Expert: Josh Fields - 2/16/2006

Question
Hi Josh,

Jose from DR again.  I have a few question regarding a 89 525i with M20 engine

A friend of my wife is selling it to us at a very good price, it was his father's car, the body and interior is immaculate, the engine looks great no oil spots on it, we believe it only has 120,000 Miles on it, the timing belt was changed 2 years ago at 115,000mi.


The Dashboard:
The speedometer and tach work fine, however the info screen, fuel flow meter, temp gauge, milage indicator, and gas gauge dont work, what could be the problem?


How much power is lost with an exhaust leak past the Cat conv before reaching the muffler?

The brake pedal has alot of travel before the brake start to engage the fluid level seems fine, and the owner put new discs on it not long ago, is there any adjustment that can be done? re- bleed the brake lines? or do you think new master brake cyl is needed?

Thank you in advance for your assistance, your knowledge is a saving grace.

Sincerly,

Jose  

Answer
Jose
I've had instrument cluster's do what you are talking about, sometimes a gauge will stop working correctly.  Most likely it's a loose connection.  If you are capable, you can remove the cluster and open it up.  I have resoldered the connections and it fixed my problem.  If you are not comfortable with this... then check Ebay for a used one and when you get it, open it up and set the mileage back to your original mileage on the odometer (no cheating!)

 The exhaust leak shouldn't cause a problem, except for extra noise, so no power loss.  If it were before the CAT, then it would be allowing dirty exhaust to flow out with out going through the catalyitic converter.

 The brakes could have air in them, causing this feeling.  Unfortunately you have an ABS pump, which can trap air inside and be a pain to remove.  IF/WHEN you bleed the brakes you should pump for a minimum of 15-20 times before you open the drain screw on the caliper.  Another good idea is to get some ATE Super Blue racing brake fluid.  This is not because you need RACING brake fluid, but it's actually the color blue.  So when you are bleeding your brakes you can tell when you have flushed all the old brake fluid out (you start getting blue fluid out).  And it is a better grade of brake fluid to boot.
 Hope this helps,
 Josh