background: I bought a project M50NV swap 1991 318i from 1MZ. The M50 never ran under his ownership, but he did do a bunch of work to it. From what I understand, the bottom end was untouched but the head was completely redone - resurfaced, new valve seals, 3 angle valve job, etc. He then put the head on with a new head gasket. However, he ran out of funds and reused the head bolts; he said he had a couple sets and measured all of them, then used the ones closest to their original length with the worst bolts being a couple thousandths too long. The compression numbers are good across all cylinders according to him; I didn't test it, but it doesn't seem like it's a cylinder down or anything.
Now for where I am. The car's been sitting for two years since the motor was assembled. I changed the oil, primed the fuel pump, and the engine fired right up. I think 1MZ's only real problem at the time was that he didn't crank the engine long enough to get fuel. The hose that runs from the MAF to the ICV was dryrotted so I ordered that hose, a new gooseneck, all the connectors, new intake manifold gaskets and a new TB gasket. Afterwords, I did the water pump and thermostat although that should be all unrelated. I fired the car up to bleed the cooling system and it still wasn't idling as smooth as it should, so I started checking around for leaks as the car was warming up. Around then, I noticed smoke from the valve cover & from under the intake manifold. The valve cover "smoke" was actually steam from water that had accumulated in the spark plug wells. Not good... I pulled all the spark plugs, cranked the engine with the spark plugs out & FP relay out, then reinstalled the plugs and installed a spare set of coils. This helped a lot, but I still have problems.
Current problems:
-there appears to be smoke wafting out from under the intake manifold towards the rear of the car. I'm hoping I just didn't seat the intake manifold. It sits really close to the e32 brake booster and might be hitting it.
-the idle "bounces" slowly between about 1k & 2k rpms once the car warms up. I hear this can either be the o2 sensor, which is almost certainly shot since it was laying under the car when I got it, or leaking intake manifold gaskets which would explain the light smoke.
-The coolant temp gauge doesn't work in the car. I guess I need a new sensor from an m42? solved. The '91 318i uses the same brown top coolant temp sensor as all other e30s. Explains that....
-There are two unused connectors on the engine harness. I'm guessing evap and A/C? One is near the MAF connector and one is near the O2 connector.
Any ideas on where I should go from here? It doesn't appear to be pressurizing the cooling system and there's no smoke from the exhaust.
Thanks!
Now for where I am. The car's been sitting for two years since the motor was assembled. I changed the oil, primed the fuel pump, and the engine fired right up. I think 1MZ's only real problem at the time was that he didn't crank the engine long enough to get fuel. The hose that runs from the MAF to the ICV was dryrotted so I ordered that hose, a new gooseneck, all the connectors, new intake manifold gaskets and a new TB gasket. Afterwords, I did the water pump and thermostat although that should be all unrelated. I fired the car up to bleed the cooling system and it still wasn't idling as smooth as it should, so I started checking around for leaks as the car was warming up. Around then, I noticed smoke from the valve cover & from under the intake manifold. The valve cover "smoke" was actually steam from water that had accumulated in the spark plug wells. Not good... I pulled all the spark plugs, cranked the engine with the spark plugs out & FP relay out, then reinstalled the plugs and installed a spare set of coils. This helped a lot, but I still have problems.
Current problems:
-there appears to be smoke wafting out from under the intake manifold towards the rear of the car. I'm hoping I just didn't seat the intake manifold. It sits really close to the e32 brake booster and might be hitting it.
-the idle "bounces" slowly between about 1k & 2k rpms once the car warms up. I hear this can either be the o2 sensor, which is almost certainly shot since it was laying under the car when I got it, or leaking intake manifold gaskets which would explain the light smoke.
-The coolant temp gauge doesn't work in the car. I guess I need a new sensor from an m42? solved. The '91 318i uses the same brown top coolant temp sensor as all other e30s. Explains that....
-There are two unused connectors on the engine harness. I'm guessing evap and A/C? One is near the MAF connector and one is near the O2 connector.
Any ideas on where I should go from here? It doesn't appear to be pressurizing the cooling system and there's no smoke from the exhaust.
Thanks!