Best Time to Test Your Luck!
07/30/09 06:08 PM | Projectile
The last couple of times I drove the Blue Frankenstein (my term of endearment for my '86 BMW 535i) it was missing out pretty badly in slow idle, would try (often successfully) to die on take off from a stop. I talked to bowling buddy and BMW enthusiast Clayton Hamilton about this situation a few times at All*Star Bowl and the Chatterbox, he recommended fuel injector cleaner and a drive of 20 or 30 minutes minimum, well that's fine if you are driving in circles, but to drive 15 minutes away in a car acting wonky and then hoping to get back in another 15 minutes (or at all) takes a bit of a leap of faith.
Well I was planning on doing some yardening after my bowling outing ended at mid day, but the weather told me not to bother. So after puttering around I decided to take the Blue on a trip since I had put a bottle of injector cleaner in the tank. It was 3:50 PM and it was raining. The Car had been on a battery Charger in "maintain mode" for a few days because the battery had died before the last attempt to drive, about a week ago. This time it started right up, I put the windows up and closed the sunroof to vent position then backed out of the garage, two block later as the care started to warm up it also started to miss a bit, but I wanted to give the treatment a chance to treat so I stayed with it. Six blocks from home it died as I was getting ready to turn after waiting for a light, some anxious cranking then back under way.
This being a shakedown, and fuel-system clean-up check I did the only logical thing, I got on the interstate heading away from town with the early rush-hour 8 to 4 crowd. The maximum speed with this bunch was around 50 miles per hour because of traffic and
road work. I took I-70 east from Post to the Mt. Comfort Exit and back to 465 Northbound and the Shadeland exit ansd a quick loop at 71st St. then back to Shadeland, then 16th St. and home. Total travel time 52 minutes plus another 8 or 10 ofwarm up before leaving, and the prognosis is good. The idle smoothed out and the shi-shimmy's settled down too, I'm planning on driving it to work on Saturday.
You may have noticed that the Blue is kind of gray in places, that is primer on the hood and fenders and in some other spots as well. Some day I will either finish restoring it or sell it.
Chuck Pace ©2009
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Well I was planning on doing some yardening after my bowling outing ended at mid day, but the weather told me not to bother. So after puttering around I decided to take the Blue on a trip since I had put a bottle of injector cleaner in the tank. It was 3:50 PM and it was raining. The Car had been on a battery Charger in "maintain mode" for a few days because the battery had died before the last attempt to drive, about a week ago. This time it started right up, I put the windows up and closed the sunroof to vent position then backed out of the garage, two block later as the care started to warm up it also started to miss a bit, but I wanted to give the treatment a chance to treat so I stayed with it. Six blocks from home it died as I was getting ready to turn after waiting for a light, some anxious cranking then back under way.
This being a shakedown, and fuel-system clean-up check I did the only logical thing, I got on the interstate heading away from town with the early rush-hour 8 to 4 crowd. The maximum speed with this bunch was around 50 miles per hour because of traffic and
You may have noticed that the Blue is kind of gray in places, that is primer on the hood and fenders and in some other spots as well. Some day I will either finish restoring it or sell it.
Chuck Pace ©2009
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