Oil Pump Questions

[Jbrough]

I have recently had my engine out of the car and replaced the head gasket, clutch, flywheel, etc..

Well when I started the engine back up it wasn't pumping oil. I immeadiately shut it down, and stormed around the garage for awhile since I knew this meant a few more days before I could take the car out.

After pulling the engine out again and taking apart the bottom end of the engine I haven't found any "smoking gun" type of problems. Possibly the upper oil pan gasket failed. I have a little time since I sent the bottom end off to get rebuilt since I didn't feel like dealing with it myself and lack of equipment and skill.

Hopefully this isn't that common since getting to the oil pump was a pain.

On a better note I ended up taking the eta out instead and ended up getting 37mpg going around 75. I love that car on the long trips!

[Febi Guibo]

I had a similar experience and I lost oil pressure (see the Febi Guibo's Excellent Adventure thread) ...the oil pan bolts worked loose (fell out) and front of the oil pan gasket was compromised.

[bmwman91]

Yeah if the pump assembly is intact in its home in the timing case, there must be a big leak in the intake track for it. Did you look in there to make sure there actually were pump gears? With the BS I hear about shops pulling, or just being sloppy & forgetting, make sure the pump gears are even there. Did you have them replaced or checked out or anything? It is one of those things that could be overlooked in excitement of getting it running again.

[Jbrough]

I pulled the whole front timing assembly apart and everything looked fine (Except that it was dry). I always do my own work since I haven't found a good mechanic yet. I've only had the 318is for a few months and when I pulled the radiator out it still had the manufactures plug in it leading to the resvoir.

The gasket didn't look to bad but its hard to tell. The whole thing looks bomb proof since its driven right off the crankshaft. I'm going to blame this whole thing on the gasket if I can't find the tolerances for the two gear assembly and verify its still good. The whole thing still feels tight.

I just want to avoid this situation at all costs again since this has caused me to get the bottom end of my engine rebuilt. So close to doing a buildup now that its all taken apart... I guess I have to decide if its going to be worth the extra money or not.

Any suggestions on where to go to get a BMW engine rebuilt in the Minneapolis area or the midwest?

[D. Clay]

If you had the timing chain tensioner out or replaced it, the M42 will make an incredible racket when you fist start it. It will sound like a diesel. It should have oil pressure though as the sending unit (I think) is by the oil filter.