New 318is Owner

[Gerta]

Ah, should've known that. You think it's worth changing the case and is it any more challenging since you already pretty much have everything out of the way already?

I sourced one when I rebuilt my car's engine and it was worth it. They aren't too terribly difficult to find either. The guide rail is like 20 bucks which is way less expensive than that sprocket ... I think it was $100??? Crazy!

[cunninglinguist]

I see you are in PA. Lots of short trips, especially in cold weather, will trap moisture in your oil. It's unfortunate, but it will display like you have an engine problem.

The cold weather does this, but if this were a summer post I'd advise otherwise.

[bmwman91]

Reinstalling the timing case without pulling the head is sort of a bitch. I have done it 3 or 4 times, and it is always nerve-wracking since you need to vertically compress the rear rubber profile gasket against the head with a floor jack while still having the oil pump aligned with the crank snout, and using 3ft wood clamps to pull the thing onto the block. You will need some 12" x 4" x 0.01" or thinner brass shim stock and silicone lube to put between the head and that profile gasket to get things to slide together, and god help you if the shim stock gets stuck lol. Honestly, if you want to do some wrenching anyway, it might be less stressful to pull the head. Maybe it is just me though, so from a purely rational standpoint it is still a lot less work to not pull the head.

[benz-tech]

It's not abnormal to see that mix on an oil cap. From what I've experienced it's from short trip driving where the moisture inside just condenses and doesn't get a chance to burn off on a long trip. I wouldn't up and condemn a head gasket just yet. Esp since the oil is black and not milky. As far as your noise is concerned, if it's coming from the timing cover throw a tensioner at it. It's cheap, real easy to replace and chances are...

[red2.4srt]

I see you are in PA. Lots of short trips, especially in cold weather, will trap moisture in your oil. It's unfortunate, but it will display like you have an engine problem.

The cold weather does this, but if this were a summer post I'd advise otherwise.

I would definitely see that could be the issue. I didn't drive it much of anywhere this winter because of the salt they put on our roads and not wanting to ruin the first actual set of wheels i've ever owned lol

I'll keep an eye on it for sure!

Reinstalling the timing case without pulling the head is sort of a bitch. I have done it 3 or 4 times, and it is always nerve-wracking since you need to vertically compress the rear rubber profile gasket against the head with a floor jack while still having the oil pump aligned with the crank snout, and using 3ft wood clamps to pull the thing onto the block. You will need some 12" x 4" x 0.01" or thinner brass shim stock and silicone lube to put between the head and that profile gasket to get things to slide together, and god help you if the shim stock gets stuck lol. Honestly, if you want to do some wrenching anyway, it might be less stressful to pull the head. Maybe it is just me though, so from a purely rational standpoint it is still a lot less work to not pull the head.

My God, that sounds like it could be disaster, especially knowing my propensity for maintaining a grip on important things. I literally drop EVERYTHING. Maybe we'll wait to pull the motor for this lol

It's not abnormal to see that mix on an oil cap. From what I've experienced it's from short trip driving where the moisture inside just condenses and doesn't get a chance to burn off on a long trip. I wouldn't up and condemn a head gasket just yet. Esp since the oil is black and not milky. As far as your noise is concerned, if it's coming from the timing cover throw a tensioner at it. It's cheap, real easy to replace and chances are...

Sounds good, getting that ordered and hopefully that'll help! Thanks!

[red2.4srt]

Changed out the oil filter last night and looked at how difficult it will be to do the timing chain tensioner, surprised quite a bit it's very accessable! Still waiting on my tensioner and lower oil pan gasket from Guten, did receive my filter kits and sway bar brackets from Blunt though. Looking to knock it all out in one shot one night this weekend or early next week. Thank you guys again for all your help, i'd be lost without it!

[Gerta]

Good luck Todd! The tensioner is easy ... it's the other timing components that are more difficult. Remember to check those oil pan bolts! That was good advice from BMWman91.

I'm in for pictures!

[staples]

Here's the timing chain guide for the drivers side. $55 instead of $120+

http://www.ebay.com/itm/BMW-11311247470-GENUINE-OEM-CHAIN-GUIDE-/201260667401?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item2edc121209&vxp=mtr

The dude has it listed as the superseded part but don't worry... I received it and it's still the newer one with the sticker on it to prove. Just don't spoil it before they're sold out

Edit: Scratch that. I'm sorry. The guy updated the listing after selling out and used the same part number to list as the top guide.

[red2.4srt]

State of my cam gears... Ugh

[DER E30]

That sucks! :(

[bmwman91]

Yup...time for a timing rebuild.

[red2.4srt]

Okay, now that i'm back from the shop and cleaned up, i'll update where we stand.

Got the car in and up on my homemade ramps to start jacking it up, then I decided to pop the valve cover to see what the cam gears looked like... Upon removing the valve cover bolts I found 6 that I could loosen with my fingers, 5 were obviously under torqued and the balance seemed to be torqued to spec. Great. Disconnected the plug wires from the rail and removed the valve cover to find quite a bit of the holes have shavings of aluminum around them, just as you mentioned bmwman. Plan there is to get enough helicoils to make this a non issue going forward.

You can see the shavings here...



and here.



I also noticed there was quite a bit of oil in spark plug wells 2,3 and 4. Very odd. Seems like the gaskets weren't sealing the valve cover or lack of tightening down the bolts could've done this (gasp!).





Took a few shop towels and used a long flat head screwdriver to get some oil soaking action started. Turned out to be quite a bit more in there than I first imagined!



When I reinstalled the spark plug well gaskets, I added some blue permatex to help get a better seal after I noticed some oil sitting in the recessed portion where the gasket sits in the head. Again, this all could be from the bolts not being torqued down properly as well.

I ran a thread chaser on all the bolts and get those cleaned up only to find that when I reinstalled them, 4 of the upper 6 and 1 of the lower 6 bolts were completely stripped in the head. I torqued all the bolts that would bite down to 5 ft/lbs using a 1/4" drive in/lb wrench set to 60 in/lb's. I felt a little better with less leverage and using the aluminum threads until I get the helicoils to fix all the holes. Was a pretty tense time getting them to the proper torque specs expecting every one to strip. :neutral:

Ran out of time for the night, so I didn't get to take off the lower oil pan and check the bolts like i'd have liked, nor did I get to install the front sway bar brackets. Oh well, always next time. For now, here's a pic of her in the garage. It's very well equipped and very large, just can't keep anything in there during business hours... Take what you can get right?

Thanks again to you guys, i'd be lost without all your comments/critique/direction!



Got a lot of parts ordering to do now!

[DER E30]

I love your wheels... I need to get me some neat wheels...

[red2.4srt]

One other thing though, after performing all this work and getting the valve cover tightened down more so than it initially was, it's not making the noise nearly as loud as it did before? I know the cam gears are in need of replacing but could a poor seal be causing a vacuum leak and possibly be aiding in the noise i'm getting? It's peculiar how it's not as loud as it once was and I can tell you I don't remember it making this noise when I bought it?

EDIT: Thanks Christian! They're hell to keep clean though, just picked up a Mothers Mini Powerball the other night to aid in this! LOL

[red2.4srt]

Finally got around to working on the car once again. Started off with drilling, tapping and helicoiling the valve cover bolt holes. I took some time to look at each hole and see exactly what I was dealing with on how many needed done. I'm glad I did, someone had already done quite a few of them but why not all I'll never know...

I started off by placing a pig mat on top of the cams and then I taped a shop paper towel tight to the surface of the head.



One of the previously helicoiled holes.



Tools Used:

NAPA M6x1 Helicoil Kit with M6x1 Tap
Air powered right angle drill
.250" Lenox TiCoated Drill Bit (Brand new made a huge difference)
Relton Rapid Tap Cutting Oil
M6x1 Die to chase threads on the valve cover bolts

I started by measuring the depth of the holes and then taped off my drill bit so I wouldn't bottom out the bit further than necessary.



Using the Rapid Tap on both the drill bit and when threading worked wonders. I had to be careful as the bit wanted to really bite down into the head. Using the right angle drill made it alot easier to square up the hole and get it exactly right.

Tapping the holes is pretty straightforward, although it's a bit of a challenge due to the motor angle, intake manifold being on and my strut bar being in the way of 2 of the holes (of course). I took a 3/8" socket T Bar and used a 1/4" Allen socket, then put a 1/4" socket (1/4" square drive) with the hex head on the allen socket so I could use the square drive to fit onto the tap. Janky as hell I know, but very effective since I had no tap T handle to use...

Finished Helicoil done



Got everything buttoned up with the valve cover, ended up doing the rest of the holes for piece of mind and i'm quite happy I won't have to worry about stripping any of them again.

I also changed out the timing chain tensioner, I'm not sure how to tell wear on these, but it didn't look too bad, just a bit of scoring on it. The new one came compressed so I installed it like i've read a few other people have and started the car up to get oil pressure to it. Unfortunately it still has the same noise, so I ordered 2 new cam gears from ECS and i'll be installing them as soon as I can!

Old tensioner.



Still have yet to crack into the oil pan and replace/check/loctite the bolts that are probably laying in my pan right now... Laziness. I'll get there I promise.