Messages

1

Electrical / damn gremlins

« on: April 30, 2009, 06:10:34 PM »

I have a 93 318i coupe, auto. My problem is the dash keeps recycling. what I mean is every 2-3 mins the dash goes completely out and cuts back on as if I just stuck the key in and turn to on. I assume it's relay related. has anyone else experienced this gremlin?

2

Engine + Driveline / how acurate should cam timing be?

« on: April 30, 2009, 03:01:36 PM »

maybe I can do a sound clip. It definitely sounds like lifter noise.
as for coolant, I am not seeing a change so I will most likely need to try a rebleed. No heat coming from the vents at all. I tried opening the valve below rad on right side. All I saw was coolant draining. again no change with the level in the reservoir. I wish I could depend on the temp gauge but now I'm not sure it's working correctly. ran the car for about 10 min and moved forward and backward in the parking lot. gauge stayed at half or a little above half. fan clutch is shot and that's why I'm wondering about the gauge. The gauge did show hot before the head swap. Now I understand that this car is only rated at a hundred hp, but is there any sluggishness when stomping the gas halfway?  It seems to pull kind of slow.

3

Engine + Driveline / how acurate should cam timing be?

« on: April 30, 2009, 11:36:36 AM »

I finally had the car running for short bursts at a time. 2 issues stand out after head rebuild and install.
front portion of valve train is noisy as hell. like no oil reaching lifters. but I know oil is circulating up top.  I cant remember the top end being that loud. almost scared to rev it fear of breaking or bending something. I haven't rev it to the 3000rpm mark because of the noise. My other issue is cooling. new water pump and tstat. coolant doesn't seem to be circulating. and a slight leak or drip somewhere at the back corner of vC. after about 5 min some smoke will appear from the exhaust manny.

Good thing out of all this, is the engine no longer blows white or blue smoke. which it was previously doing due to cracked head in 3 places.
any thoughts?

4

Engine + Driveline / how acurate should cam timing be?

« on: April 29, 2009, 12:34:59 PM »

You can use a deep socket the same size as the valve cover bolts seals and press them on with a vise.

Thanks. I'll try that. any lube on it?

5

Engine + Driveline / how acurate should cam timing be?

« on: April 29, 2009, 12:02:36 PM »

congrats on that. today I just cranked mine over. no noises what so ever. though I am wondering about the oil pressure. I thought after cranking and once oil pressure was up, there might be a squirt of oil seen from the driver seat. I did'nt see any, though I noticed oil seeping out the oil filter housing bolt. I did'nt torque that down purposely to assist me with recognizing some form of pressure.
 So I have 2 questions. first, is there a tell tell once oil pressure is up? and how in the hell is everyone getting the seals on to the VC bolts? after that, i can install the the plugs/cables and start her up.

6

Engine + Driveline / how acurate should cam timing be?

« on: April 28, 2009, 06:54:15 AM »

My cams were not flush square with the head or each other either, but I rotated them individually until they were.  I just used a crescent wrench on the square to rotate the cam while it was unbolted from the gear- I did this for both cams.  I'm not sure if that is a good way to go about correcting the alignment but it worked great for me.  I used a ruler to check for square.


My cams were only a little bit off to begin with though.  It sounds to me if you don't have interference from cranking it over by hand that you won't have it with the engine running.  But one or both of your cams may be advanced/retarded?

Thanks for the reply all. I've changed the oil, filter and refilled the coolant. I need to route the and installed spark plugs and torque down the VC. will probably be cranking it over today. fingers crossed. BTW JP, my cam angles looked just like yours in the photo.

7

Engine + Driveline / how acurate should cam timing be?

« on: April 23, 2009, 09:34:22 PM »

I recently replaced the head due to a few cracks. car is a 93 318 cpe auto.
 after numerous times of locking the crank and cams in position, rotating the engine by hand a couple times back to TDC, the cams according to the blocks at the back seem a little off. everything else is kosher. arrows up and lobes pointing toward each other and crank locked. Is it normal for the cams to be a little off after rotating or are they suppose to fall inline each time wherever you set them? all guides are installed and tight. TCT is installed with tension on the chain. everything turns fine. a little tight at the peak of the cam lobe but that's expected. I haven't started the car up yet because I'm scared to death of bending some thing. Head is pretty much brand new. it was fully rebuilt. cracked one sitting in the garage as a door stopper. If there was any interference, I assume the engine would not rotate with out putting your body weight into it. Can some one ease my concerns?