Terry is a retired school teacher, retired Army Reservist, and retired civilian Department of the Army Civilian working about half the time as a pilot and flight instructor. He has been flying since age 19, adding gliders in 2011. He's been an FAA certificated flight instructor since 2013.
I reached a milestone last night – passing 1,000 hours of flight time.
I had my first solo flight at age 19, but due to college and military service I either had time or money to fly, but rarely had both at the same time! I became a licensed private pilot at age 29. I once went 91 days w/o flying, and I went w/o flying for a year while I was in Iraq. Otherwise, I’ve remained a current, active pilot for 30+ years.
I am fortunate to get to share my passion for flying with others as an instructor. I’ve been a glider instructor since 2013, and in the last several months have been able to instruct in a Piper Seminole.
I spent the last year working on the multi-engine commercial certificate because I had an opportunity to do some charter co-pilot flying. That was a lot of work, and much of my study efforts overlapped with being a multi-engine instructor, so I did that too. Because of this focus, I fell out of instrument currency, now requiring something called an Instrument Proficiency Check. Training to regain instrument proficiency looked like it would be about 1/3 of the training required to just go ahead and become an instrument instructor, so I am now working on that. Knowledge test passed, and the practical training began this past weekend.
Last night, I flew in the right seat of a Cessna 172 with my instructor in the left and a CAP friend in the back. We launched on what turned out to be 2.5 hours of night cross country under the hood with some actual IMC and three approaches. (The needle deflections were much, much smaller than my flight two days before; I’m feeling much better!) I ended the night with 1,001.2 hours!
Somewhere in the vicinity of Columbia (SC) Metropolitan Airport I crossed the 1,000-hour threshold. I’ve had a lot of fun in airplanes, gliders, and even a gyrocopter. I’ve paid for some. Been paid for some. And sometimes even been upside down wishing I was right side up, but I’ve never wished I wasn’t flying.
I’ve had a lot of great instructors over the years. I hope I can continue give to others some of what I’ve learned.
“This will be a normal takeoff on Runway 35 at KAGS. In the event of an abnormality with runway remaining…”
THE BASE Auto Craft Shop had been closed for a few months due to Corona Virus. Today was the first day back open. I had a really productive day working on the car. I planned to work through my list until I got tired or finished. I got it all done:
Oil Change
Coolant drain and fill
New ignition coils
Grounding strap replacement
Transfer case oil change
Transfer case gear change
The transfer case gear was the biggest “win” of the day, but first a few thoughts/tips about the others…
My new toy, a Foxwell scanner, showing codes for misfires in cylinders 2 and 5.
I try to change the oil every 3,000 miles (5,000 km), but I don’t mind if I go over. Maybe every second oil change I’ll use one of the engine flush treatments (Gunk, Wynn’s, or transmission fluid). Not sure what all it does, but I’ve never had a problem. I open the oil fill cap and the oil filter housing before draining the oil so there’s no vacuum slowing things down. Whenever possible I like to have something else to work on so I don’t get bored waiting for the last drops to drain! I usually get Mann filters from eEuroparts.com.
The transfer case uses a specialty lubricant. The first time I did this I bought it from the local dealer because I needed it the next day. I got an aftermarket version on Amazon by planning in advance this time! Two tips for this job. One, remove the fill bolt before the drain. It would stink to have drained the lubricant but not be able to replace it. Two, online you’ll often read “refill until it leaks out of the fill hole.” This is incorrect. The maintenance manual requires 750ml that I put in with a small pump, pump, pump, pump… The oil comes in 1 liter bottles, so 1/4 of your expensive bottle gets wasted. Oh well.
I removed the big blue plastic screw from the lower left corner of the radiator to drain a good bit of coolant. I’ve never removed the block drain, but I found it and will likely do so next year. Be sure to get the right coolant if you don’t buy it from BMW. BMW’s you mix 1:1 with distilled water. Some of the aftermarket ones are used straight from the bottle. Draining from just the radiator only required about a gallon (four liters) to refill; that’s a bit less than half the system. Put the heater temperature and blower on high while you run the car to bleed. Top off as the level drops. Wait for the heater to be blowing hot air. Check the level the next day to see if more air has worked its way out of the system.
The car had been getting harder to start. I’d turn the key and nothing would happen “for a long time” that was probably just a second or two. AutoZone’s free charging system check told me the alternator was OK, but the regulator might not be. These are classic symptoms of a bad grounding strap. To test, connect the negative terminal under the hood to the engine with a jumper cable. If the car fires right up – like mine did – then it’s definitely a grounding problem.
There are two ground cables, one from the engine to a nearby spot on the chassis and one about half way back connecting the chassis to the exhaust. I used AC Delco cables from Amazon rather than a BMW part. My cable was so corroded that it broke in half while removing it! The car now starts so fast it’s scary. The stereo works better with a good ground, too!
Replacing the coils is pretty straight forward. The boots are shaped to fit into the top of the engine, so take car to align them carefully. I had been having some intermittent misfires on cylinders 2 and 5, and new coils from eEuroparts.com cleared that right up. Nice smooth idle now.
The transfer case gear was an interesting project. A guy on one Facebook group said he spent five hours doing the job, but typically people claim it takes about 90 minutes. There are lots of DIYs online and videos on YouTube. I printed a couple sets of instructions and watched “every” video. Same steps apply to pretty much all the all-wheel drive BMWs as far as I can tell.
I sprayed around the transfer case control motor with a bunch of brake cleaner before removing it, then again after it was off the car. The four reverse torx bolts are awkwardly accessible if you put a universal swivel adapter between the socket and a long extension. I loosened to transfer case support bracket and used a floor stand to support the weight.
BMW has made millions of cars, so it’s not surprising that I have the same issues as others. Still, it was fascinating/rewarding to see I had the exact same mix of grease and abraded plastic gear that others have had.
All of the above work took me five hours plus a bit of time to clean up the work area. I’m fortunate to have access to an Army base’s Auto Craft Shop. This let me put the car up on a lift instead of trying to do it on the floor.
I had a Veepeak code reader that I couldn’t find when I recently needed it, so I treated myself to a Foxwell code reader. This is my fourth “project BMW,” and I think I’m worth it! I cleared all the codes and drove really hard to see if it misfired again or gave more codes for the transfer case. Good to go!
The Foxwell code reader shows lots more things to work on, but these jobs are done and working right. What’s next?
