blown head gasket repair...

[CHIF8008]

well it all started when my 86 325 es started acting funny. i started it up one day and it idled like a badly tuned 350/ sounded like it was running on 3 cylinders.once it warmed up the power would smoothen out (not good, just better) and had lack of power and surges in speed while cruising. also had this "dirt" like stuff showing up on my coolant cap- found out that it was exhaust. did a comp test and found that all had 170 psi except for #5 it had less than 90. car has around 200k. ran good till now- i have had this car since nov. 2009
(yes my hood is purple, and yes the clear is fading- need to re-do it)
well on to pics: already took off the valance and started pulling off all the hoses

end of the day she looked like this





took off the cover


then came the head


woot! i was happy to get it off



i checked it out, valves uber clean. seemed fine



piston shots: right to left






was funny because #5 was the cleanest, but the face of the valves on #5 was the dirtyest

then took it over to my bros house for a better look. turns out that the PO had decided to clean the aluminum head with a steel wire brush! and some of the scoring was so deep around the cylinders that it caused blow by on #5 and it looks like any of them could had blown in their current condition. so my bro takes it to his work, welds up the spot, and cleans up the head. no worpage! yayy




while my head was off decided to raise my engine by putting in some spacers,just enough to put the pan higher than the sub support


then ordered all the gaskets and a few other lil things from autohasAZ. spent $168.88 haha its soo easy to just buy a bunch of tiny lil things that you might as well get

IT CAME TODAY!!!! (always wanted to say that and post pics) :-D


11 pounds of goodness...

well now its a rush to get her back together to make it for Bimmerfest. time to do work

-many thanks to Nickflic3 for my newer front bumper and many extra parts to help

[jlevie]

Before re-installing the head it needs to go to a machine shopt to be be checked for warp and cracks. The odds are that the head will need to be surfaced to make it flat so the gasket will seal.

[riceh8r]

didn't see any head bolts on that pool table...:tsk:

[djdropit]

I like the purple hood :)

[CHIF8008]

didn't see any head bolts on that pool table...:tsk:

its the skinny box by the big box(which is the new water pump)

[CHIF8008]

Before re-installing the head it needs to go to a machine shopt to be be checked for warp and cracks. The odds are that the head will need to be surfaced to make it flat so the gasket will seal.

it was, and it was checked for straightness. it passed

[CHIF8008]

I like the purple hood :)

has a purple splitter to match ;)

[A Sucked Orange]

Before re-installing the head it needs to go to a machine shopt to be be checked for warp and cracks. The odds are that the head will need to be surfaced to make it flat so the gasket will seal.

if it does need to be decked, do you have to take all the valves out?

[CHIF8008]

update: got the water pump and the head bolts on tonight. should fly together a lot quicker now

[CHIF8008]

update: list for tomorrow to do. put on the two belts, cap and plugs, air box installed, coolant filled, oil changed, exhaust inspected/ fixed where needed and installed, front valance put back on. car exterior and interior cleaned

so much to do before Bimmerfest. don't have time to re-paint the hood, or finish fab'n up the skid plate so i could drop it even more... well at least it will be running again.



Big let down: My brothers e21's clutch went to the floor tonight and is leaking fluid inside the trans. he has to work and has no money to get it fixed before bimmerfest :( also he was in the process of cleaning out water in the system from flooding- been wishing to take his car down since last year, and we just finally got it street legal 2 days ago and now all this happens. guess its Gods way of saying that He didn't want us to get tickets going down

[blalor]

Looks like you're zipping right along. Our LeMon needed a head gasket; wasn't running that badly, but the water was disappearing and your hand would get wet if you put it behind the tailpipe. We decided on Tuesday before the race to replace it and did about 95% of the work that night, in about 3-4 hours. It was pretty straightforward, but man, I just can't get over how much better designed the M42 motor is compared to the M20. Stuff is so much easier to get to! Disconnecting the intake and throttle body was a bitch. Hope the scoring on your head isn't too much of a problem…

[Brandon12V]

I only see the center(green) gasket for the manifold. did you get the side ones as well? Dont forget to replace the fuel injector o-rings if you disassembled the fuel rail. if you were getting blowby, you may need to replace the valves stem seals. You REALLY should do it regardless while the head is off. The procedure is quite simple if you have a valve spring compressor and one can be rented. they cost 10 bucks for all of them. Did you just do a dry leak test or wet as well?

[slammin.e28]

if it does need to be decked, do you have to take all the valves out?

Yes. Otherwise there will be valves sticking up past the deck and in the way.

This is a good opportunity to get a nice 5 angle valve job and some nice, fresh valve springs. ;)

[djdropit]

This is a good opportunity to get a nice 5 angle valve job and some nice, fresh valve springs. ;)

So in addition to all the gasketting and orings in the head gasket kits (and Head Bolts), you recommend replacing the valve springs? Anything while the head is off worth replacing?

Dropit

[slammin.e28]

So in addition to all the gasketting and orings in the head gasket kits (and Head Bolts), you recommend replacing the valve springs? Anything while the head is off worth replacing?

Dropit

That's just me personally. I tend to overdo things. ;) I'm a big, "while I'm in there" guy.