M42 Valve Cover/Timing Chain repair questions

[freeride53]

About to tackle this job next week.
However, I've never done it before, and wondering if there are any precautions I should take.
Anything you need to remove before getting to it?
I've already purchased a fresh gasket for the job.

[Danny]

on an m42?

Just the lower part? or both halves?

[freeride53]

Hey Danny, yeah its an m42.
Just going to do the lower part.

[Danny]

Then you need a 10mm (I think it's a 10, might be a 13) socket and about 30 minutes.

Be sure to check the upper pan nuts and the oil pickup nuts as well, they have a tendency to loosen up over time.

[Simon S]

Shit dude - lower part is cake - nothing in the way

only odd thought going through my mind is to maybe get your hands on 3-5 new bolts in the event that some have fallen out from upper or lower pan.

Yves at BMA can set you up with 10 grade bolts if you want to replace them all.

To remove upper pan (should you want to (leaks maybe)) then the steering rack should be dropped down from subframe (no fluid lines to disconnect) - and I think the engine may need to come up a smidge (loosen motor mount bolts from bottom and jack carefully upward upon transmission).

The original bolts are like 8 grade - and it doesn't take much to snap them (why 10 grades are a little nicer here). Torque spec is low on these (why they often fall out). Use blue loctite upon installation.. and drink a decent, imported, bottled beer while performing work.

Incidentally, there's an updated oil pressure valve you can access/replace once the upper pan is off.

[Simon S]

evidently, that took me more than 15 minutes to compose..

second what Danny said..

[freeride53]

Thanks Danny and Simon!

[freeride53]

just took all the bolts off, but the pan won't come down. its stuck.
any ideas of how to loosen it? i've hit it with wd40, but its on tight.

[SpoolnDaapex]

rubber mallet

[freeride53]

Hah, got it off after a little help from Kamil and others.
That s.o.b. was stuck pretty well.
I'd appreciate any suggestions/tips in my build thread, which is linked to in my sig.

Thanks!

[romeomike]

Did this recently, and mercifully no surprises sitting in the pan after it came off.

1. It helped to drop the splash guard.

2. The old (15+ years) gasket on my lower oil pan was intact, and getting it off was a big pain. I ended up using a large pot of boiling water to "cook" the pan and loosen up the gasket material, scraping it off in pieces and then used a fine grit sanding sponge to smooth out any fine scratches the scraping might have left. This was easily the longest part of the job.

3. Used a small amount of gasket cement to hold the new gasket in place, then used a hockey puck as a jack pad to hold the pan steady as I bolted it back up.

Hope this helps at least somewhat,

RM

[freeride53]

Another quick question for you guys -
other than the bolts around the perimeter, and the two in the center of the valve cover,
what other bolts/things need to come off?

Thanks for bearin with me - I really need to buy a shop manual for this car.

[Simon S]

What I think happened is that this started as an oil pan thread which was diverted to valve cover?

The bolts you see and named in your post are the bolts that need to come out. It’s just a cover.

Use your head with the plug wires (label with tape as needed).

Here’s your manual:
e36 Bentley manual
The m42 engine is not covered in the e30 (Bentley) manual.
Refer to the manual for removal pattern of bolts.

Use blue loctite and caution when torqueing things back down. I’ve read where some are mis-led by the softness of the rubber valve cover gasket and end up getting carried away.

[freeride53]

Thanks. Yeah, I changed the thread title according to my question(s) as this repair goes along - thought it'd save the creation of more threads.
I already got all the plug wires out (yes, labled lol), plastic, loosened the two on the side, and slid it out.

so...
cliffs: are there any other bolts to remove, aside from the visible bolts around the perimeter of the cover, and the two in the center?

[Simon S]

no