whoever changed the pads broke the new sensor and decided to cover it up) and needs to be replaced. Pity - it's a $5 part, and labor involved in checking it and installing a new one is much more than that.

Other bad news is that the ABS sensor cable (part #34521154044) seems to be going (aging insulation is falling apart) and will have to be replaced soon.

Still need to take a look at the rear brakes - don't remember seeing the wear sensor there, either.