New 524td

Finally, a home for all you 524td oil burners out there.
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mitchelmck
Posts: 2
Joined: Oct 21, 2022 10:54 AM
Location: Florida

New 524td

Post by mitchelmck »

Hey y'all!
Just joined the BMW world and bought an '86 524td. I'm currently having a few issues other than the abundance of rust on the car lol.
1. The radio says Code on it, and I'm unsure what to do. I've read the anti-theft booklet and tried putting in the password, to no avail. There's a 5-number code in the back of the book, but it does not seem to work.
2. The trunk does not open; it seems the locking mechanism does not work or something. I put the key in and hear something move on both sides of the trunk, but nothing changes.
3. The car will only start on starter fluid which I use sparingly. I am unsure if its glowplugs or fuel lines...
4. The odometer and speedometer does not work, I am unsure if I can fix it myself or just need to replace it.
Thanks!
Mitchel
Galahad
Posts: 496
Joined: Sep 06, 2016 9:08 PM
Location: Beverly/Worcester, MA
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Re: New 524td

Post by Galahad »

1: leave the radio on for an hour or so, if you enter the wrong code too many times it locks you out for a bit. Not entirely sure what the wait time is.
4: Might be bad odometer gears, I think the 86 cars got the late clusters so it wouldn't be the SI board.
gadget73
Posts: 1176
Joined: Nov 22, 2017 10:30 PM
Location: New Jersey

Re: New 524td

Post by gadget73 »

bad glow plugs are a good guess. Starter fluid is real bad for these, but when mine had 3/6 bad thats the only way I could get it to go.

I'll link you to the Ford manual but it has the glow plug system schematic on page 29. Basically pop the cover off and make sure the fuse link isn't blown, if thats good unplug it and ohm each of the glow plugs to ground from the connector. A good one will be under about 10 ohms, a bad one will probably be open. If you have more than one or two dead ones, fair bet its not going to be happy.


http://e28-535i.com/524td/1984%20Car%20 ... %20VII.pdf


something I think you get on the BMW that I don't, the yellow "wait to start" light should come on if the system has power, then it ought to go out and a green light will come on if all the glow plugs are working. If you get no yellow, fair bet the fuse is open. If you get the yellow but not the green, probably bad glow plugs.

Its the same part number used on some Mercedes engines, I found a set of 6 for mine for that application for under 100 bucks total. Not horrible to change them, just messy. I did it with the intake in place. Hardest part is keeping track of the small nuts that hold the wires on.


if all or at least most of the glow plugs are good, it may have an air leak. I had issues with that too but my plumbing is slightly different so I can't offer any specific advice. I think the US-spec BMW has a lift pump in the tank to push it through the filter. Might want to confirm that and see if it does in fact work. That will make fuel leaks less of an issue so long as the lift pump can push more fuel than the leak can admit air, but it will drain back to the tank and make starts difficult. Euro ones do not have a lift pump in the back, or if the pump is dead it will just have to suck through it. Any leaks at that point will make it not run properly. Ford in their infinite wisdom put the lift pump after the fuel filter, right next to the injection pump so I have the same issue with air leaks plus I can't crack the bleeder screw on the filter head to burp that out.
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