Calypso 2 door refresh

[calypso rot]

I bought a 1990 325i back in October 2019 for 4500 bucks. Had been sitting a while needed to be gone over. Enjoyed it thoroughly until July of last year (2020). I broke a rocker arm while revving to 7,000 RPM. Got a new head and replaced it. Drove for a while but was slowly leaking coolant and weeping a small amount of oil from the head. I figured I had an issue with the seal of the head gasket. Removed the head and replaced it with OEM bmw head gasket. No leaks but I ran into a different issue. I threw all the rocker arm clips on the intake side and 4 of the 6 rockers walked on the shaft off the valve springs. Upon closer inspection it appears the retaining pin was bent and allowed the rocker arm shaft to twist. (this was exacerbated by me having the rocker shaft plugs in backward.)

Anyway I'm waiting on a new rocker shaft bracket and I'll have this thing running properly and on the road for years to come.

I'm gonna start a thread for my projects and update it when I can.

1990 325i 162k miles 6 button obc, vinyl confront interior, 5 speed manual, factory LSD - strangely ordered

My rocker shaft retaining pin comes in this week, I'll update the thread when I get it in there, my old one was really bent pretty good

[zwill23]

Man I love Calypso rot... looking like a clean machine. Good luck with the head, maybe just use this is an excuse to pull the head off again and have it properly built with HD rocker arms and things.

[calypso rot]

The “bracket” 11331264677 came today. Check it out compared to the old one.

this is the little clip that holds the rocker shafts in place at the front of the cylinder head.

[rwh11385]

So you put a new head on it, what do you do with the old head (with broken rocker)? If you still have it AWDBOB or myself may be interested.

[calypso rot]

I still have the old head. I was going to keep it for other projects.

I got everything buttoned up and it’s running well. Still have a low idle issue to sort out idles around 5-600 rpm and sometimes check engine light will come on at idle, any throttle input makes it go away.

[calypso rot]

So the check engine light comes back to 1223 coolant temp sensor. I'm going to order a new one. Also noticed a slight nick in the wire for the pulse sensor that connects to plug wire # 6 and plugs in near where the CPS does.

I have an old set of plugs that are test good on the bench. I think I am going to replace them and see what happens. After I warmed up the car had a strange hesitation, almost a sputter around 2.5-3k rpm. Did some digging on the forums and cleaned the plug where the injectors plug into. Some people had the issue go away with a better connection, some with new wires. We shall see.

Have yet to do fuel pressure test but I'm not sure it's a fuel issue. Anyway I have the means to test it at home, just haven't gotten around to it.

[moatilliatta]

Crank sensor new? Harmonic balancer bolts and crank bolt?tight?

What head gasket did you use?

[calypso rot]

Used a genuine BMW head ga$ket. The crank sensor is approx 10 months old. I will test it before I buy another one. But the car starts on the first turn every time so i'm thinking the sensor is fine.

[calypso rot]

Replaced some things I had been neglecting and ran a smoke test this evening with troubling results. First I’d like to say everyone should get one of these cheap smoke test kits from eBay/Amazon. Mine was less than 50 bucks and I’m so impressed with how it performed.

new parts. A 170 dollar parts shotgun at the problem: o2 sensor, new intake boot, new coolant temp sensors new breather hose (goes under intake mani and into valve cover) icv hose.

now the smoke test within 1 minute of getting up to temp revealed a huge billowing cloud coming from the oil return tube. I’ll post pics tomorrow.

so now the intake is going to come off and we’ll see what the problem was.

proper orientation?

o ring
spring
wahser
o ring

i also noticed a nick in the pulse sensor wire. Through the rubber I can see copper. I have an other set of plugs I will put back on.

I have a new (2019 production) Febi wire set and they’re different than an older set i have. The wire is able to come loose from the portion that connects from the plug alarmingly easily. I have never dissected the older design but I actually removed the wire from the plug portion during routine removal with these new ones. Doesn’t seem quite right to me

[calypso rot]

Here I am with he hose from the smoke machine in the intake boot. Have the throttle body wedged open with a wrench.


the oil return tube emitting plumes of smoke looking like Spicoli's van lmao

[AWDBOB]

Check injector harness and c191. Had a car with that code once that ran poorly, was solved by swapping injector harness.

[calypso rot]

Got the intake manifold off and sure enough I was missing the bottom o ring. Ordering new IM gaskets to be safe as well as a new valve cover gasket as it looked like a had a leak from there too when I smoked it.

Parts come Wednesday will get her together the end of the week and check back in.

alos I pulled the injectors and out and replaced the plastic and rubber parts with a rebuild kit I bought on eBay. The “caps” are different than the old ones, should I try to source more original looking version with the ribs on the side?

[moatilliatta]

I’d just consider new Bosch Gen III injectors from five-o Motorsports.

if you spray water on the crank sensor and it gets worse, that might be a sign, but make sure you have all the tricky clips on it or the Water pump pulley will wear against it.

[calypso rot]

After a long series of busy weekends away from the car I got everything buttoned up today and must say it’s so much better. Idles around 750 no more stumbling, no more hunting just silky smooth.

what I replaced:

o rings on bitch tube
intake manifold gasket
hose from icv to throttle body
hose from throttle body to valve cover
valve cover gasket and end plugs
temp sensor plus
injector filters o rings and caps
o2 sensor


a lot of that is routine maintenance stuff I needed to get to. the biggest culprit to my poor running was the bitch tube leak and leaks from the other hoses mentioned.

grabbed some genuine mats for a song they’re for an e28 however. Here’s how they fit for future reference

[calypso rot]

Things have been pretty good mechanically. On a cold overnight or several night cold start it idles 500-550 for 30 seconds but no trouble afterward.

have moved on to other matters - rebuilt the power antennae and got it in just this evening. Radio is still a work in progress. Now that I have the antennae working I’m getting nothing but a loud static. I can tune in to stations (with my now working power antennae) but there’s a persistent banging static. Same is true in tape mode.

I have always had trouble with the speakers. For instance sometimes the rears work, sometimes just the fronts, sometimes left side, sometimes right side. There is a lot of dodgy wiring in this car. I looked at the radio and it appears that a switch (seen in the blank panel) is wired into the white wire for the radio. I’ll get pics of this later. But when you switch this off the antennae goes down yet the radio unit stays lit. I’m guessing this is some sort of bypass to run the CD player which has its own controls mounted to the ash tray.

so anyway there’s a lot more work to do. Some pics from the last few weeks been daily riding pretty much.