Valvebounce

I scored a Reinz head gasket set for my M20. Real nice kit. But there are a few bits in the set that I can't find homes for. One large O ring, (Larger that the sqaure section one from the outside of the cam seal carrier) One small O ring (smaller that the two on the oil drain tube) And two pairs of Shims Any idea where these bit belong?

The lame as thing about FB is, it has depleted many of the forums of traffic. Forums used to be such good times, but nowdays many have petered out. Back on topic, I went round to the mates house from whom I bought the car. And removed the head from the original motor from the car. It had been out in the weather for two and half years. I stripped it back to bare. dropped it off monday just been. The bloke said he was very busy this week. I swung by yesterday, and nothing had been done. From his reaction, I wasn't hopeful that it would be done this week. But I visit this arvo, and he had tested it. Much to my relief it passed test. So after work I started lapping the valves. Pretty hard on the hands. But if looks like this tale (of misery) is going to have a happy ended.

Got the head back today. Cracked to the days. The cylinder head guy seemed a bit dumbstruck that someone would have spent the $$$$ having it done up, but not bother to have it pressure tested first.

TBH, My gut feeling is that it's going to be a cracked head. The guy who did the motor swap before I got it said the guy who sold him the dnor car had spent some $$$ on the motor. I'd say it was mixing fluids, and whoever did the work never had the head tested. Everything is impossibly clean. I'm glad to have a spare head in reserve. Some genius on the tard was asking $400 for an M20 head last time I looked.

Factory manual. When I spoke to the head guy, he said he had seen the crack through the cam saddles. Which is where the oil feed to the top end comes in through. There's the odd hint of moisture in the oil too. BUt nothing like the crankcase full of mayonaise like a BHG can yeild

Some time ago I started a thread about my E34 I'd bought as a non runner. With the help of the GC's on here, I got the old girl running. Next calamity that came to light was oil appearing in the header tank on the radiator. I carried out the mother of all flushes, (motor, engine, and rad, 6 ways to sunday) but droplets of oil still floated out of the filler neck. this was months ago. Fast forward to now. After a bit of a debacle with postage, (only half the bits showing up) I got a head gasket set, and a new set of head bolts off Ebay. I got a price from a cylinder head guy for a pressure test. And after work today I removed the head from the engine. The head gasket did not show any evidence of leakage. With a bit of luck, I'll get the head dropped off to the shop tomorrow arvo. I guess my question is, besides a cracked or warped head, or gasket failure is there any other point on these engines where there could be a breach between the lubrication and cooling systems? The engine looks mint inside. It wouldn't suprise me one jot is i's been overhauled recently. Any other sicko's had similar misery from one of these engines?

Reasssembled the hoses etc today, and filled her up with plain old h20. Went for a few laps around the block. Temp gauge came up to a nats cock over half. pulled back into the drive, and shut it down. opened hood, and cold hear a running water sound coming from the motor. It didn't inspire confidence. I didn't open the header tank cap to look for oil, as it was too hot. There was the merest hint of white under the oil filler cap. I've seen the same on engines with disconnected PCV systems. But this one is pretty good. (When I open the oil filler cap while the engine is running, the engine sucks air, and drops some rpms. Priced up a headset, and new headbolts. I can get them landed for $180nzd.

Removed radiator today. There was a healthy skin of unhealthy coloured shite in the drain tray. The main ulk of it came from the header tank on the side. I flushed it six ways till sunday until it seemed to run clean. It flet pretty oily. And there were plenty of gasoline rainbows. I hooked the thermostat out, and ran the hose through the engine every way too. I'd like to stick a bottle brush into the header tank and try get it a bit cleaner inside. What I'll probably do is whack it all back together, and slam three dishwasher tabs in to clean the cooling system out. (Leaving the T/stat out to allow proper circulation of the water. Doesn't pay to leave it in for too long. caustic stuff isn't kind on Aluminuim. Best case senario the oil is residual. But I aint holding my breath...........

That's where I'll start. but there was a bit more oil in the header tank than what I would call residual. I think I have a testing rig somehwere to pressurise the cooling system, with a valve and a gauge. BUt the plugs that fit into the top and bottom hoses are for a smaller engine. May have to turn some more up. (If I can even find it in the first place) but given that the possible breach is between the lubrication system, and the cooling system, mabe I should whack 80psi of compressed airon the oil pressure sender port? And then check the rad for hissing?

Car is a manual. I think I saw the slightest hint of mayo on the dipstick. But not enough to even notice really. Even corollas go bad. And a single cam engine isn't the hardset thing in the world to rip the head off of. (Putting it back togther is the part I'll struggle with though. lol)

Actually got to drive the pig this week. Had to hound my mate to find the battery tray i his garage. I think I drank four or five of his beers while he was looing for it too. hahaha. The tappets were a bit tappy, so I enlisted an extra pair of hands to assist me with adjusting them. And went to a drive. Ran awful. Got back and found that I'd left a plug wire off. herp-derp. That improved how it ran no end. sh*t it drives smooth. I had another herp derp moment when it kept dumping coolant. Becuase the header tank as part of the rad is all new to me, I kept filling it right to the top, and it kept leaking it out. I thought the radiator was shagged. BUT, I do have another problem. There apears to be arounf 10-12mm of oil floating on the top of the coolant in the header tank. I've owned plenty of cars which have turned the contents of the crank case into mayonaise. But this is the first time I've had oil in the radiator. I googled such a thing, and came accross one thread at bimmerfest (or something) where a guy said he had the same problem. the oil is between one quarter, and one third below the full mark on the dipstick. And my mate is now not so sure that the engine was actually rebuilt, but that they guy did have a bunch of receipts for work done. I'm almost worried, as the area under the can cover is super ultra clean. (Eat your dinner off it spec) So maybe the head has been off before? Maybe it had this problem before? and they failed to fix it? Anyone got an good usable pictures of the upper lubrication diagram? I think I'll dump the coolant, and try flush the system clean. see if maybe it's not making oil. but when I poked the tip of the dipstcik into the header tank, the top half inch or so was straight oil when I wiped it on a rag.

I recall someone saying yonks ago when we did a trip to the NI that they were tricky when a guy with an E34 was getting hot. I would have made a start on the tappets when I was there, but I was wearing a white tee shirt. So thought better of it. lol

Is there any trick to bleeding the air out of the cooling system? Slapped some fresh antifreeze in it today. Seemed a bit hard to get the air out. top and is a bit clacky too. Tappets look to be a piece of piss to adjust though.

I got to spend a half hour again today. stopped by during my lunch break. got the oil level sensor plugged in. The oil pressure sender doesn't have a nice "push in the wire clip to release" like the oil level sensor did. it had the other kind like nissan uses. Which is dumb considering the sender is tucked up in a tight hole behind the engine mount bracket. And yes some oily crud went in my eyes. lol The sender has been leaking too. (They all leak sooner or later) The old motor still has the orignal sensor in it. It's still sitting on my mates driveway. So I need to borrow a 24mm tube socket. My biggest is 22mm I think. Still need to clean the oil off the plug, and earth it to see if the oil light shows up on the dash. Unfortunately parenthood is preventing me spending as much time over there as I'd like. I'm still pretty happy it runs though. Only paid a K for an NZ new manual 525I. So fingers crossed she'll be all road legal and driving for only another $150. Then I can kick my nissan to the kerb, and rescue my spine from the stiff suspention. Coilovers and earthquake raped roads aren't a happy pairing.

Yes yes, and yes. It has the txt at the bottom of the dash cluster. And when the key is turned off, the txt still dispalys, and it chimes for around 20 secs or so. After I free up and connect the oil level switch, I'll investigate the oil pressure switch too. I got a bugger up in the air today so I can slither underneath it. The oil sender/sender wire is in a mongrel of a spot. It didn't want to come free with a gentle tug. But I have to fight these battles one at a time now that the main hurdle has been overcome.

Yes I'm defo going to change the Brake fluid. All the fluids are going to get done. No-one ever changes the brake, gearbox, or diff oils. Except when something breaks/goes wrong. And an ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure. I'm getting the "oil lever sensor" message flashing up on the dash. It's not plugged in yet, so that's to be expected. I'm sure it was giving me a message saying "oil pressure sender" too? Does the E34 have an oil light on the dash with the standard old oil can symbol? Because I'm not seeing one. (Thus me thinking there's a fault with the sender/sender wire)

Aaaaaand, It runs! So it was just the gap being too wide. (And the lack of knowing where the f-k it was meant to go) Pretty happy really. Still have the oil level sensor warning on the dash. The plug doesn't seen to reach. I'm going to unteather the sensor plug from the lower alternator mounting bolt, and then it will hopefully reach. I also have no oil light. And I'm seeing the oil pressure switch warning on the dash too. So either the sensor is poo'd, or I have a bad connection/broken wire. It's entirely possible that this wire was missed when the old motor was removed. And it might have been pulled or pinched. I wasn't keen to run it too long with no oil light though. (Better safe than sorry) So those two things to sort, add some antifreeze, and find a battery hold down. and It's WOF time.

The battery was dead, so I couldn't find out. I have the crank sensor plugged into the right plug, (Which was my original bugbear) and the gap and resistance are in spec. So if it was ever going to have spark, it would be now. I guess I'll know soon enough.

That's what I did. Although it only squirted fuel while cranking. I'm 99% sure nissans will energise the pump for three seconds when the key is first turned to the "on" position to prime the system. even though it's not gone Vrooom! yet, I'm feeling like I'm getting somewhere. If it doesn't play ball, I supose I'm back to plain old fault finding again. Next time I'll take my feeler guages too. (Get everything right, so as to eliminate all the variables)

Hey guys, Today I got a random txt from a mutual friend of the guy I bought this car off. He got my number off my mate, and was pumped to help. So I used this as levrage to garner permission from the mrs to go have a play with the E34. (Plus the mother in law was taking our toddler out for the afternoon, which really sealed the deal) So we meet where I have the par stored. He's some kind of computer designer/expert/foamer/anorak. In fact he bought a hand hand ocsiliscope to aid with testing stuff. (I know what they are, but their use is miles and miles over my head) This was the first time I'd had the opportunity to even look at the car since I checked another car and confirmed that the crank angle sensor indeed plugged into the rearmost plug under the intake manifold. Despite the fact that we'd had the plug plugged in before, the cable seemed to short. So I had to route it in behind the steel water pipe, and run the cable in behind the water pump pulley. Also found that the crank angle sensor to chopper wheel on the crank gap was up over 2mm. I couldn't find any feeler gauges, but I managed to get it down to just a minute fraction under .8mm. (The book says .7-1.3mm is the spec) Also checked the resistance of the crank angle sensor at pins 47, and 48 at the ECU plug once it was plugged in. Came up at 528 ohms. Which is still in spec. So am I correct in assuming that the pressure reg is the small daiphram with a vac hose on it on one of the hose nipples on the fuel rail? if so they were connected back to front. so I swapped them over. (Mate reckoned they looked back to front to him too). Then we had a well earned beer. But when the moment of truth came, the battery was flat. Womp, womp, waaaahhhh.............. Battery is probably poo'd truth be told. But I think it will take a charge, and the ol' bitch will go or it wont. I'll be sure to report back.

Well I'm still here, haven't had any spare time to do Jack lately. ('tis a busy time of year) I can confirm (In case anyone ever reads this thread seeking the same info I originally sought) that the Crank angle sensor goes into the rearmost plug underneath the manifold. And the sensor wire from the spark plug lead goes into the forward most plug. The last time I had the bonnet up I had a very very brief go with my mates multi meter. It looked as though the crank angle sensor on the car was showing 521 ohms too. Next time I get a decent chance, I'll plug the sensor into the plug, and measure the resistance again at pins 47, and 48 at the ECU plug. Wont be for a while though I'd say. The mrs is 6 days overdue to have our 2nd kid. so my poor little 34 waits....... And the coilovers in my nissan continue to crush the gel packs in my spine. 1st world problems................

Also for what it's worth, (not a f**k of a lot) I know why I orginally thought there was no power at the coil. There is little to know circuit between the strut top, and the motor/earth terminal. Most car I've worked on have had a good earth on the strut top. But I would assume that the beemer strut top has too good of a paint job, and the top hat doesn't have a decent earth, So the battle goes on.

Just visited my mate, and grabbed the spare crank sensor. HIs meter read 521 ohms. I've borrowed his meter too, since mine is a bit iffy. I'm going to be one happy SOB if that's all thats wrong. The oil level sensor on the old motor seems to have longer wires on it too. The OLS on the motor in the car has it's plug teathered to the bolts on the alternator mounts. The plug which looks like it belongs to it seems to be too short to reach where it lives. I may yet have to swap that sensor over too.

You are the man Will! If ever our paths cross irl, I owe you a cold one. (Proabably grant too)

I had all knds of fun with my multi meter. I would up having to take it apart to get it to work. The today I tried to check to see which of the plug up out of the way outta sight and hard to even reach w=has continuity with Pin 47 of the ecu plug. I simply couldn't find them well enough to find a cicuit. (They're in a prick of a spot) Anyway, I gave up on that. And decided to check the resistance of the crank sensor. I'd been reading the haynes manual which came with the car. I made notes on post it notes, and stuck them in the folder that the manual is in. Anyway, my notes sad that the circuit between the yellow and black (Going from memory here) was supposed to be 500-600 ohms. for starters the wire is pretty well insulated, so you have no way of knowing which whie is which. The only terminals inside the plug which offered any sign of life on that plug only showed 0.003 ohms resistance. u mate who I got the car off has a spare one. I'm going to borrow his meter too. (Incase it's my meter which is coozed too)