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    #16
    Originally posted by PDXPeter View Post
    Use the OEM O-ring. I tried off-the-shelf O-rings and they didn't quite fit right. Always fun to turn the engine on and have it spraying oil all over. The OEM one is a couple bucks and there were a ton available at the local dealer warehouses.


    Thanks - I got the OEM one from Reinz, through FCP. The site gave me a fit error for the Genuine BMW version (??)

    I may just pick up one from the dealer just to have on hand in case it all goes to crap.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    Current flame: E30 318iS Alpinweiss II slicktop / LSD - Joanne
    The old man: 1970 2002 Polaris(ish) slicktop / rat rod - Wallace
    The ex: E92 335i 6MT M-Sport - Betty
    The heavy: 2001 4Runner SR5 Sport (3rd Gen) - Fred

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      #17
      You really shouldnt have a problem with Reinz. I used them for most of my gaskets/many gaskets and havent had an issue.

      Comment


        #18
        Oil filter housing gasket replacement - some questions

        Alright - repair complete! I did end up doing this in conjunction with an oil change. Have to say this first: I have a mechanical expertise level of about 0 and was almost going to not do it when I couldn’t get the drain plug loose on the oil pan. Up to today, I’d never done an oil change, let alone pull apart minor chunks of the engine. So.

        First have to disconnect the negative terminal from the battery. Then you have to get the air box out. Not hard, loosen up the bolts and pull out. Notice that the little snorkel that attaches to the front of the car to the air box is cracked. Priced this thing out and because it’s E30 M42- specific it costs about $65 to replace. Some other time.



        Then need to pull the alternator. The alternator turned out to be the most difficult part of the whole thing, as I’ve never done that before and the bolt / nut holding the bottom bracket is tough to get to.

        Pull apart the little plastic cover that keeps crap off the contacts and remove the 13mm and 10mm nuts holding them on the alternator. Also remove the little 10mm ground from the back of the alternator, being careful to not lose the bolt.

        Loosen up the alternator belt by loosening the securing bolt (firewall side, 13mm I think) and turning the adjuster bolt (19mm, radiator side) to slacken the belt. I made a mark on the adjuster bolt to see if it lined up on reinstall, but I just ended up tightening so that I could only twist the belt 90 degrees more or less. The belt is thin and I really didn’t want to break it.

        I pulled out the top securing bolt first, which was a mistake - pull out the bottom one, then the top. The bottom one needs an open wrench on the firewall side to hold the nut in place, while removing the long bolt from the bottom. Once all of them are out, pull out the alternator. May need to give it a good pull to break it free from the carrier bushings.

        And now we can pull out the alternator carrier:



        You’ll see there are 3 13mm bolts exposed. There are 4 bolts, however - need to remove the upper firewall side bushing to access the 4th bolt on the upper left. If you look carefully you’ll see that the bushings are split in half, just use a standard blade screwdriver to lever the bushing out toward the firewall side. Then pull the carrier.

        At this point I used a ton of Gunk degreaser (original, not foaming) to spray the dickens out of the whole area. After that, I used a spray bottle of water to get most of the grease off the housing, bolts, and the whole lower front of the engine which had gotten all greased up from this leak.

        After all was somewhat dry, I pulled out the dipstick tube to replace the O-ring. The tube is long and bendy - just pull up and turn counterclockwise as you pull it up to go with the bends in the tube. The tube then gets the degrease treatment:



        That little notch sits on top of a rubber O-ring that’s probably still stuck in the car. Just stick your pinky into the hole (heh) and hook it out. You can also use one of those O-ring picks from HF, same same. My O-ring wasn’t in terrible shape but, since I was in there and that whole part of the engine was greased up, I just figured I’d do that too. The new one needs a little fresh oil and slides up from the bottom of the tube.

        Next, I pulled out the oil filter housing. With the alternator carrier out you can access the 6 10mm bolts holding it to the block. The top two bolts are longer than the bottom four. Pull the housing straight back. May take a small amount of effort to loosen up the O-ring at the top of the housing interface. Once that’s out, it looks like this:



        The paper towel in the top bore is to make sure no crud gets into the engine - this is the clean intake from the filter to the motor. The one at the bottom is covering up the dipstick tube hole.

        Fortunately, my entire gasket was stuck to the housing. Unfortunately, it was baked on to the aluminum of the housing and was so old and brittle it came off in little tiny pieces. I took to using the pick to pull off chunks, but eventually resorted to a razor blade and some more degreaser to take it off.:



        And here’s what it looked like once I was done and ready to go:



        Next was to take off this O-ring at the top of the housing. This one was basically plastic and all hard, and I believe was the source of my leak tbh:



        Use the HF pick to pull the bastard off and:


        Injury time!! Poked myself right through the glove. Damn things are sharp! Only casualty of the day, though.

        Get some degreaser on a paper towel and clean up the block interface for the housing, as well as the accumulated crud near the upper bore. Don’t let stuff fall in the bore!

        Oh, I also replaced the oil pressure sending unit, because it was there. The old one seemed ok, but I went ahead and did it anyway. This doesn’t have an O-ring, just a little washer and used a spanner to take the old one off and put the new one on with some muscle:



        A little fresh oil on the new O-ring, and a very thin layer of this stuff on both sides of the new gasket:



        Here’s the gasket pre-spray. Writing side goes on the housing, plain side goes on the block:



        Wait a few minutes for the sealant to get tacky, line it up on the housing side and then apply. Then, go ahead and stick it back in the car after putting a little more fresh oil in the upper bore to let the new O-ring slide in nicely.

        As they say, installation is the reverse of removal. I did put the housing bolts on finger tight and waited about 15 minutes for the sealant to set up, then torqued the bolts more fully to the block. I did them “snug, plus a quarter turn” as we couldn’t find the torque settings and this was about how difficult they came off. Same with the alternator carrier bolts.

        For me, the rest was pretty straightforward. After everything was back in, I ran a little bit of fresh oil through the engine without the drain plug in, to flush out the rest of the old oil. Then, we buttoned her up and finished out the oil change. Fired right up and purred super smooth. Ran the old oil down to recycle and looks great.

        Some tips:
        - needed a sh*t ton of paper towels and gloves. Have plenty of both before you start.
        - I’ll use a Mahle oil filter next time. The Mann one I got doesn’t seem to sit quite as low in the housing. In fact I’ll probably order one just to have in case the Mann one starts leaking out the top of the filter housing. Seems ok for now though.

        Parts list, all from FCP Euro:

        11421709800 - Genuine BMW oil filter housing gasket

        12618611273 - Rein OEM oil pressure switch

        11421709513 - Reinz OEM engine oil filter O-ring

        11431287541 - Genuine BMW oil dipstick tube seal

        Permatex High Tack Spray-A-Gasket Sealant

        Gunk Degreaser Classic

        I also used some LA’s Totally Awesome to give it a shot, did work just as well as the commercial degreaser but I didn’t have a spray bottle that made a nice stream like the Gunk.

        FIN.



        Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
        Last edited by majdomo; 08-26-2018, 06:49 PM.
        Current flame: E30 318iS Alpinweiss II slicktop / LSD - Joanne
        The old man: 1970 2002 Polaris(ish) slicktop / rat rod - Wallace
        The ex: E92 335i 6MT M-Sport - Betty
        The heavy: 2001 4Runner SR5 Sport (3rd Gen) - Fred

        Comment


          #19
          Very good write-up. For someone who has never done an oil change, you seemed to nail this project just fine.

          The o-ring that seals the clean oil outlet is notorious for leaking. It is usually due to it becoming old and hard, like yours was.



          I can also see your next project...the oil pressure regulator assembly is the old original design. You may have noticed the plunger looking thing in the square holes in the side of the timing case. The original design was metal (which that looks like in the photo), and was later updated to be plastic. Apparently the steel one could gall the aluminum bore and become lodged or something. Swapping that thing is a considerably larger job, though. Also, considering your car is almost 3 decades old, it is probably fine...the design update was in the 90's, so whichever ones were going to fail have likely already done so. Still, if you ever feel the desire to wrench more, that is one item that could use an update. It involves parts 5-8:


          It's a pain in the ass all around, mostly due to the upper pan needing removal. For now just drive the car and enjoy it!

          Transaction Feedback: LINK

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            #20
            Originally posted by bmwman91 View Post
            Very good write-up. For someone who has never done an oil change, you seemed to nail this project just fine.

            The o-ring that seals the clean oil outlet is notorious for leaking. It is usually due to it becoming old and hard, like yours was.



            I can also see your next project...the oil pressure regulator assembly is the old original design. You may have noticed the plunger looking thing in the square holes in the side of the timing case. The original design was metal (which that looks like in the photo), and was later updated to be plastic. Apparently the steel one could gall the aluminum bore and become lodged or something. Swapping that thing is a considerably larger job, though. Also, considering your car is almost 3 decades old, it is probably fine...the design update was in the 90's, so whichever ones were going to fail have likely already done so. Still, if you ever feel the desire to wrench more, that is one item that could use an update. It involves parts 5-8:


            It's a pain in the ass all around, mostly due to the upper pan needing removal. For now just drive the car and enjoy it!

            Thank you! Have to say that I studied this one for a good 2-3 weeks off and on just to make sure I understood every step and the stuff to buy, including all the questions to the forum and so on. I didn't have anything aside from sockets, so had a fairly long shopping list at first. I also wanted to make sure that I knew the oil change pretty well, which turned out to be a non-issue. I'll probably do my own oil changes from here on out, feel slightly stupid for not doing that sooner.



            I did notice that part you pointed out, doing a little research trying to see what to do in case the oil pump fails. It looks like a total pain and will hope for the best for now! I also want to research the timing chain (hard) and replacing the chain tensioner (easy, so I hear). I have no idea when that was done and should just do it just to have it done. On the other hand, I did buy a used impact wrench that just arrived today, and it's just sitting here doing NOTHING, so...



            Next project is probably front brakes and maybe the bushings / springs in the gearshift. That's bugged me since I bought the car, it feels all sloppy. Cake walk after this, I'm sure!
            Current flame: E30 318iS Alpinweiss II slicktop / LSD - Joanne
            The old man: 1970 2002 Polaris(ish) slicktop / rat rod - Wallace
            The ex: E92 335i 6MT M-Sport - Betty
            The heavy: 2001 4Runner SR5 Sport (3rd Gen) - Fred

            Comment


              #21
              Brakes should be fairly easy, although obviously they are what keep you alive so being careful is a good plan! The shifter stuff is simpler than the oil filter housing, but also more of a pain due to some things being a pain in the ass to get apart. There is the "bitch clip" which holds the shifter support to the transmission, and the plastic cup which holds the shifter ball (cups the balls lol). Those two are a little bit of a hassle.


              The oil pump is a whoooooole different level of work. You have to remove the entire timing case to get at it. You can do it without removing the cylinder head, and I have done it a couple of times, but after replacing the head once, I think that it might be easier to pull the head lol...it just costs more since you have to resurface it.

              The timing bits are fairly easy since the timing case does not need to be removed. The onyl hard part is getting the crank damper bolt off. If you have the stock flywheel, you can use an 8mm pin to lock it into place though, which makes it a lot easier. At this point though, I recommend anyone doing a timing job to replace the entire timing case with the 1994+ M42 version which had a couple of design changes that eliminate the single biggest point of failure which was present on the first-gen M42 in our cars (the stupid deflector sprocket...it blows out its bearings and/or breaks off from the timing case entirely).

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                #22
                Originally posted by bmwman91 View Post
                I can also see your next project...the oil pressure regulator assembly is the old original design. You may have noticed the plunger looking thing in the square holes in the side of the timing case. The original design was metal (which that looks like in the photo), and was later updated to be plastic. Apparently the steel one could gall the aluminum bore and become lodged or something. Swapping that thing is a considerably larger job, though. Also, considering your car is almost 3 decades old, it is probably fine...the design update was in the 90's, so whichever ones were going to fail have likely already done so. Still, if you ever feel the desire to wrench more, that is one item that could use an update. It involves parts 5-8:
                Reviving an old thread. The upper oil pan is leaking, so I'm going in and doing both oil pan gaskets, the oil pressure regulator update, and a new earth ground to see if this helps my jumpy temp gauge. Plenty of insulation missing from that anyway.

                I saw somewhere to use grey RTV on the oil pan gaskets, will the spray-a-gasket work as well or should I get some grey RTV?

                Also am worried about the Torx bolts on the back of the bell housing. Ordered up some special sockets for those and will GO SLOW.

                Anything else to do when I'm in there? Looks like fun.
                Current flame: E30 318iS Alpinweiss II slicktop / LSD - Joanne
                The old man: 1970 2002 Polaris(ish) slicktop / rat rod - Wallace
                The ex: E92 335i 6MT M-Sport - Betty
                The heavy: 2001 4Runner SR5 Sport (3rd Gen) - Fred

                Comment


                  #23
                  I would avoid RTV on the oil pan gaskets simply because it can make them nearly impossible to get off in the future. Are you certain that the upper pan gasket is what is leaking? Timing case cover & valve cover leaks can easily run down the side of the engine and spread everywhere, making the oil pans appear to be the culprit.

                  Transaction Feedback: LINK

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                    #24
                    Valve cover was just replaced and is clean and dry. It’s possible it’s the timing cover, just cleaned it all up and going to see if I get any seepage. It’s dirty but not greasy, if you know what I mean.

                    However it’s blown clear back to the end of the trans and all over the subframe. It’s not puking oil but just annoyingly wet. Plus I have no idea when it was done last.

                    Should gaskets just go on dry, ythink?


                    Ezekiel 25:17
                    Current flame: E30 318iS Alpinweiss II slicktop / LSD - Joanne
                    The old man: 1970 2002 Polaris(ish) slicktop / rat rod - Wallace
                    The ex: E92 335i 6MT M-Sport - Betty
                    The heavy: 2001 4Runner SR5 Sport (3rd Gen) - Fred

                    Comment


                      #25
                      Originally posted by majdomo View Post
                      Valve cover was just replaced and is clean and dry. It’s possible it’s the timing cover, just cleaned it all up and going to see if I get any seepage. It’s dirty but not greasy, if you know what I mean.

                      However it’s blown clear back to the end of the trans and all over the subframe. It’s not puking oil but just annoyingly wet. Plus I have no idea when it was done last.

                      Should gaskets just go on dry, ythink?


                      Ezekiel 25:17
                      Dry. I had mine replaced 8 years ago and 40k miles later it was still dry when I pulled it off.

                      This is what bmwman91 is talking about, the lower timing case is notorious for leaking down the side of the block/upper pan/subframe on the passenger side. BMW superseded the paper gasket with a metal one: 11141247633. I plan on replacing mine with the updated gasket, but the paper one is still available.



                      Here are the bolts for the upper pan, I used blue loctite on the 6 inside the lower pan (circled in the second pic) and the two holding on the pickup tube. As others have found them loose in the pan previously. I'd suggest replacing the pickup tube gasket while you have the pan off as well. Part no.: 11411715116. When putting it back on, clean the bolts up and hand thread them, as the front four go in to aluminum and the pan can move a lot. I stripped one when the pan wasn't on straight. Torque on all the pan bolts is 10nm for 8.8 grade and 12nm for 10.9. All my upper pan bolts were 8.8s.


                      1991 BMW 318i Alpinweiß II Slicktop 231,000 Miles Build date: Wednesday, 1/30/1991
                      2003 BMW Z4 2.5i Sterlinggrau Metallic 112,000 Miles Build Date: Monday 12/9/2002

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                        #26
                        Originally posted by Gloff View Post
                        Dry. I had mine replaced 8 years ago and 40k miles later it was still dry when I pulled it off.

                        This is what bmwman91 is talking about, the lower timing case is notorious for leaking down the side of the block/upper pan/subframe on the passenger side. BMW superseded the paper gasket with a metal one: 11141247633. I plan on replacing mine with the updated gasket, but the paper one is still available.

                        Thanks much for the photos and advice!! I'm going to have to get in there a little more to see if it's the timing case or what. My CPS was all wet too so that suggests higher up than the upper pan, but I wasn't able to get a good look up the side of the case. The front of the car is on stands right now (suspension snafu to be finished this week) so have decent access at the moment.

                        I have parts for the upper pan gasket on the way from FCP, may just clean it all up really good and then let it ride for a minute to see what happens. If it ends up being the timing case, I may just wait on the upper pan until I can tackle the timing case.

                        Edit - can you replace the timing case with the head still on, or does that need to come off as well?

                        Looks like you have the engine out for some rebuild work?
                        Last edited by majdomo; 07-15-2019, 09:50 AM. Reason: dumb questions I probably shouldn't be asking
                        Current flame: E30 318iS Alpinweiss II slicktop / LSD - Joanne
                        The old man: 1970 2002 Polaris(ish) slicktop / rat rod - Wallace
                        The ex: E92 335i 6MT M-Sport - Betty
                        The heavy: 2001 4Runner SR5 Sport (3rd Gen) - Fred

                        Comment


                          #27
                          Originally posted by majdomo View Post
                          Thanks much for the photos and advice!! I'm going to have to get in there a little more to see if it's the timing case or what. My CPS was all wet too so that suggests higher up than the upper pan, but I wasn't able to get a good look up the side of the case. The front of the car is on stands right now (suspension snafu to be finished this week) so have decent access at the moment.

                          I have parts for the upper pan gasket on the way from FCP, may just clean it all up really good and then let it ride for a minute to see what happens. If it ends up being the timing case, I may just wait on the upper pan until I can tackle the timing case.

                          Edit - can you replace the timing case with the head still on, or does that need to come off as well?

                          Looks like you have the engine out for some rebuild work?

                          You can do the timing case with the head on, bmwman91 has done it a few times, but its way easier with the head off. Pulling the head is easier than it seems, I've had to do it three times now. If you do pull the head, make sure you get the timing tools, the TDC Pin and Cam locking tool, they can be had on ebay for about $40. Also, bite the bullet and get the E12 etorx long socket specifically for BMW head bolts, worth every penny.

                          Yeah, I'm swapping the head and timing case from an E36 M42 to my E30 block. Check out my thread in this subforum, tons of photos. Let me know if you need any other photos, It's halfway assembled right now, finishing it up tomorrow, only have the head torqued and the chain guides back in, lots of stuff still to do!
                          1991 BMW 318i Alpinweiß II Slicktop 231,000 Miles Build date: Wednesday, 1/30/1991
                          2003 BMW Z4 2.5i Sterlinggrau Metallic 112,000 Miles Build Date: Monday 12/9/2002

                          Comment


                            #28
                            Originally posted by Gloff View Post
                            Also, bite the bullet and get the E12 etorx long socket specifically for BMW head bolts, worth every penny.

                            Is it this thing?: https://www.amazon.com/OTC-5940-Head...SIN=B000R5KT7W

                            I started pulling apart an M42 in a '94 318is in the junkyard today. Kept pulling the upper timing cover and wondering why it didn't just pop off, turns out one of the bolts was completely covered and oil and crap. Anyway, left that one in the yard and felt overmatched, didn't have tools to get the fan off, and figure will need a bf wrench to get the crank bolt off....

                            What tools should I bring to the yard if I'm going to gather the cover and case?
                            Last edited by majdomo; 07-21-2019, 09:54 PM.
                            Current flame: E30 318iS Alpinweiss II slicktop / LSD - Joanne
                            The old man: 1970 2002 Polaris(ish) slicktop / rat rod - Wallace
                            The ex: E92 335i 6MT M-Sport - Betty
                            The heavy: 2001 4Runner SR5 Sport (3rd Gen) - Fred

                            Comment


                              #29
                              You MIGHT be able to pop the crank bolt with an electric impact gun, or a breaker+cheater bar and the car in 5th gear. Even then, the clutch could slip. In that case, you would need way to lock either the crank at the front or at the flywheel. A locking tool for the front is relatively easy to make if you can get a scrap of steel plate and have a drill press. One big hole for the bolt & socket, 6 smaller ones for some M8 bolts and stacked washers behind it. Make it long enough to jam against something solid in there. That is what I made and use.

                              Transaction Feedback: LINK

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                                #30
                                Originally posted by majdomo View Post
                                Is it this thing?: https://www.amazon.com/OTC-5940-Head...SIN=B000R5KT7W

                                I started pulling apart an M42 in a '94 318is in the junkyard today. Kept pulling and wondering why it didn't just pop off, turns out one of the bolts was completely covered and oil and crap. Anyway, left that one in the yard and felt overmatched, didn't have tools to get the fan off, and figure will need a bf wrench to get the crank bolt off....

                                What tools should I bring to the yard if I'm going to gather the cover and case?
                                That's the one. Word of note, remove the retainer spring on the end and the ball that holds the bolt it, mine popped off and I almost lost the ball in the head.

                                FYI the fan is reverse threaded, the crank bolt is not. The fan is kind of a bitch if you don't have a holding tool, I was always able to use a screwdriver against one of the waterpump bolts to brace it somewhere.

                                You will want to bring a long breaker bar and a 22mm socket for the crank bolt. I was able to bust mine loose with a 36" breaker and the flywheel pin in a kit similar to the linked below the photo, which I highly recommend, as bmwman91 mentioned, you can also use an 8mm bolt through the tdc locating hole on the block just below the starter(circled in red). You have to rotate the engine with the crank bolt till it slides in.




                                Timing case bolts are a mix of 6mm allen key, you'll want a socket version though(#2, the upper right one is an allen key on late models, 13mm on early), 10(#6/#3/#4) , 13(#5), and I think 15mm or 16mm(#1) bolts.
                                Last edited by Gloff; 07-21-2019, 10:03 PM.
                                1991 BMW 318i Alpinweiß II Slicktop 231,000 Miles Build date: Wednesday, 1/30/1991
                                2003 BMW Z4 2.5i Sterlinggrau Metallic 112,000 Miles Build Date: Monday 12/9/2002

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