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SNAFU; high performance 318is build that lives up to the name, Turbo M42 ➞ Turbo M20

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    #16
    Great to see the progress. Really looking forward to seeing more.
    91 318is Members' Rides Thread

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      #17
      I was tuning the idle and startup today, and it was going really well, running great, MS functioning well. I was hoping to begin road tuning tonight.



      My happiness was short lived though because of a bad oil leak, and from a bad place, the seam where the upper timing cover meets the lower timing cover. Fuck! Hopefully I can get it off and re-seal it without removing the valve cover, because I have to remove the turbo to remove the valve cover, which would turn the job from a pain in the ass to a gigantic pain in the ass. About a week after I did the timing covers I read that you should put the valve cover on before bolting the top timing cover down to push it down and create a positive seal, I didn't think it would be a problem because I used RTV, I guess I was wrong.


      IG @turbovarg
      '91 318is, M20 turbo
      [CoTM: 4-18]
      '94 525iT slicktop, M50B30 + S362SX-E, 600WHP DD or bust
      - updated 1-26

      Comment


        #18
        nice work dude! Definitely sub'd.

        I have a leak from that area as well but mine was on the opposite side of the engine. I just put some red rtv on it, I think the replacement gaskets for it are just garbage. If I do remember correctly there is a way to replace the front one without taking the valve cover off, it involves using a very thin piece of metal between the cover and profile gasket so you don't mess up the position of the gasket when pushing the cover back into its home. Pretty sure I saw it in the e36 bentley manual. I can double check that for you or if you need the manual let me know I can send you the pdf.

        I'll probably shoot you a pm regarding building a MS, my car needs one really bad :(
        -Dee
        5-lugged turbo 318is Barn car
        IG: @deebelmont

        Comment


          #19
          Originally posted by ccsdo5 View Post
          I have a leak from that area as well but mine was on the opposite side of the engine. I just put some red rtv on it, I think the replacement gaskets for it are just garbage
          My paper gaskets weren't leaking, surprisingly, just the rubber one between the timing covers (outer profile gasket?). I don't put paper gaskets on without RTV, they always leak.

          If I do remember correctly there is a way to replace the front one without taking the valve cover off, it involves using a very thin piece of metal between the cover and profile gasket so you don't mess up the position of the gasket when pushing the cover back into its home. Pretty sure I saw it in the e36 bentley manual. I can double check that for you or if you need the manual let me know I can send you the pdf.
          Thanks, but I took it apart already, turbo and all. Took about an hour and a half. It's in pieces now since I am at work. Hopefully I can get it sealed up tomorrow.

          I'll probably shoot you a pm regarding building a MS, my car needs one really bad :(
          Sounds good. You looking on info for building one yourself or do you want one built?

          IG @turbovarg
          '91 318is, M20 turbo
          [CoTM: 4-18]
          '94 525iT slicktop, M50B30 + S362SX-E, 600WHP DD or bust
          - updated 1-26

          Comment


            #20
            At long last, the car is on the road again and I'm tuning it. It feels good to be driving a fun car again.



            The car received some badging I had on my old Volvo 240 Turbo


            And new BMW roundels, courtesy of my girlfriend. They're the only nice looking part of the exterior of the car!


            The megasquirt is functioning well, and I'm getting my off-boost VE table dialed in, as well as tuning up to the wastegate actuator pressure (6.5psi). Lesson learned on the upper timing cover, bolt the valve cover down to squish the outer profile gasket before bolting the upper cover down. That was a pain since any time the valve cover needs to come off the turbo does too.

            I'm using Siemens Deka 60lb high impedance injectors.


            Here's the current state of the engine bay:

            Coming up under the hood: boost control solenoid and ICV installation, upper radiator bracket fabrication (or another kludge? I'm not a fabricator), and coil wiring cleanup.

            Of course, as can now be expected with this project, the past couple weeks were not without setbacks. The fan flexed while I was revving to tune AE and hit the radiator, so I had to replace it and modify the fan to sit a little further back. The radiator was full of crud and the tank was old and opaque though, so it's not like it was completely unnecessary.


            I've also been chasing an intermittent problem with my wideband controller/gauge, but it's working correctly for the time being so hopefully it will stay that way. I'm in the process of tracking down a 3.7X-4.10 medium case LSD, since my diff is whining and open, and I've already spun the inside tire while cornering and done a one wheel peel, and I'm not even making any real power yet! I've also got a leaky rack so I'm thinking I will swap in a Z3 rack once my budget allows.

            Stay tuned...
            Last edited by varg; 02-02-2015, 03:20 PM.

            IG @turbovarg
            '91 318is, M20 turbo
            [CoTM: 4-18]
            '94 525iT slicktop, M50B30 + S362SX-E, 600WHP DD or bust
            - updated 1-26

            Comment


              #21
              What turbo is that? How much power are you predicting?
              sigpic

              (clicky on piccy to get to thread)

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                #22
                Originally posted by econti View Post
                What turbo is that? How much power are you predicting?
                It's a little T3 off of a Volvo 240. It should be good for 230-240whp maxed out, but I'm planning on upgrading at some point this year after I sort out the drivetrain and upgrade the suspension.

                IG @turbovarg
                '91 318is, M20 turbo
                [CoTM: 4-18]
                '94 525iT slicktop, M50B30 + S362SX-E, 600WHP DD or bust
                - updated 1-26

                Comment


                  #23
                  Turbo failed on me on my way to work tonight. Compressor wheel contacted the housing, luckily it didn't explode. It had no play when I installed it, but I have a feeling I know what caused it. I'm just hoping my engine came through ok, and the aluminum dust didn't damage it.

                  Dammit.

                  Last edited by varg; 02-06-2015, 12:29 AM.

                  IG @turbovarg
                  '91 318is, M20 turbo
                  [CoTM: 4-18]
                  '94 525iT slicktop, M50B30 + S362SX-E, 600WHP DD or bust
                  - updated 1-26

                  Comment


                    #24
                    Damnnn, that's annoying. So lucky the cold-side wheel didn't blow apart!

                    Comment


                      #25
                      Bruh nice work, guess you'll stay busy, don't give up!
                      sigpic
                      Rescued 1986 325e Coupe
                      1988 325ix Touring 5spd currently being rescued
                      Ottawa, Ontario, Canada :finger:

                      Comment


                        #26
                        Looks good!
                        What do you think caused the turbo to fail? I had just the same thing, but it was with an ebay turbo, still, I blame it on a bad oil drain from my side.
                        And the wideband, are you running Innovate?

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                          #27
                          Following the shit out of this - I'm also collecting parts for my M42 to go MS.
                          91 318is - Gone
                          16 VW GTI
                          07 Aprilia Tuono

                          Comment


                            #28
                            Thanks for the kind words.

                            Originally posted by nightbear View Post
                            Looks good!
                            What do you think caused the turbo to fail? I had just the same thing, but it was with an ebay turbo, still, I blame it on a bad oil drain from my side.
                            And the wideband, are you running Innovate?
                            Media left in the oil passage that's feeding my turbo, which I didn't discover until I was about to get the car on the road again. Long story short it kept seizing my turbo so I put a filter inline and it got clogged over the past two days, starving the turbo of oil and causing the bearings to fail. The machine shop didn't clean up after themselves well enough and here I am paying the consequences, though the head was done too long ago for me to have any recourse. I'm running an SLC gauge from 14point7.com, it was the cheapest solution.

                            Here's the damage to the compressor housing:


                            After much bad luck so far, I got lucky today and found a local Saab shop that had a turbo similar to mine, in good condition (but filthy). Thanks to that, I don't have to wait a week on a used turbo purchased off of turbobricks.



                            I'm currently trying to separate the CHRA from the Turbine housing, and it's really seized in there, oh - and it's raining and I don't have a covered area to work on my car. I was hoping to be back on the road tonight, but maybe not, the way things are going.

                            I'll do a leakdown test this weekend to check the condition of the engine. If it's not good I know not to push it and to start rubbing my pennies together for a rebuild.

                            IG @turbovarg
                            '91 318is, M20 turbo
                            [CoTM: 4-18]
                            '94 525iT slicktop, M50B30 + S362SX-E, 600WHP DD or bust
                            - updated 1-26

                            Comment


                              #29
                              Back on the road, back on boost!
                              As of yesterday, the replacement turbo is on. The only difference between it and my damaged turbo is that it has strictly oil cooled, and the other one had coolant passages. I'm still using the same old .63 A/R turbine housing. I may or may not switch it over to the water cooled cartridge when I rebuild it and (possibly) upgrade the compressor. Now it's time to build my det cans and turn up the boost a little.

                              This picture looked a lot better on the phone screen. I really need to stop neglecting my other hobby and haul out the DSLR for some proper photos.



                              Parking garage pictures with post filters on them are so trendy these days, I'm just taking pictures of my car when I get to work.


                              That cracked bumper and trim is bothering me, I need to get on it, but the paint bothers me less as time passes. Not that I won't repaint the car when I have the funds.

                              Edit:
                              Time for a short video
                              Last edited by varg; 02-08-2015, 04:30 PM.

                              IG @turbovarg
                              '91 318is, M20 turbo
                              [CoTM: 4-18]
                              '94 525iT slicktop, M50B30 + S362SX-E, 600WHP DD or bust
                              - updated 1-26

                              Comment


                                #30
                                Time for an update. I rebuilt the replacement turbocharger the yesterday because it was leaking quite badly from the turbine side, and causing very little smoke out of the exhaust, but dripping out from between the turbine housing and cartridge housing, burning oil on the flange and making a nice amount of smoke for a while after I turned the car off. I needed to stop that in the interest of safety and not making the car look like a piece of crap built by a complete idiot.




                                The cause of failure of my previous turbo, sand/media almost completely clogging my in-line filter, courtesy of a machinist who apparently didn't feel like removing the oil plugs when cleaning the head to ensure that no media was left behind in hidden places


                                Well, today while stuck in traffic I smelled a familiar smell, figured it might be residue left in the housing burning out, but when I got to school and popped the hood it was leaking worse than ever. I'm going to have to pull the CHRA out again and take it apart, and see if I missed some bit of crud that's impeding the seal - though I'm quite sure I didn't, I've rebuilt quite a few turbochargers successfully and clean them all of carbon the same way.

                                Smoke and oil residue:


                                Next, my differential is shot, rumbles a lot more now then when I first got it back on the road (probably because I've been kind of hard on it) it and sounds particularly ugly under engine braking. I misdiagnosed this noise when I bought the car as a bad wheel bearing and while the wheel bearing I diagnosed was indeed shot to hell, it seems it was not the only thing making noise. Furthermore, the steering rack decided it had had enough the first week I got it back on the road, and used an entire PS reservoir of fluid in the past week, so that needs to be replaced pretty badly. Oh, and my battery is really weak and I need to replace that too. I'm so far over-budget that I've stopped counting, it's bleeding me dry, and I have only received fleeting moments enjoyment out of this project since fall of last year, not at all what I had imagined. A combination of sheer bad luck made worse by little mistakes of mine, this project has more than made up for how smoothly things went with all of my past projects.

                                To reflect this, I've given my project an appropriate name.

                                Oh, and I figured out how to embed my video, so here it is again
                                Last edited by varg; 02-13-2015, 02:28 PM. Reason: excuse my typos, I'm running on very little sleep

                                IG @turbovarg
                                '91 318is, M20 turbo
                                [CoTM: 4-18]
                                '94 525iT slicktop, M50B30 + S362SX-E, 600WHP DD or bust
                                - updated 1-26

                                Comment

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