1988 320i (M20B20) Troubleshooting Help
I'm having an issue with my lady's 1988 320i(T) which I could use a hand with diagnosing. I know there are specific sections dedicated to the M20 motor, but I'm not convinced this is such a specific issue and I'd like to run this by the general community. 
After being parked for most of this brutal winter, the car developed a rough idle issue where it would often stumble and felt unbalanced.
Shortly after the rough idling started the oil level light turned on despite there being sufficient oil on the dipstick. Filling the oil back up to the full mark on the dipstick turned off the light, but it would come on again after a few days due to some loss of oil (which I think was from a leaky valve cover gasket).
A few days ago there was an enormous cloud of smoke generated on start up, and further smoke whenever it was started after having been parked for a few hours. This was the first time I'd ever seen this from the car, and it was a very sudden development. The car just easily passed an emissions test, and it could not have done so were it burning any oil.
Last night the low coolant light came on along with the low oil light, and after topping up the coolant reservoir with distilled water both lights (coolant and oil) went out (!?). Starting it up today yielded normal exhaust emissions, though there's still an oily smell from the engine bay when the car heats up due to the oil leak on the outside of the motor.
There are no signs whatsoever of a head gasket issue: no overheating, no oil in the coolant, no coolant in the oil.
The idle problem is now gone, and the car starts easily with no odd sounds throughout the power band.
Could a badly leaking valve cover gasket cause this problem if oil is getting in through the spark plugs?
If this were a problem with oil blowing past the valves, why would it be so intermittent?
Where should I start with this? :|
I'm getting more and more comfortable (and capable) with working on my own cars, but I haven't touched motors or transmissions yet, as every car I've had that isn't too intimidating to learn on has been a daily driver I need running to get to work.
Thanks in advance for the help everyone! :D
After being parked for most of this brutal winter, the car developed a rough idle issue where it would often stumble and felt unbalanced.
Shortly after the rough idling started the oil level light turned on despite there being sufficient oil on the dipstick. Filling the oil back up to the full mark on the dipstick turned off the light, but it would come on again after a few days due to some loss of oil (which I think was from a leaky valve cover gasket).
A few days ago there was an enormous cloud of smoke generated on start up, and further smoke whenever it was started after having been parked for a few hours. This was the first time I'd ever seen this from the car, and it was a very sudden development. The car just easily passed an emissions test, and it could not have done so were it burning any oil.
Last night the low coolant light came on along with the low oil light, and after topping up the coolant reservoir with distilled water both lights (coolant and oil) went out (!?). Starting it up today yielded normal exhaust emissions, though there's still an oily smell from the engine bay when the car heats up due to the oil leak on the outside of the motor.
There are no signs whatsoever of a head gasket issue: no overheating, no oil in the coolant, no coolant in the oil.
The idle problem is now gone, and the car starts easily with no odd sounds throughout the power band.
Could a badly leaking valve cover gasket cause this problem if oil is getting in through the spark plugs?
If this were a problem with oil blowing past the valves, why would it be so intermittent?
Where should I start with this? :|
I'm getting more and more comfortable (and capable) with working on my own cars, but I haven't touched motors or transmissions yet, as every car I've had that isn't too intimidating to learn on has been a daily driver I need running to get to work.
Thanks in advance for the help everyone! :D
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