Success! I replaced the secondary chain tensioner, moved the intake cam into the correct position, reclocked the sprockets on the chain, put it back together by eyeball, and it fired right up. More importantly, it starts every time and sounds MUCH healthier than it did before.
I also did a compression check and all cylinders were 185+ PSI. I'm VERY lucky the valves and pistons didn't meet!
The irony is I'm probably going to pull this engine from the car and replace it with something else - either a healthier M50, or maybe step up to M52 or something else. The one in the car now has 250K+ miles, possibly a blown head gasket or cracked head, and the water in the cooling system is brown, so it's pretty nasty inside. But I wanted to make sure the harness, computer, and everything else that surrounds the engine was in good working shape before I yanked this engine out so I wouldn't be left with a new engine swapped in that doesn't run either!
I also did a compression check and all cylinders were 185+ PSI. I'm VERY lucky the valves and pistons didn't meet!
The irony is I'm probably going to pull this engine from the car and replace it with something else - either a healthier M50, or maybe step up to M52 or something else. The one in the car now has 250K+ miles, possibly a blown head gasket or cracked head, and the water in the cooling system is brown, so it's pretty nasty inside. But I wanted to make sure the harness, computer, and everything else that surrounds the engine was in good working shape before I yanked this engine out so I wouldn't be left with a new engine swapped in that doesn't run either!
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