Isnt it just typical, when you get a nice day, and you think - just the day to do the thermostat job Ive been putting off!! In hindsight, perhaps Sunday wasn't the best day to do the job, but I thought - what could go wrong? All was going quite well, no hassle getting the viscous fan off, and I got the stat off without too much grief, and found the cause of the non functioning stat straight away - one of the two supports for the end of the stat had broken away - I have never thought those supports looked overly substantial. The new stat - a Mayle/Behr stat was slightly different, and looked a bit beefier. Anyway, I got the new stat on, and was starting to put the rest back together, and it was then that Murphys Law struck - I got the upper water connection on easily enough, but I was struggling a bit with the lower one, as the push fit connector didn't want to slide fully on ( why Oh why don't BMW use jubilee clips the same as most other manufacturers - instead of those awful push on connectors?) this was when the push on connector wire clip decided to ping off, and totally vanish...… I searched everywhere, nothing. So now the car is stranded till tomorrow. Why is it that fasteners - especially the slightly unusual type can totally disappear for ever if you are unlucky enough, of just plain careless enough to drop them, and of course nothing but the right part will do the job, and it is a vital fixing? Is there a way of clamping the connectors without the "U" clip? I am willing to bet that BMW wont sell you just the clip, I will have to buy the whole bottom hose at around £30 odd . I shall probably get my begging bowl out at my local indy, and see if he has a spare clip he has lying around or a hose he has changed. Sadly Her Indoors, doesn't have a car at the moment, so Shank's pony will have to come back into use...….
Best laid plans of mice and men! . . . . A similar thing happened to me, last week. Out on my motorcycle for a ride with a few mates and nearly got stranded as the starter motor was playing up. Ordered a new starter, which arrived next day, and stripped the bike down to fit it. Got to the very last job of reconnecting the fuel tank, and managed to snap one of the fuel disconnects. Why make an item like a fuel coupling from plastic? Anyway, ordered an aftermarket metal coupling at 3x the price and it was all ready to go a couple of days later. I hope that you get yours sorted without any further drama.
There is a God ! He answered my prayers to be able to find and retrieve the missing clip!! having rung around various places this morning, and drawing a complete blank on a clip or a hose being in stock, I thought it was worth having a final search for the missing clip before resigning myself to no car for a day or two, and bingo I found it! It was under the aircon compressor on the undertray, I managed to get it with my trusty telescopic magnet on a stick retrieval tool - an extremely useful piece of kit, that should be in everyone's tool box, the magnet is strong enough to pick up a dropped spanner, as well as the more usual nuts, bolts etc. It was soon all back together, even getting the viscous fan back on the pump was dead easy - I have spent a few frustrating times with E39 fans getting them back on, so this one was a comparative doddle! So half an hour later it was all back up together once more and running - result! The reason for the fail was a bit odd really, you wouldn't expect the stat support to break like that, mind you they were not overly substantial, so in future I think I shal avoid Febi stats. Hopefully the new one will be rather longer lasting ………. Rich
