Valve Adjustment Problem!

[The Dough]

Hello,

I just picked up an '89 E30 325i with ALOT of miles. I intend to daily drive it for a year or so then transform it into a Spec e30 car.

It needed a starter so after I pulled the manifold to get to it, I saw it needed some hoses and I figured Id do a valve adjustment while there was some space in there.

I read the Pelican DIY and the valve adjustment seemd pretty straight-forward.

When I removed the valve cover, everything appeared to be in decent shape. Infact, the head looks pretty clean and new inside. Im not sure if and when it was replaced or worked on since the car has had a few owners in the last couple of years.

Anyway, most of the gaps seemed to be within spec. The #1 intake and the #4 intake valve (the ones closer to the passenger side of the car ?) were a bit loose so I folloed the DIY instructions and loosened the 10mm holding the eccentric bolt in place and adjusted it.

On the #4 the 10mm was difficult to loosen. Once it was loosened and adjusted I went to tighten it but am not getting any resistance... I guess I stripped or sheared the bolt which pases through the eccentric? Now, the 10mm nut will not loosen or tighten, it just spins with relatively light resistance. Enough to still allow the eccentric to move very easily.

This always happens to me when I try something new!

Anyway, I was hoping you guys might have some insight or advice for me. Frankly Im a bit concerned. What started as a tight budget project is becoming more and more costly.

I've attached some pictures of the head with te valve cover off. Does everything look appropriate to you guys that are familiar with this motor?

Do the cam lobes look scored?

Thank you in advance.





This is the one which gave me problems

[The Dough]

I spoke to a friend of mine who is a BMW tech and he suggested changing these head bolts as they are known to loosen.

Also, he said I can just replace the eccentrics and the securing nuts and bolts so I guess its going to be ok.

If anyone has any advice or thoughts, please don't hesitate to share. Im an e30 noob.

Thanks

[whodwho]

They don't loosen the heads break off and can wedge under the cam lobe and bust up the head.

It is suggested to replace them, you can replace them one at a time and torque it and move to the next one.

[SpecM]

a big +1 on replacing the eccentrics

[The Dough]

Thanks for the input fellas.

[gtdragon980]

wow that head looks pretty clean for a car you say has high mileage, looks good in there. +1 on the head bolts

[DmcL]

those rockers are definately not the original ones.. even on my 89 325i with about 115k miles on it when i bought it the rockers were not that silver, if they were the originals they would be a similar colour to the lobes and everything else in there from staining over the years.

i wouldnt do it myself but i know of someone local with a 325i who broke one of the eccentric bolts and took an ordinary bolt, filed off one side a bit to make it flat so it fit onto the rocker and then put a bolt on the other side. i suggest he change it but hes a cheapass so he wont.. i set the rockers on his car twice so far and no problems with the frankenstein rocker bolt as of yet. first time they needed adjustign and were slightly out of spec, second time he chafed the CPS wire on the waterpump pulley and for some stupid reason decided to loosen all the rockers thinking they were out of tolerance again (like 3 weeks after the initial adjustment by me lol). hes that cheap when i found the cause of his no start being the chafed CPS wire he wont replace the CPS and is still running around with the random wire and electrical tape quick fix i did on it to make sure the CPS was the only problem.. says he will replace it when it goes.. again.. lol

[StereoInstaller1]

1. As already said, replace those bolts. If stretching a stock bolt is new to you, get yourself an "angle gauge", they are typically about $20. You will of course need a torque wrench as well...but swap out those bolts ASAP!

2. Just replace the pivot bolt for the eccentrics, unless the eccentric is very obviously worn. Inspect the valve stem at the same time, look for "cupping". If you have it, you will know it.

3. Clean or replace that spray bar. That is the ONLY oil that the cam followers (shoes that rub on the cam) gets, a nice clean steady supply of oil make a HUGE difference in cam longevity.

If your motor has been abused, drain enough oil to be able to add 1 quart of normal ATF (Dextron or whatever) as it is incredibly high in detergents. Run it about an hour, then change your oil. You should have most crap out of the motor by then, unless idiot PO ran Quaker State or some other crap oil.

GL, and HTH.

Luke

[The Dough]

Thank you for the input. I agree that it looks too clean in there. ODO jammed at 120k and stayed that way for about a year and a helf according to recepits. New ODO has about 20k on it so Im thinking the car has at least 150k but who knows. I think the head must have been off before.

I just ordered the torx style head bolts... I was told the best way to replace them is one at a time. Do I still need to follow the procedure of torquing to 22 ft lbs once, then turning 90 degrees and another 90 degrees?

Is it necessary to use an angle guage or can it be done by eye? Or can I make one? My understanding is that it will allow me to be very precise when tightening the bolt (during the 90 degree turning stages).

thanks

[StereoInstaller1]

No, eyeballs just don't do consistent. Get the gauge or face future issues almost certainly.

Yeah, 1 at a time, same torque/stretch as called for in da book.

150K for a stock motor is easy stuff, should show virtually no wear anywhere, and if good maintenance has happened it can still be that clean, easily.

Looks like an M20 to me. One of the best motors to ever prowl the streets.

Luke

[DmcL]

the only "clean" thing im talking about are the rockers. they have definately been replaced at some point. thats what my rockers look like and i replaced them last year. the old ones would be the same colour as the rest of the stuff under the rocker cover, IE- stained brown.

having new rockers at some point in the not too distant past is not a bad thing...

[The Dough]

^ got you, thanks.

Maybe you guys can offer some further advice... My current dilemma is that I cannot remove the 10mm nut from the bolt which passes through the eccentric on the #4 intake side. The nut just spins in either direction. Ive tried slowly prying up and down on the eccentric in an effort to put some pressure on the bolt, hoping that the nut will grab some threads.. sofar no luck. You guys have any thoughts?

[The Dough]

I got it! Some lateral pressure on the 10mm and it grabbed the threads and came off. OH YEAH! What a relief.

There doesn't appear to be any visible cupping on the top of the valve stem.





The part of the eccentric which contacts the valve stem seems a bit marred. I tried to get a photo of it but my camera sucks...

Anyway, I was hoping to not have to change it or any other ones as I've already spent more than I was hoping to on this project.

Do you guys have an opinion as to whether you think they should be changed? I suppose I could at least change this one....