Messages

1

Engine + Driveline / EWS and M42?

« on: January 15, 2009, 01:19:29 AM »

He said a non-ews engine will not work in my ews car without taking the accessories from the old engine, and putting them on a new one.  He also said the coils did not match up, witch makes me think it might be an e30 M42 that it is being replaced with.

However, a member from another forum said that as long as it was an M42, it didnt matter weather the new engine was ews or non-ews, that it should be a direct swap without modification.

2

Engine + Driveline / EWS and M42?

« on: January 14, 2009, 11:21:57 PM »

Are there any M42s with EWS? I have a late 95 318i. My M42 engine got a broken rod. I'm replacing it with another M42.

However, my original quote on the labour was 600. Now I'm told the labour will go up 300 because the M42 I'm replacing it with does not have EWS. Something about the coils not matching up properly, and having to take parts like the starter and intake from the original, and replace the ones on the new engine.

Apparently the M42 with EWS is rare because it was only installed in late 95s.

Is this accurate? Are there different variations to the M42 engine?

3

Engine + Driveline / Engine Rattle plus Fire!!!

« on: January 06, 2009, 08:51:34 PM »

Thanks for the reply. Based on the sound from the videos, do you think its possible that its not the engine?

So 2 weeks after dropping my car off at the shop, I called today cause I hadn't heard anything. Basically he told me my engine is knocking (obviously) and that I probably have bent rods and need a new engine. He also said my clutch didn't feel right, and that he didnt even know where to begin with the whole fire thing. So the guy just basically didnt wanna deal with it and told me to get rid of the car. I asked him how much for a new engine with install and he said about 2500.


So I dunno if I should just get a second opinion or just go out into the market for a new car. I can get a 328 engine for about $500, but labour would probably break the deal on that. Plus I have to agree that I was getting some odd vibrations from the clutch, so the engine probably isnt the only problem.

Im thinking my best move is to buy a new car, and sell my 318i for parts. I just dont wanna write off the car so fast without knowing for sure whats going on with it. Am I just having wishful thinking, or is my car toast?

4

Engine + Driveline / Engine Rattle plus Fire!!!

« on: December 22, 2008, 11:29:36 PM »

Well I wasnt flooring it. I would give it gas, and release, give it gas, and release, to rock the car.  If I got some movement I'd hold the gas, but I wouldnt say I was flooring it. I never redlined it, I might have hit the start of the red for a split second maybe once or twice, but it was usually around 4000 rpm at most.

5

Engine + Driveline / Engine Rattle plus Fire!!!

« on: December 21, 2008, 08:24:26 PM »

The weather is crappy and I got it outside right now. I'm gonna try to get an oil sample soon. I have no error codes, or anything suggesting anything is even wrong with the car besides the fact that it rattles like crazy. The black soot seems to have stopped coming out.

Peerless, while I do agree that the it sounds like the engine is toast, a rebuilt engine will cost the same as a crappy used car. If I had the funds to purchase a decent car, I would do so. I'd hate to put so much money into a car that isnt worth much, but I dont think I have much of a choice.

Besides, I dont know for sure exactly what the problem is.

The question is, what would cause a fire in what seemed to be my cat, and leave a terrible rattle in my engine. My friend is gonna bring his stethoscope by to try to isolate the sound's location. He recommended I do that first before taking parts of my engine apart.

6

Engine + Driveline / Engine Rattle plus Fire!!!

« on: December 21, 2008, 10:07:24 AM »

Thanks for the replies

So the fire and the rattle could be completely unrelated...

Although I've been able to do all the work myself thus far, I think I'm gonna have to take it in to a shop for this one. Whatever it is, it doesnt sound good. I need my car running asap, so I dont think I have much of an option.

A couple suggestions I've had is that its a rod or my timing chain/rails have broken apart. Would the car still run in these situations?

7

Engine + Driveline / Engine Rattle plus Fire!!!

« on: December 21, 2008, 03:04:01 AM »

Hey guys, I'm new here. Ran into a serious problem with my 318i.

Well I went into work yesterday despite the snow storm. When I was going to leave, I had snow up to the door trim. After some shoveling, I had about 4 guys help me push the car out. We were at it for about 15 mins, my car started to heat up, but never came close to the red temp gauge.

It stalled a couple times... then I could smell something burning, one of my co-workers looked under the car and there was a small flame. It wasn't near the engine. It was under the car by the front passenger side. I'm guessing it was the catalytic converter. Wasn't very big but it was burning for awhile cause it was hard to get at with the snow in the way. A fire extinguisher did the job. I had the car towed home.



Once home, I turned it on. The car starts and runs. However, when I give it throttle there is a loud rattle sound, does it in neutral and in gear. I had a rattling sound before for the last couple weeks whenever I gave it throttle at around 3k. I was going to replace the chain tensioner because I thought thats what it was. However, this rattle is A LOT louder now. Also, I have a black soot like substance coming out of my exhaust when I give it hard throttle. I should also mention the heat in the car was getting very hot, much hotter than usual, forcing me to shut it off during the process.

I uploaded a video. Its painful to hear.. you can hear it the best towards the end of the video. The second video is with the hood open. sounds like its coming from inside the engine. My best guess is that the tensioner broke, chain guides broke apart or something, and i got pieces rattling in my engine. However, I'm not sure how this explains the fire.

In either case, it sounds bad, and I dont know if its worth fixing. The car is starting to rust, and although I only bought it about a year and a half ago, maybe I should just cut my loses.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C2CUro8XhJM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_u9_rpG_CZw