dcmelik

In process of checking t-belt tension on 87 S4 auto using Kempf tool. I'm at the point of loosening the top oil cooler line to radiator. I'm having trouble loosening this line as it requires two large wrenches (one to hold the line, the other to loosen the nut). Any suggestions? Already broke the plastic hook (driver's side) on the radiator shroud. Catastrophic or can it be wired up successfully? I always take a breather when I break something. Please advise.

BTW, to those of you with 16 valves, count your blessings; you may have slightly fewer horses than an S4, but a t-belt check in a 16 valve takes about ten minutes. Removing all the stuff that takes up space in the front end of a 32 valve really opened my eyes to how things changed from 1981 to 1987. I really love the S4 but I am learning things all over again.

David Cmelik
87 928 S4 auto "guards red"
01 986 5 speed "seal grey metallic"
00 BMW 323i black on red

worf928

IIRC it's a 27mm and a 32mm to loosen the top oil cooler line. You unscrew the shroud, and lift it up slightly - just enough to unhook the side near the cooler lines. Then with the shroud slightly and back slightly you can slide the counter-hold wrench between the shroud and the rad and then get the other wrench on the fitting. PS res has to be loose too.

dcmelik

Worf928, thanks very much. I have the PS res loosened and moved up out of the way but the shroud seems to be binding on something else. I do have it lifted and cocked up sideways a bit to get at the oil cooler line, but the wrenches in there did a number on the formed plastic hook that rests on the radiator on the driver side. Doh! I think the screws will hold it. Time will tell. Thanks again.

David Cmelik
87 928 S4 auto "guards red"
01 986 5 speed "seal grey metallic"
00 BMW 323i black on red

Garth S

... That's how to loosen the oil cooler line .... but why?
You're on the wrong side of the engine to begin with - and the rad shroud needn't be touched for a TB tension check.
Drain a little coolant, remove the top rad hose , 1" fill line and the right dist. cap & cam cover.
All you need is in front of you.

the flyin' scotsman

I modified the instructions to there simplistic form:

drain the rad, remove upper rad hose, remove the passenger side distributor, remove p.side tbelt cover, orient the engine @ TDC and check tension.

worf928

Garth and Malcolm - that's the hard way. The easy way is to disconnect the top oil cooler line, loosen the PS res, remove the air pump hose at the filter and remove the shroud. Then you have easy access to the right side distributor and cover. Of course, on a 91+ 5-seed with the oil cooler under the rad you just pull the shroud.

dcmelik

Shouldn't there also be something about wing nuts in this discussion? :P Muchas Gracias for the assistance!

David Cmelik
87 928 S4 auto "guards red"
01 986 5 speed "seal grey metallic"
00 BMW 323i black on red

Bill Ball

I finally managed to do a S4 (actually an 89 GT) tension check without removing the upper radiator hose. I always thought there wasn't enough room, but heard others had done it. There is enough room. Did not remove the fan shroud either, as Garth mentioned.

cfc928gt

It is possible to check/adjust tension without removing any hoses or oil line, just did it on an '88 two weeks ago. We accessed the tensioner bolt from below. BTW Bill, like the new wheels...

SharkSkin

All great suggestions above. Regarding the fittings and what wrench to use, I picked up a set of these and they fit great:


They were a few bucks cheaper when I bought them, but they are very high quality and have been very helpful whenever I've had to touch my oil lines. Link to product page here.

Garth S

Hey Dave - 'hard' is relative : On the S4s I've played with, the shroud is integral with the the twin fan assembly. The 22 razor sharp clips holding on the wire harness to the fans are mere childs play .... nothing a box of bandaids can't fix.
Loosening the cooler line etc as mentioned is key ... BUT, in each case, the monster AC hose that leans on the lower right corner of the shroud is one serious ***** that pins the assembly tightly.
The area can be spray lubed to allow the fans to slide out with 5 or 6 hernia inducing pulls - or one can get under the car and release all the bolts on the AC compressor.
Conclusion - I've never had a fan assembly that didn't fight to the death against being removed - due to the immovable AC hose: I'm pleased to hear that some have less spirit, and if that is the case, shroud removal is a good thing.

Like cfc928gt, I have also done this by leaving in the coolant hose; however, by preference, it's worth the 4-5 min to remove the hose to permit work from above.

hinchcliffe

Been there and done it with everything in place. A few short wrenches to get to the tensioner and a whole lot of squishing your hands in place. I cut the air pump belt and removed it and the whole process was a lot easier.

the flyin' scotsman

First time I attempted to check the tbelt tension the shroud and fans resisted removal to the point the shroud cracked. After all its about gaining access to the belt......for me its simpler to remove the rad hose and when I've got started the entire job is less than 1 hr including the odd pause for refreshment.

worf928

True. And personal preference factors in too. If we're going to have a Best Known Methods contest perhaps the best metric is time. I can do the belt tension check and tensioner service in exactly 60 minutes starting with a cold car on the ground with the clock stopping when the car backs out of the garage (and everything's cleaned up and the tools are back in their box.)

Same here. Except that on the ones I've done there are three zip-ties and IIRC 6 clips (usually one or two are missing.) I don't bother with undoing the fan harness for a tension check: I put a towel on the intake, set the shroud on the towel and use a big zip-tie to keep it in place.

The shroud certainly does not come out in one motion. What I do is unscrew the shroud from the radiator. Lift it up and back (about 1") as described in my first post to disconnect the oil cooler line. I then remove the air pump filter and release the tabs on the plastic elbow that snaps into the bottom of the filter housing. This allows the air pump hose to be moved aside. Then with the cooler line out of the way and PS res loose you can lift the left-side (d-side LHD) at an angle and move it towards the left-side fender thereby clearing the A/C line. From there, its a process of moving the shroud around to clear the rest of the 'stuff'. The 'fat' part of the fan guard has to be able to slide between the rad and the PS reservoir.

With the oil cooler line out of the way I've never had a serious problem getting the shroud out. It's mostly a problem of 4D spatial visualization once everything's loose. I usually spend 5 minutes staring at the front of the car to remind myself of the various steps. And again, on 91+ it is really easy because there are no oil cooler lines in the way.

I've tried the method of leaving everything in place and found that it takes more time and results in more scraped knuckles. Also, I don't like - personal preference - cracking the coolant system unless it's going to get completely emptied and flushed. Perhaps I'm not fastidious enough but coolant always gets splashed every where and the cleanup time adds to the 'clock'. With the 'oil cooler line' method you just put a catch pan under the fitting - usually only a few table spoons of oil leak. With the 'coolant' method you end up needing to burp the system once or thrice (more time.)

worf928

One other thing comes to mind - I saw a 928 that had been converted to r134a. No chance of getting the shroud out on that one.