bigbertha

Im quite excited by the prospect of pulling the engine apart, well taking off the head anyway! I have always been intimidated by the engine for some reason, stupidity probably! No problem pulling the electronics, brakes etc to bits but never touched an engine, nervous excitement! Are there any specific tools that im going to need beyond the normal, ive got socket sets and everything else you would find in an average tool box, but im sure ill need some specialist tools along the way? Cheers, Hans

Thanks to you as well Steve, thats good advice, ill take the head off and get it tested, and machined if needed, Im assuming thats what you mean by "skim"?. Budget wise, im limited to about $400 at the moment, so ill be able to get it tested so I can know for sure!! Glad to hear your optimism about it just been the gasket and not a warped head, makes me feel better about choosing to not drive the car at all until I fix it!

Hello There, Here's the relevant information, if you need to know anything else please dont hesitate to ask, I will really appreciate any input you all may have on this issue for me :-) It started with a loud bubbly, splutter sort of sound from the exhaust, and an obvious drop in performance in the last 15 minutes of an hour long drive. I took it straight to a friend of mine to try and diagnose what the problem was, ive probably driven 20killometers total since it happened. Its a 1985 525e and has been well looked after, e28 model with the M20 2.7L engine. The previous owner did an LPG conversion on the car which is handy - Oil level and quality in engine is fine - No oil in coolant - The engine is not over heating - Ive been vigilant about keeping the engine cool - There was some oil on spark plugs have now put new plugs in A compression test showed - Cylinder 1 - 225psi - Cylinder 2 - 220psi - Cylinder 3 - 70psi - Cylinder 4 - 75psi - Cylinder 5 - 215psi - Cylinder 6 - 210psi and also a leak test showed that air was escaping between Cylinders 3&4 So I am hoping that a new head gasket will do the trick but another friend of mine told me that 9 times out of 10 if the head gasket is blown, the head will likely be warped as well, not sure how accurate this is though? I'm super keen to do the work myself so I can learn while I go, plus I am a student so I cant fork out the $2500- $3000 I was quoted to fix!! Beyond any general pearls of wisdom you may be able to offer, I would appreciate any links to useful resources or web pages, or forum posts that you think might help. Should I start dismantling to get the head off, or is there a further diagnostic test I can do on the engine first? Cheers, Hans