M52 help needed

[Major]

That rubber thing in the middle of the pic. It's broken gasket fun.

I'm obviously missing something then. That 'thing' is made of hard plastic, and sits there loosely. Are you talking about this gasket? The smaller ones pointed out by part #3:



They look like this on mine:



Are those the ones you're talking about? Guess I need new ones...

Hot tank the whole motor. Do a compression test and leak down first. Check ring gap (probably get a shop to do that) and just check general health of the motor. refurbish what needs to and leave alone what is in spec. Check the head/block for flatness as well.

if the compression check and leak down come back good. youre golden. if not, you have lots of machining to do. It is worth reviving. It might not be worth your wallet if the rings are shot.

Should I do all of this before or after tanking everything?

[shiboujin]

yea #3.

leak down/compression test it asap. hot tanking will take off all the oil but you only want to do that after you know the motor is worth reviving. Cant compression check a motor when its apart.

[Major]

Could someone please provide pictures of their coil-packs on an M52? I'd like to see how they're mounted so I can see what stuff I have missing.

[Major]

leak down/compression test it asap. hot tanking will take off all the oil but you only want to do that after you know the motor is worth reviving. Cant compression check a motor when its apart.

I need to be able to crank it with the starter to do that, don't I? Would it be OK to do this without any oil left in the engine?

[SpecM]

Would it be OK to do this without any oil left in the engine?

no, not at all

[dirtysix]

Like I said, I found this one for cheap. Cheap being $863 (as per the exchange right now), and expensive being $1900+. I'd obviously rather revive this engine, because it took a millenia to find it, even though I was actually trying to find an M50B25-NV.

Really? Not worth reviving?

Is that exchange to NZ$ or American$??
Here a good used m52b28 is ~$1000NZ, that engine's possibly scrap here considering the cost involved to revive it.
Reason being that it probably hasn't been serviced well enough to be any good.
A leakdown test might help but dont forget you cant machine the bores if they are bad.

[Major]

no, not at all

So how am I supposed to go about doing the compression/leakdown tests? Must I fill this engine with oil, despite the crud that's in there, then hook up a flywheel and starter?

Is that exchange to NZ$ or American$??

American

Here a good used m52b28 is ~$1000NZ

I'm jealous. This one cost me $1215NZ, and that's half the price you'll get a good one at here.

A leakdown test might help but dont forget you cant machine the bores if they are bad.

Why not?

[Major]

Sorry, I have a random question. Does anyone know what #5 is for?

[dirtysix]

Actually, are you sure it's an ally block?? I have a friend here with a South African imported 328 and it has an iron block. Might pay to check first?

If it is ally then it will have nikasil coated bores so the only way to repair them is by resleeving and having steel liners installed.

[Major]

The PO said it was an aluminium block. How can I check? :oops: Not clued up on my metals.

[dirtysix]

Magnet on engine block.
Or... is it the same colour as the head?

[Major]

Magnet on engine block.
Or... is it the same colour as the head?

Not magnetic, same colour as the head. I'm guessing... it's really aluminium.

[atldohc]

the diagram in this thread is of a s50/m50 (obd1) vanos engine. s52/m52 valve covers are different. the obd1s are aluminum and have the oil filler cap at the rear towards the firewall as you can see in the pic. and as you can see on your valve cover its toward the front. number 5 is for the studs that the obd1 coils bolt down on. the obd1 coils slide onto the studs and have nuts securing them. obd2 coils just have bolts that screw into the valve cover. so you dont need to worry about number 5

[Major]

the diagram in this thread is of a s50/m50 (obd1) vanos engine. s52/m52 valve covers are different. the obd1s are aluminum and have the oil filler cap at the rear towards the firewall as you can see in the pic. and as you can see on your valve cover its toward the front. number 5 is for the studs that the obd1 coils bolt down on. the obd1 coils slide onto the studs and have nuts securing them. obd2 coils just have bolts that screw into the valve cover. so you dont need to worry about number 5

Thank you for explaining! So the only difference between this diagram and what I actually have in front of me is the shape of the cylinder head cover and the absense of #5?

[SpecM]

So how am I supposed to go about doing the compression/leakdown tests? Must I fill this engine with oil, despite the crud that's in there, then hook up a flywheel and starter?

yea, really