MY "NEW" E30, MY NEW PROBLEMS. valve lash adj error or maf cleaner?

[Maloney]

Whats up fella's!!

finally i bought a real car! 1990 325i 5 speed, $400!!. clean title. 270k... and ohh how beautiful!!!








aaannnd here she is broken down on the side of the road on the way home. 4 miles from my house.




got it cheap because some girl was selling it for a friend and didnt know much. and from what i here through the phone her guy friend didnt seem to care for it anymore. and was not local to deal with it himself.
anyways first off of course it ticked like a mofo.
ALSO it was sputtering randomly really bad... like idle fine and then drive slow fine but once you put load on it. it said, "NNNOO! SPUDUDUDUDUDUD bog bog sududu!!"
test drove it the first time and the sputtering cut in and out in and out. it felt real good when it wasn't sputtering... on this drive the car never got completely warm.
came back with a compression tester (which was useless cuz i got false readings because i think oil was build up around the plugs do to leaky valve cover and when i removed the plugs oil fell in most of the cylinders and they all read 175-190 besides cylinder 4 which was 145.... FUCKIN RACE CAR!!

my buddy then drove it... on off sputter.
he was talking shit saying the head gasket was leaky and thats why the compression was high and thats why it suppders "when warm"
eventhough it happens randomly at all temps.
that douche...

I slept on it and thought about how the car didnt smoke AT ALL and then realized the ridiculesly leaky valve cover gasket must have caused puddles around the spark plugs yeah yeah you herd it already.

so i went and bought it!!!
Shift smooth felt good. its a 325I. shits cool. i dont care what it looks likes... i bought the drivetrain and chassis. not the paint.
for those of you who hate it... I will make fix it up cosmetically as soon as it runs PERFECT.


first step plugs, oil and fuel filter.

after that seemed to get rid of the sputter!! i beat the piss out of it for 20 minutes after i changed it and not once did it do the sputter.

oil filter had black goop poor out of it. it was nasty, I had to scrap off my skin to get it off me. i think the fuel was turning back into oil

i parked it until the next day (yesterday) when i got my throttle body boot in the mail (old one had tears) and valve cover gasket.

this thing sounds like a power stroke... i think they all do right?
but i figured the valve lash had to be out of whack regardless of what normal should sound like.

I did the vlave lash cold. set them to 0.25mm (yes i use milometers idk why)
0.256 to be exact... at least thats the size feeler i used LOL you'll see where im going with that....

did the throttle boot and for some dumb ass reason... even though it ran OK... I decide to spray everything with MAF cleaner just cuz i had it... didnt pull any sensors or nothing. just a quick shot in the MAF and a wipe, and a good spray in the throttle body and whip down.

i reset the battery hoping to get no check engine light (guess thats not important)

go to start the car and it just wants to crank not fire, continue cranking and it starts but then revs itself to 3k rpm.

figuring it was the maf cleaner i let it chill for a while.
when back out 20mins later and started it and it idle LOW and ROUGH. and still ticking loud

if i hold it at 1200 or 1500 it sounds normal.
let it idle and it want so to die and just idles rough... and sounds like a power- stroke.
I also noticed at like 2200rpm it had a high pitched tick that i never noticed before. but i guess i really hadnt sat there and rev'd it before doing all this lol.

now i ask myself... what did the pelican guide mean by "feel a slight drag on the feeler gauge" hahaha...
well i did it to what i thought was a slight drag...
but i was also using a nail clamped in vice grips as my adjuster holder. that was a pain in the ass but all i could really find i guess idk.

but i did check them afterwards and i guess now that i think about it i might have took "drag" the wrong way...

what do you think?

start it and let it warm up? see if it clears up? and go drive it?
or take the cover off and check them?

i engine check light is still on... and i nearly broke my gay gas pedal trying the stomp test... cant believe no one makes an aftermarket one! crazy...

[Maloney]

by the way yes it was SO out of whack and yes... yes i did the adjustments cold... in 105 degree weather

[DaButt]

paint looks good

[Maloney]

i want to say it took like 5-7 inch pounds to slide the .25mm feeler in between the valve and the chode.

might go back use like a metal hanger and just let it dangle, barley putting pressure on the feeler gauge?

[Maloney]

paint looks good

especially the custom hood emblem delete...


your just jealous i bought a e30 that once was clawed by a family of bears.

[paperplane94]

especially the custom hood emblem delete...


your just jealous i bought a e30 that once was clawed by a family of bears.

This made me lol hard.


Strictly a beater then, right?
You could probably fix it up back to decent for a little money.

Hell remove panels and try hammering out dents, just have some wood pressed against the other side so it doesn't pop out too much.

[Paradox]

the funny thing about setting the valve lash is you actually have to set it at top dead center and in the firing order 1-5-3-6-2-4. I thought it wasn't important until I did it three times with the final attempt actually following the instructions.

If its not set exactly at TDC on the cylinder you are setting then your valve lash will be off

[paperplane94]

You aren't required to adjust in the firing order. It is just easier because you will do less turning over of the engine.
As long as the lobe of the camshaft is not touching the rocker arm you will be fine.

Check it once, then check it twice when doing the valve adjustment.

[Paradox]

You can do whatever you want but doing it systematically and following a certain procedure is how you do it right

[Maloney]

You aren't required to adjust in the firing order. It is just easier because you will do less turning over of the engine.
As long as the lobe of the camshaft is not touching the rocker arm you will be fine.

Check it once, then check it twice when doing the valve adjustment.

lol

I have an sc300 with all the supra goodies. its been down for a minute. long story short i did a 1.5jz set up and the freshly rebuilt bottom end was assembled with the incorrect ring gaps and it crack the piston landings. its been a mess...
finally got everything i need and its all ready to go back together... then i found this gem on craigslist and had to have it!! been shopping for one for awhile.

oh its going to get beat... but i like it a lot. once i get it reliably running right i will start doing body prep. I am not sure if i am going to go all out... or just spray it.
I have a tiny little ego so i could give a shit if it was covered in rust. i'd still love to be seen in it everywhere. its a e30!! 325i at that lol.

as soon as the sc is done and broken in I will turbo the E30 as long as the motor checks out.
wait until you see how clean under the valve cover is!!! somethings not right.... this had to be replaced before. I'll get pics, its so strange.


Oh yeah no joke the barney colored kia minivan i have been driving just blew its tranny on me like 30 mins ago on the highway hahah.

guess i aint goin to work tomorrow unless this e30 checks out right now!
this is a trip

[Maloney]

You can do whatever you want but doing it systematically and following a certain procedure is how you do it right

I read the manual. I appreciate it brother.

but they say to put it at TDC just to be overly sure that you are not on any portion of the lift on the lobes.

and the order is just there to make it easier on you. its just the order showing which lobes are going to be facing down next through out the engine rotation.

if you really think about it how in the world would it ever matter what order you do it as long as everyone you set, the lobes are facing down

[paperplane94]

I read the manual. I appreciate it brother.

but they say to put it at TDC just to be overly sure that you are not on any portion of the lift on the lobes.

and the order is just there to make it easier on you. its just the order showing which lobes are going to be facing down next through out the engine rotation.

if you really think about it how in the world would it ever matter what order you do it as long as everyone you set, the lobes are facing down

Exactly.


Did you just copy what I said? :)

[Maloney]

Exactly.


Did you just copy what I said? :)

pffft...... no i most certainly did not! lol


well it started to rain a couple drops and i didnt have proper lighting so i will be doing it tomorrow.

fly like paper get high like planes.... PLEASE describe to me how to do this.

is it really that critical how much "drag" you get with the feeler?

for one i dont have a 0.25mm feeler. i have to used two stacked.
so its hard to tell if they are dragging or if they are spaced apart.... and dragging.
I turn the adjuster and tap it against the feeler a couple times to be sure its down, then i tighten it and its too much drag.. i think then i do it again and theres a gap lol.

http://www.pelicanparts.com/BMW/techarticles/E30-Valve_Adjust/E30-Valve_Adjust.htm

this picture is such bullshit...

http://www.pelicanparts.com/BMW/techarticles/E30-Valve_Adjust/E30_valve_eccentric.jpg

theres no way!
that allen has to rotate towards the intake side of the motor. look its just hang there, turning it the wrong way.
very impressive how he go the feeler to sit straight by itself... to bad it doesnt appear to be in position HAHA.

I'm about to use my 0.278mm feeler. that way if i am tight it will be at spec MAYBe

i cant beleive i have to do this every 15,000 miles. this car sucks what am i doing here

[Maloney]

this is like scary right here.... 270k of 2500 mile oil change intervals?? how epic would that be.

[Maloney]

oh wow i just need to keep the adjuster a little tighter so it doesn't move after adjusting before you tighten it...