Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

M52 in e30, smoke and VANOS problem

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

    M52 in e30, smoke and VANOS problem

    Hi guys,

    I recently completed an M52 and ZF 5 speed swap into my 1988 325is E30.

    Initially there was a problem with the VANOS seals which were replaced as part of the package (I bought a drive in/drive out package).

    However throughout the whole experience the car has been a little smokey.

    At times there is barely any smoke at all, at other times, usually driving up a hill in a low gear there will be a very significant amount of smoke. There is either no/very little visible smoke on idle. However under throttle the amount of smoke can vary.

    Below is a clip of the car revving. The strange thing is, a second rev will produce no/very little smoke. It's almost like it's building up and a rev clears it out and it begins building up again until the next rev. The longer you wait, usually the more smoke you get. As you can see the smoke is a grey colour, any ideas?

    It's an M52B28 from an Australian delivered E36 328i, therefore it is not the M52TU engine.

    Lastly, it went on the dyno today, it laid 107rwkw, he commented that the VANOS is not switching on, solenoid has been tested and is working, the seals were just replaced in the last week or so.

    - Could the VANOS not working play a role here?
    - What sends a signal to the VANOS solenoid to switch on?
    - What, in your opinion, is the cause of the smoke?

    Please help... this conversion is driving me crazy. Car drives okay but definitely lacks low rpm torque (having owned a 328i, I know the engine well).

    IS_325

    Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.






    #2
    You should dig a little deeper but my bet is either you've got the hose for the valve cover going directly to the intake boot which is sucking oil in the intake (basically no oil separator) check your dip stick tube to see if there's some sort of drain hose going on to it you can search for more info on that and for pictures

    Or you might need a valve job because of the seals being worn and some of the oil is leaking past the valve seals into the exhaust port which is why it builds up (oil burning in the exhaust when you rev the smoke blows out and it takes a little bit of time to build more smoke up)

    From my experience you won't do much damage if either of those are the problems except you will be going through a lot of oil and spark plugs


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

    Comment

    Working...
    X