[gidleigh]

My fuel pump seems a little noisy. Like a loud ticking sound. Cause for worry?

[Boxer]

Is this a recent change?

[il Capolino]

Have you tried listening by leading the sound directly from the pump through the tip of a screw driver, creating a small resonance chamber with your hand between the shaft and your ear (the makeshift statoscope of the mechanic)? It is deceptive to locate engine sounds, as you know. Some power steering pumps make a fast ticking sound when the oil level is low. Try listening to the power steering pump through the screw driver as well.

[gidleigh]

I have only owned my car 2 days, so I am getting use to it's various sounds. The variable ticking I am hearing is coming from the dash and related to the a/c control. I assume it is a fan bearing or something of that nature. Any thoughts. Thanks in advance. Gary

[lightning]

The ticking, or thumping noise from under the dash is normal. It's the heater valve cycling on and off and I must admit I wondered what it was on mine at first.

Here's a picture of the valve as I was removing it. There's a solenoid in the top which continually cycles the valve open/closed, hence the ticking or thumping noise. If the heater sticks on hot, or cold, it's generally the valve at fault and although it costs over £300 you can buy a repair kit from Autohaus in the USA for $40.....plus £50 shipping (still only about £60)

[gidleigh]

Thanks, for the info. So there is a specific repair kit for this particular valve? Mine is not sticking from the stand point of hot or cold it just makes the noise( prelude to failure)?. Do you think the repair kit would stop the noise? Is there a complicated dissection required to get to the valve and do you have to drain all of the coolant?

[lightning]

No, it's not about to fail. The ticking noise is normal operation of the unit. If the heater is responding normally (when you turn the temperature dial up or down the heater/aircon responds within less than half a minute) It's all OK.
The ticking, or thumping, should be fairly slow....say about once per second.
If you do need to repair it you can remove the valve without draining the coolant. Plug the hoses as soon as you remove them (use wine bottle stoppers, see my picture) You will lose some coolant when you remove the pipes so you have to have a container ready to catch it, plus a towel in the footwell to stop any splashes getting on the carpet.
Remove the lower pipe first as no coolant will leak from the upper pipe/valve when you take the lower pipe off, but coolant will come out of the lower one as soon as you remove it.
Google Autohaus in the USA they sell the valve repair kit for $40 as it's listed for the 1980's BMW 5 series which used the same valve.
However if your heater/aircon responds normally then leave the valve alone....it's working.
Picture shows components of valve.

[gidleigh]

My control works, but not great. Sometimes is ticks fast and sometimes if I slowly turn the rheostat it is slow. A one or two degree change can make the difference between the Sahara or Antarctica. It also seems to take a little time for it to settle down after an adjustment. I am wondering if the rebuilt kit would make a difference?

[lightning]

The unit needs the repair kit fitting then. The gauze filter gets blocked and the rubber diaphragm can deteriorate. Get it from AutohausAZ in the USA....their part number is 1147213007
(listed for a 1986 BMW 535i)

When you get the part it's not too hard to fit, but probably more tricky in a LHD car if the valve is still fitted on the left side as you sit in the car.

Best thing is to get the part and then let me know and I'll give you advice on how to do it, I did mine recently.

[gidleigh]

Thanks for all of your help. I am going to replace the coolant in the next few weeks and remove the seats for a little R & R on the leather. I will check under the dash and check the positioning of the valve. I might as well service the valve at that time.

I use FerrariChat a lot, and it is getting a new Mondial sub-forum. Is it just my impression that Ferrarilife is a little lonely?

[a1exander]

As an aside those valves are also used by BMW in their 5 series model range E28 late 88-89 model years or there abouts.

[gidleigh]

Does the kit come with the diaphragm and rubber washer pictured in your post? When I checked AutohausAZ's site as well a couple of others they only show the shaft and a metal washer.

[Boxer]

Originally Posted by gidleigh

I use FerrariChat a lot, and it is getting a new Mondial sub-forum. Is it just my impression that Ferrarilife is a little lonely?

FerrariChat is quantity while FerrariLife is quality. A very high percentage of the posters here are either owners or highly knowledgable experts. Call is McDonalds vs Morton's Steakhouse.

[lightning]

The repair kit contains everything that you need. The main part has the rubber diaphragm installed and you also get the metal spring washer, which looks like a rubber washer in the picture. No other parts are needed to repair the valve. When you reassemble the valve take care to position the various washers correctly, my picture shows the correct order. Also be careful to assemble the solenoid with the electrical connections lined up properly.

Draining and refilling the coolant (I ended up doing this anyway as I did not know when it was last done) was not so easy!
I removed one of the cooling fans from the front radiator and took out the thermo switch from the bottom of the radiator to drain the coolant. Removing the cap from the expansion tank in the engine bay allows air into the system for draining.
There are two air bleed screws for refilling, one is at the top of the radiator and the other is at the front of the engine where the main coolant lines to the front of the car exit. To get at this one I had to lie across the engine.
Be careful when removing this small brass screw not to drop it into the engine, as you will never see it again if you do. It may be better just to loosen it.
The coolant was refilled and the air bled from the system but then when I started the engine there was clearly an airlock as the coolant in the expansion tank boiled over rapidly. Much opening and closing of bleed screws and general "what have I done wrong" panic later, the coolant suddenly started to flow to the radiator.
However there was no heater operation, just cold air, but this went OK after a short drive in the car. I then bled the system again and quite a bit more air was present in the radiator.

[gidleigh]

Refilling sounds a little tricky. I guess you have to wait until the thermostat open to bleed it sucessfully. I am not sure if I should jack up the front first and drain, then lift the back and drain the engine block, or try to put the whole car on 4 jacks, which seems a little tricky. Any thoughts?

[lightning]

I'd suggest that you raise the back of the car a bit, so the radiator at the front is the lowest part. You could do as I did and park on a slight hill, facing down.
You could test the coolant for antifreeze strength, as it might not need changing, and there's little point in doing it if that's the case. When was the cam belt last replaced? Obviously the coolant has to be replaced at that time.
As you are supposed to change the cam belt every 3 years the coolant should never become too old.
I replaced mine mainly because I had put radiator sealant in to try and stop what I thought was a slight leak (the cabin had a smell of coolant) and soon after that the heater stuck on hot. The radiator sealant had blocked the fine gauze filter on the heater valve!
As it had a cam belt change 2 years ago the coolant couldn't be any older than that.
The "leak" turned out to be perished seals on the expansion tank cap.

[gidleigh]

You are probably right about the need for coolant change. The car had a very extensive engine out service November of 2009, hoses, valves, fuel lines, clutch, belts, seals etc.... That was at 46k miles it now has 48k.

[lightning]

No need to change the coolant, just rebuild the heater valve.

You could use a tester to make sure there's enough antifreeze but I'd leave it at that.