Now I have two!

[jonmon6691]

Whats up r3v? I'm waking up from hibernation! My old bronzit has been through a suspiciously reliable 30k miles since we last spoke, so I decided to throw a wrench in things and buy a pretty messy '88 Delphin 325is (pdx guys probably saw it on craigslist, I got it for a much more reasonable price)

Its got some problems that I'm hoping I can fix with just a minimum amount of cash and some sweat and I thought I'd run the symptoms by you guys and see what you think.

First, the steering feels really bad; There's no force pulling the wheel back to center. If you turn the wheel far enough, like a 90* turn into a road and let go, then it will only spin back so that the steering wheel is about 30* from the center then you have to pull it back to center yourself to go straight. I did a little research and it looks like the control arms bushings might be to blame, but that sounds a little bit far fetched and I haven't heard any noises while steering that would indicate that the bushings are that gone (No I haven't looked yet.)

Second, under hard braking there's a pretty significant shuddering that shakes the whole car. I'll check the brakes tomorrow too. But if CAB's where gone, could that cause this too?

Finally, it leaks LOTS of oil! Right above the AC condenser and below the header, so its gotta be the head-gasket right? The car also smokes blue pretty good too, seems to point to head gasket and hopefully not something worse.

Thanks for any input, I'll have some time to look closer at the car tomorrow after work as well as put up some pictures.

[b*saint]

I bet the rotors are warped. Thats the vibration. Also I don't know if a head gasket would cause an oil leak...

[jonmon6691]

I haven't been around E30's long enough to know how the head gaskets usually fail, but it seems like an oil leak would definitely be a possibility.

[agent]

I bet the rotors are warped. Thats the vibration.

Rotors do not "warp." This is a misnomer for excessive and unevenly distributed runout or uneven pad deposits on the rotor surface.

...every case of "warped brake disc" that I have investigated, whether on a racing car or a street car, has turned out to be friction pad material transferred unevenly to the surface of the disc. This uneven deposition results in thickness variation (TV) or run-out due to hot spotting that occurred at elevated temperatures.

Source

[gp.plus]

Worn CABs can cause a shudder under braking. Not sure about the steering, maybe an issue in the power steering system?? I had an m20 that leaked alot of oil from the front right corner of the head, with good compression numbers. Even did a head gasket and it still leaked, I thought I had read somewhere that this was common, but others i had asked did not concur.

[b*saint]

Rotors do not "warp." This is a misnomer for excessive and unevenly distributed runout or uneven pad deposits on the rotor surface.



Source

Who fucking cares. People know what the fuck warped rotors mean. They don't want to hear about total indicated runout.

warped

past participle, past tense of warp (Verb)

Verb:

• Cause to become abnormal or strange; have a distorting effect on: "judgment warped by your dislike of him".

[agent]

Who fucking cares.

People who know what they're talking about.

[jonmon6691]

I had an m20 that leaked alot of oil from the front right corner of the head, with good compression numbers. Even did a head gasket and it still leaked, I thought I had read somewhere that this was common, but others i had asked did not concur.

Ooh! Do you have any more information about this? I'll be doing the head gasket soon and I'll have a chance to give all the front seals a good look for problems.

blah blah blah

I've seen the "warped vs not warped" flame war a hundred times, lets just say its either brakes or its something else

[SlamedIAm]

Who fucking cares. People know what the fuck warped rotors mean. They don't want to hear about total indicated runout.

warped

past participle, past tense of warp (Verb)

Verb:

• Cause to become abnormal or strange; have a distorting effect on: "judgment warped by your dislike of him".

Why not spread factual information and clarify common misconceptions?

[agent]

Why not spread factual information and clarify common misconceptions?

Exactly.

[agent]

I've seen the "warped vs not warped" flame war a hundred times, lets just say its either brakes or its something else

So it's either brakes or it's not. Got it.

[jlevie]

A vibration under could be anything in the suspension (front or back), uneven pad deposits on the rotors, or rarely it will be warped rotor.

[gp.plus]

Ooh! Do you have any more information about this? I'll be doing the head gasket soon and I'll have a chance to give all the front seals a good look for problems.

For me, it was leaking right at the front right corner of the block/head where it should have been sealed by the head gasket. Wasn't bad, basically just a little dribble would come out after driving it. I did not have the head machined though, which in the least I should have had it checked.

[atldohc]

just to throw out some possibilites, if the strut mount bearings are binding that could explain the steering wheel having trouble returning to center. and as gpplus said worn out cabs can certainly cause shudder/vibration under braking. i experienced this on my own car when i first got it. and fast oil leaks are better than slow ones imo, as theyre easier to pinpoint. you could clean off the engine with some brake cleaner and buy some oil leak dye at napa. run the engine for a while or just give it a drive and check with a blacklight to pinpoint the leak. keep in mind oil leaks from the valve cover gasket or rubber plugs can easily be confused with hg leaks.

[jonmon6691]

Yeah, it should be nice this weekend, hopefully the gasket and head bolts get here in time so I can get that done. There are worse ways to spend your memorial day weekend....