Coil Pack/Spark plug galleries flooding

[psyber_0ptix]

My car stumbles and has a difficult time carrying out smooth operation whenever it has rained heavily. I'm troubleshooting my car from afar therefor the amount of info I can provide is limited.

But it seems after a heavy rain, the spark plug galleries flood and stumble occurs. Once cleared out, business as usual.

Does anyone have the same problem? Is water leaking down from the firewall onto the vanity cover and finding it's way to flow onto and in the valvecover?

what did you do to fix, and or are there any DIY seals one could use?

I'd hate to have a car that is afraid of water.

[butters]

thinking back to my swap, and my hours poring over swap threads and writeups and DIYs, there is a rubber drain that plugs in behind the head and directs water down. without that drain, the water pours straight out on top of the valve cover. for me, it was a bit of a squeeze and I actually pulled it out when installing the S50, then shoved it back into place after everything was bolted down and there was a bit more gap. perhaps you're missing said drain.

[AnimalE30]

thinking back to my swap, and my hours poring over swap threads and writeups and DIYs, there is a rubber drain that plugs in behind the head and directs water down. without that drain, the water pours straight out on top of the valve cover. for me, it was a bit of a squeeze and I actually pulled it out when installing the S50, then shoved it back into place after everything was bolted down and there was a bit more gap. perhaps you're missing said drain.

Referring to the elephant truck correct?

OP - Do you have the plastic cover on top of the valve cover? I know some e34 guys get water around the spark plugs when it rains if they have that plastic cover off (Im not sure if they have an elephant trunk behind the head like the e30s tho)

[psyber_0ptix]

elephant trunk?

vanity cover is in place

[surebimmer]

Picture of said Elephant Trunk from link below.

Part number 51-73-1-911-369

http://e30.bmwdiy.info/passenger-water-leak/index.html

[psyber_0ptix]

holy shit that i do not have. I wonder how hard it is to put in place with motor in

[butters]

holy shit that i do not have. I wonder how hard it is to put in place with motor in

not hard. it sorta just presses into place don't worry.

[hwy84]

What?!

Props to butters for the jedi diagnosis!!

[butters]

lol it's just one of those things that stuck in my head during my swap.

psyber, I just read your build thread (I also have a 318i S50. nice work) and couldn't help but notice your wiring plastics nicely assembled with the S50 harness inside. I'd love it if you could PM me any guidance on how you got it all in there and buttoned up... I still have ugly wires on top of the intake. I realize you're not with the car, but I wonder if you can get pics of what the firewall looks like behind the plastic.. do I need to trim the foam to fit it? It just seems like the intake manifold is preventing proper fit for me. the engine plastics have been in my trunk for over a month now :/

[psyber_0ptix]

It was actually Fred K's old motor so he did a wonderful job with the wiring. I did shorten some wires to length and try to take out some redundant loops, then i bound them by zip tie. The relays I got to fit without mod in the OEM location. I did however, take off a lot of the black foam behind the valve cover area; there are three thicker gauge cables passing behind the head (power to fuse box and starter cables).

I won't be able to take very good pictures until I return in September. But for any ridiculously large pictures of my build, you can check out the flickr:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/payam_fahr/sets/72157627210357690/

hey look! Elephant Trunk, but I don't know if it stayed on the car during the swap process


During the tidy-up phase.


and done




now someone buy my car