Engine failure due to pan gasket shift/bolt loss (e30 only)

[sheepdog]

Good thought. He said the guy mentioned alot of noise (dumb@$$), but thought the car sounded like that. Idiot. Anyway. Hope something can happen. Did your engine suffer any damage?

Nope.
Biggest concern would be a spun bearing, but it takes a bit for that.

I am sure if you took the bottom end apart and looked you would probably find some scarring, but nothing serious. I had good oil in it when it happened plus it was shut off fast.

[Asserti]

I am the founders of this board so thankfull for founding such a great place, giving information and warning fellow M42 owners!

I bought my first 318is with 223.000 km's (don't really know the conversion to miles) That engine failed due to not renewing the chain tensioner. Buying a second engine was cheaper than repairing. Because I doesn't want the same thing happen twice, I removed my lower oil pan yesterday and I found... 3 loose bolts.

Engine has only 137.000km's (so the odometer says :p)

I need to lift the engine to remove the upper low pan I guess?

[romkasponka]

I need to lift the engine to remove the upper low pan I guess?

there is no nead to do it if you do not want to replace gasket, just use thread locker.

[sheepdog]

I am the founders of this board so thankfull for founding such a great place, giving information and warning fellow M42 owners!

I bought my first 318is with 223.000 km's (don't really know the conversion to miles) That engine failed due to not renewing the chain tensioner. Buying a second engine was cheaper than repairing. Because I doesn't want the same thing happen twice, I removed my lower oil pan yesterday and I found... 3 loose bolts.

Engine has only 137.000km's (so the odometer says :p)

I need to lift the engine to remove the upper low pan I guess?

Lower pan can be done without lifting the engine.
This is all that is needed to do the check and repair.

[Asserti]

okay thanks, but I'm also going to check the gasket of the upper pan, just to be sure.

Can I lift the engine enough when I remove only the bolts of the engine mounts? Or do I also need to release the bolts from the tranny? How much does it needs to be lifted?

thx in advance!

[sheepdog]

okay thanks, but I'm also going to check the gasket of the upper pan, just to be sure.

Can I lift the engine enough when I remove only the bolts of the engine mounts? Or do I also need to release the bolts from the tranny? How much does it needs to be lifted?

thx in advance!

If you intend to do anything with the upper pan. Don't.

Unless it is leaking or showing signs that it moved, I would not mess with it as it is best left alone.

To get it in and out, you can unbolt the right side motor mount from the frame (passenger in the US) and lift the motor by using a jack against that. Problem is, this is dangerous as it could fall, and you will be spending time scraping out the old gasket. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Do all this, and then you still need to get the new one in there with some sealant. Not an easy job.



Just pull the lower pan, check for debris and make sure the upper pan bolts inside there are good, then close it back up.

[Asserti]

very good and usefull information, thank you very very much!

I was planning it because I had 3 lose bolts. I just want to check that the gasket hasn't moved. A friend told me into this, just in case.. But since you think that it isn't necessary, I think I won't be bothered eather.

For installing the lower half, just a new gasket will do, or do I need to apply some sealant? (what kind, brand?)

I am getting to know the M42 a bit, I removed the head from my first, and swapped my second I can use an engine jack (crane?) for the job.

Anyway, I felt very lucky when I didn't found any debris of the distribution.

[WARLOCKM42]

Hi guys i run to this old thread by accident and i only want to say one thing:There is an other reason that you have to remove the lower oil sump.I always remove lower oil sump once a year and clean it from the oil deposits so i have tightened those bolds from the very first time since i changed the upper sump gasket too.Therefore i never had this problem plus if it happens i will notice the bolds inside it.Put this procedure in your annual service day and you will never have to worry about it it is easy and fast to do.My car has 240000km and  runs like a charm but im having the engine rebuild just for the fun of it.PRECAUTION the best way to keep your engine running whithout problems 1000s of miles.

[Crunk3]

SO i tried taking my oil pan off to check it, I undid all the bolts.
Pan never came off, Gave it a few wacks with a hammer, nothing. Hit it with a 2x4, still nothing, kicked it, still nothing. so i gave up and put the bolts back on. All the bolts i removed looked like they may have had loctite put on them, cause they were all orange looking and it appeared that the oilpan was sealed too cause i could see parts of black sealant. So i donno

[sheepdog]

SO i tried taking my oil pan off to check it, I undid all the bolts.
Pan never came off, Gave it a few wacks with a hammer, nothing. Hit it with a 2x4, still nothing, kicked it, still nothing. so i gave up and put the bolts back on. All the bolts i removed looked like they may have had loctite put on them, cause they were all orange looking and it appeared that the oilpan was sealed too cause i could see parts of black sealant. So i donno

You probably missed a bolt on the back side. Easy to do.

[kowalski]

you shouldn't have too much crap building up in your pan if you do regular oil changes; mine looked like new when i did the bolt check, and i had 3 bolts in the pan... I've got 330,000 km's on the engine, and i had it at 7,350 rpm the other day (stock other then cams, injectors, ferrarri MAF and the haltech management system). i'm building a new motor for it right now tho..

[Crunk3]

You probably missed a bolt on the back side. Easy to do.

I looked over it like 3 times and ran my finger around the edge and felt or saw no  bolts

[jwbavalon]

Hi all, thanks for the post.

Pulled the sump to find 4 bolts rolling around and 2 finger tight.  As a consulation, the oil pickup bolts were tight.  Applied Loctite to all the bolts and torqued to 12nm.

I guess I was lucky.

[sheepdog]

Hi all, thanks for the post.

Pulled the sump to find 4 bolts rolling around and 2 finger tight.  As a consulation, the oil pickup bolts were tight.  Applied Loctite to all the bolts and torqued to 12nm.

I guess I was lucky.

Damn, you were lucky.

Good work.

[strad]

I did check mine yesterday.  Second time I've been in there (first time didn't check the bolts haha).  They were below specified torque, but not by much.  The pan, though oem with a 90 date cast on it, does show signs of being scraped once.  edit: would be helpful to know mileage.  It's currently 198k miles.