Graphite Green 9-5 Aero rescue

[carrera]

Better ?

[sgould]

I've seen worse pictures...

But the 2002 car will need the upgraded breather kit.  The full one with all the pipes.  There's a smaller one which only has the pipes that were different from the originals, but at 18 years old, your car will need the lot.

[carrera]

I've seen worse too, but then a lot of them probably also needed more extensive rebuild work.

I'm glad I did this. The strainer didn't look too bad in terms of blockage of the screen, but the black oil was, and the associated attachment of that oil to the sump and internals of the block was worse than I expected to encounter. A consequence of semi synth at some point ?

I think once this is done an early oil change and filter will not go amiss, maybe after 6k or so

The car's a 2003, but probably the same basic system as 2002 so I understand what you are saying about the breather. That's not for today though, I don't want to get the old girl too excited getting fresh oil, filter and breather at one sitting   Either that or because I don't have the bits.

In fact if anything, I'm more worried that the fresh oil will be thinner and pressure will be lower, especially as we approach summer with the higher ambient temperatures. I don't want a bing bong  or red light after a bit of mild cornering or after coming to idle after a run.

[sgould]

If you talk to Richard Elliott of Saabtec in Glossop, he's been using Millers Nanotec oil in 10w/60 grade with no issues on older Saabs.  Mainly to stop excess usage and the odd leak.  Not cheap though.

https://www.opieoils.co.uk/p-115240-millers-oils-nanodrive-cfs-10w-60-nt-fully-synthetic-engine-oil.aspx

[carrera]

I have some of that stuff on the shelf, it is very good........ but it's reserved for the more exotic motors, I'm hoping that the standard Morris 5W/40 CST will do the job, it's what the blue one survived on

[carrera]

Todays little update:

Engine service done:

Plugs looked fresh, as did the air filter, so it probably had some sort of service not long ago, but no oil change.

The crossover pipe and feed up the engine were fine. However, when I took the valve cover off the area around the chain was also blacker than expected. I checked the oil pipes, the long one to the chain was fine, but the shorter U shaped one onto the engine side was blocked. That took a bit of clearing with a bike brake cable. I still haven't worked out how the oil gets there though 

Having cleaned the inside of the valve cover, I then cleaned the outside off. Treated it to a lick of black paint. I don't know if the 2003 ones were originally black, but the 2002 ones were so that seemed as good a reason as any to spruce it up.

The valve cover gaskets were old and hard, so new ones were fitted, along with the dizzy plug that usually leaks. I think I then used about a litre of brake cleaner getting rid of the accumumated oil.

Started her up and she sounded sweet. I took the opportunity to listen to the tappets, given the experience with the black Aero. I now know what quiet ones sound like 

[carrera]

Well, here's a turn up for the books

Disconnected / reconnected DICE. No change.

I took a look at the wiring diagram and that told me pins 33 and 55 are the pins that the variable resistor in the intermittent wipe switch connect to.

No wires there, no pins in the connector.

What type of Aero didn't have the wash wipe, or have I misread something. I can't believe a replacement or incomplete loom have been installed 

[sgould]

I think that the intermittent wipe was an option that came with the "Luxury Pack".  That included the HK 8/9 speaker system, so maybe a different DICE and loom?  I don't have a 2002 brochure that i can check with.

[carrera]

Intermittent wipe was a much more basic option.

My blue car is a 2002, when the spec was stripped down and BMW approach to extras was being taken. I had to pay for metallic paint, heated seats, Xenons. When the mid year changes came in all three of those items became standard. Intermittent was in the standard package, and also on the breaker car which was a 2002 Vector.

This car is a 2003, so I would expect it still to be standard in the Aero, I think it was 2004 when they started value engineering again, for example removal on the remote release petrol cap

I can't believe that the car has had a replacement loom, and don't forget the loom connector for the variable delay resistor is all there, along with the stalk.

Most confusing

I suppose I'll have to start looking at the connector block to see if there are any other wires of the right colour in other positions ........ or maybe WIS is just wrong ?

[carrera]

This is what I am looking at .......... just spotted that the colours do not match up

[carrera]

I am in the process of testing the wires from the rheostat to DICE.

Is there anywhere in WIS that has the full DICE pin assignments.  So far I have found that the green / greywire that should go to pin 33 in fact shows continuity to pin 4.

No sign of the Blue / White (reality, violet white from wiring diagram) that should go to pin 55, no stray wires, no continuity to any other pin.

Somewhat inconveniently, pin 4 is showing 12v with the connector disconnected.from DICE. I have the correct DICE fitted 52 63 116.

Very very wierd

[sgould]

I had a look at the hard copy of the 9-5 that I have, but it's no better than the WIS.

Pin 4 in the connector is permanent 12v from the dipped beam relay.  Or are you saying that the 12v is from DICE when disconnected?

[carrera]

Thanks for looking 

I have gone through the laborious task of going through all the DICE wiring diagrams for each system to get the pin assignments, and then compared to the physical reality.

There are quite a few differences, and I haven't got my head round the implications yet.

I agree that pin 4 is a live feed from the dipped beam relay, not instinctively the wiring I would have expected as it is an output from the solenoid winding side, looking for an earth, but I get how DICE can provide the earth when instructed.

I have found two wires of the right colours in unexpected pin positions, but there is no continuity to the rheostat.

More thinking needed, but remember those big connectors on the A post that are so solid no one would even need to touch them ?  I'm beginning to wonder if the wires are crossed there 

How reliable is WIS wiring to reality, especially across the years ?

[sgould]

I have found quite a few errors in WIS over the years, but it's generally OK, but...

[carrera]

Well, I think I have got to the bottom of the problem. Here's a clue