Opinion on valve adjustment video

[Stonnie]

I have done a lot of research on valve train noise in the M20, but since I don't have any first hand experience, other than this 1987 325i, that I am restoring, I would love some feedback on this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EFhQdXaXz_4&feature=youtu.be

[Stonnie]

I should add, that I am not sure about the mileage, but I guess it to be around 200,000. I am running Mobil 1 0w-40 full synthetic motor oil.

[Stanley Rockafella]

I never knew you could start the m20 w/o the valve cover on,without oil going everywhere

[Stonnie]

A little bit of oil pops out, but just a tad. It doesn't go far, so it's really easy to clean up.

[pantelones]

First off your oil is completely wrong... 20w-50 for warm, and 15w-40 for cold seasons. Needs around 1500ppm of ZDDP in the oil from manufacture, and if not use an additive.

I would recommend the same stuff jlieve recommends since his is the man!

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/bpo-009-7119/overview/

And I feel bad for making this so elementary, but just check the lash on the valves again... If your set up stayed at the snug .010" (I am 99% sure of this, Bentley is at home, ugh brain fart...) cold mark then you are good to go. The adjustment has to be dead nuts on for every valve, no exceptions. If it is losing the set up possibly replace the eccentrics if they have flat spots, check the top of the valves for ware, and check the cam and rockers for excessive ware as well.

The ticking is it just due to the nature of the head design, but I will say that a properly done head (I have personally heard Myster-E's work) is VERY quiet compared to most e30 valvetrains. The ticking is due to the valve guides being worn, in addition to the possible culprits that I listed above. Good luck! :up:

[nando]

First off your oil is completely wrong... 20w-50 for warm, and 15w-40 for cold seasons. Needs around 1500ppm of ZDDP in the oil from manufacture, and if not use an additive.

I would recommend the same stuff jlieve recommends since his is the man!

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/bpo-009-7119/overview/

And I feel bad for making this so elementary, but just check the lash on the valves again... If your set up stayed at the snug .010" (I am 99% sure of this, Bentley is at home, ugh brain fart...) cold mark then you are good to go. The adjustment has to be dead nuts on for every valve, no exceptions. If it is losing the set up possibly replace the eccentrics if they have flat spots, check the top of the valves for ware, and check the cam and rockers for excessive ware as well.

The ticking is it just due to the nature of the head design, but I will say that a properly done head (I have personally heard Myster-E's work) is VERY quiet compared to most e30 valvetrains. The ticking is due to the valve guides being worn, in addition to the possible culprits that I listed above. Good luck! :up:

an 0w-40 has the same viscosity as a 15w-40. Except one will better protect your engine on cold starts. Guess which one. :)

where is the 1500ppm number from? never heard that before.

[CHIF8008]

synthetics dont help older motors. The blow by from the valves will foul the oil quicker. guess it just costs more and needs to be changed sooner

[dnguyen1963]

I hear a lot more chatters up front near cylinder 1 & 2. You might want to have a second look there.

[pantelones]

an 0w-40 has the same viscosity as a 15w-40. Except one will better protect your engine on cold starts. Guess which one. :)

where is the 1500ppm number from? never heard that before.

I think digger put this pretty well...

oil threads lots of opinions..... unless you have controlled tests and proper lab analysis how does anyone on here know that wear is acceptable without tearing down the engine and measuring it and doing it for several oils and on more than 1 engine to establish a trend. Some guy uses xxx-yyy oil and engine seems to run fine for a while doesn't mean its a good oil or that a different oil wouldn't perform better.....

Personally, I stick with the oil that the motor was designed to run on... Yes, 0w-40 may be better for start up, and yes the 0w oil also has a HIGHER flash point, but that is beside the point. The m20 deals with a lot of compression due to the design of the motor, and head specifically. Under operating temp, and load I feel that a 15w or 20w is better suited for the task at hand. Also, most people don't have built motors like you or digger (very jealous of both by the way... ;) ) , and this guy just has a stock m20.

And that 1500ppm number is just a number... Again it is a subjective personal bias. I feel that the 1200ppm in M1 is not enough, but ZDDP in excess of 2000ppm is over kill. In the original "what oil do you use" thread there is a lot of VERY good information about oil and that's where this discussion should take place. I only responded because you asked...

[nando]

again, you fail to understand the meaing of the numbers.

the first number is how well the oil pours at low temperatures. a lower number is pretty much better.

the second number is a viscosity. that's how "thick" the oil is. it's in general, oversimplified terms, how good the oil is at protecting your engine.

a 15w40 isn't any better than a 0w40 at protecting your engine. actually, it's worse, because during cold startup, it takes longer for the engine to pump oil to the bearings, causing more damage.

in the same way, a 20w50 is not better than a 15w50. same viscosity - only one works pours better at lower temperatures.

conventional oils with wider "spreads" are filled with lots of additives to make them work like a synthetic (better cold pouring, high viscosity). that means less actual "oil". you don't see a lot of standard oils with wide spreads because you don't end up with much base stock after all the extra additives..

[digger]

gotta love oil threads.....always lots of opinions.

chemistry is not my strong point so are people quoting 1200/1500ppm/xxxx quoting the zinc rather than ZDDP? is there a difference given that ZDDP is a compound of zinc, Phos and others?

[nando]

1200ppm in the M1 15w50 is zddp, zinc is 1300.

[pantelones]

http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/motor-oil-101/

Read, retained, and rationalized that whole article and nando you are 110% right. I actually started, and got about half way through a thread that I was going to start called "This is OIL" , but my cliff notes/rewording of that article honestly would come out about the same length, and I gave up...


"The greatest confusion is because of the way motor oils are labeled. It is an old system and is confusing to many people. I know the person is confused when they say that a 0W-30 oil is too thin for their engine because the old manual says to use 10W-30. This is wrong."

"The best way to figure out what viscosity of oil you need is to drive the car in the conditions you will use. Then use the oil viscosity that gives you 10 PSI per 1,000 RPM under those circumstances."

"This is worth repeating: The synthetic 10W-30 grade oil is based on a heavier 30 grade oil while the mineral based 10W-30 oil is based on a thinner 10 grade oil. They are both similar at operating temperatures yet the 30 grade based synthetic is actually less thick at startup and much less honey – like at low temperatures. This is the opposite of what common sense dictates."


Not sure why, but I like being proven wrong... Definitely going to filter myself more before I do really in-depth reading like that. Thanks though! :up:

[nando]

hey, me too. if I knew everything there was to know, I'd be bored out of my mind! :)