The Barbara Chronicles

[Vass 702]

BMW special tool #318364. Left two bolts either side of the starter to be safe. Will see how it goes. 

[Vass 702]

Really need to be mindful of letting the engine idle for too long with new piston rings. Ideally need to get it running ASAP and start giving it some load. Don't have any experience breaking in engines but at what point do I start running the risk of stuffing those up? 

[Eagle 1522]

Dont think anyone could really answer that question. Obviously its not idea but it's leaking bad enough that you shouldn't have to idle it for very long at all. Flicking the A\C on, having good lighting and viewing angles to spot the source quickly would be all id do. A mirror maybe helpful for checking the crank sensor are.

[Vass 702]

What would flicking on the A/C do? 

[Eagle 1522]

Technically load the engine slightly but probably wont account for very much

[Vass 702]

Don't have as much time anymore with being back to work but slowly chipping away at it as much as I can. Bolted up the fancy new bracket. Will use the auto flywheel as it's smaller and less hassle to install. Also checked over all the nuts and bolts I had access to whilst being under there, everything is torqued to spec so don't think that would have been the issue. Just to be safe, took out the left side oil pan bolt, cleaned everything and replaced it with a clean bolt from the old engine. Used some thread sealer on it as well although there's no threads below the pan gasket anyway so unlikely that it'd make a difference.

Also managed to track down some UV dye finally. Only one I could find was this one that's technically meant for AC systems but should still do the job. Don't think it'd have anything in it that would do any damage to the gaskets or anything. Only thing I'm unsure about is how well it holds up to higher temperatures but I guess I'll find out. Not a cheap endeavour at $200 retail (good guy at the counter at NAPA gave me trade price at $120) but if it saves me from doing this all over again then it's money well spent.

Will reassemble the intake and everything around it and try start the car back up over the weekend. Will hopefully help get on top of it.

[Vass 702]

The UV dye thing turned out to be a dud. Didn't want to blindly pour sludge into the pride and joy so decided to try it out on the new daily, a Suzuki Swift Sport I had picked up a few weeks prior. Did an oil change on it the previous weekend and noticed it pissing out oil quite generously. Cleaned up what I could, poured in a dose of dye and went for a half hour drive onto my mate's hoist. Plenty of new oil dripping out but made absolutely no difference under the UV light. Tested it in some old oil in a measuring cup and looks like it just doesn't play well with oil, just settles to the bottom instead of dissolving in it so is no use in this application. Another expensive shelf filler but worth a try anyway.

Checked over the crank sensor, no visible cracks or damage that I could see. Chucked on a new O-ring and drew a ring of RTV in behind it right under the metal plate for good measure. Should be solid enough this time. Got the flywheel bolted up and the intake reassembled, minus the intake boots to have a clearer view from the top.

Engine started up very effortlessly, which is encouraging, barely half a crank. No signs of leaks from the sensor so jumped under the car and sure enough, oil started running down the left side of the RMS housing.

Video

Hard to tell whether there's a leak from the RMS housing and/or oil pan but what's definite is a leak from the oil gallery plug further up, so it could be that running all the way down.

Weird one. Thought I had cleaned and seated it all the way in with a healthy dose of sealant. Maybe I just didn't use enough. Then again, not really sure on the correct method of installation. Looking at the old engine block, it sat flush with the block surface so the sealant must have been doing all the work. Feels weird leaving it almost dangling there though as the Permatex sealant I'm using doesn't really harden so much unless tightened fully. There's also a passage that would be almost fully blocked if the plug is driven all the way in. From factory, the sealant looks to be similar to blue Loctite but I was more under the impression it's more to prevent loosening under vibration than stop oil seeping through, so suspect it must be some special BMW magic potion.

Looked into ordering a whole new plug with whatever the right sealant is already applied but wherever I've looked, there's 2-4 week wait on them being shipped. Might chuck an order in and have a few kicking around for the future but for now just cleaned it up again, cleaned up the hole and drenched the damn thing in sealant and made sure to drive it in as tight as it would go. Looks to have gone in maybe half a turn further than I had it previously. Pretty crude but seems to have worked for 50sKid.

Will let it set overnight and try another startup tomorrow. I'm still sceptical whether this is the only source of the leak but nothing would make me happier than being wrong in this case.

[darren_mk 52]

Nice to have found a obvious leak, my money is on this being the only leak.

Hopefully the sealant will work, although its strange that you do not seat it all the way 'home' in its threads. Could the plug have gotten mixed up with another (longer) one when the short engine was at the machine shop?

[Vass 702]

4 minutes ago, darren_mk said:

Hopefully the sealant will work, although its strange that you do not seat it all the way 'home' in its threads. Could the plug have gotten mixed up with another (longer) one when the short engine was at the machine shop?

No, definitely the right plug. I actually removed the one from the old engine and used that one this time. Must be some damn good sealant that BMW uses when first assembling these, wish I knew what it was and where to get some.

There's only two of those plugs on the whole engine, front and back of the block and they're both the same length. Come to think of it, I suspect the front one must also be weeping as I seated it exactly the same way, although that one is less problematic being behind the timing cover so it would just run straight down into the oil pan. Just hope it doesn't vibrate itself loose. Really don't know why the sealant didn't set at all the first time around. 

[Eagle 1522]

20 hours ago, Vass said:

 

From factory, the sealant looks to be similar to blue Loctite but I was more under the impression it's more to prevent loosening under vibration than stop oil seeping through, so suspect it must be some special BMW magic potion.

It probably is the German\BMW equivalent. Loctite works very well to seal threads once and resists anything ive thrown at it once cured, bit like plastic is you have ever removed big bits of it. I think ive got a few bottles of the green retaining compound if you never want to take it off again.

[Vass 702]

21 minutes ago, Eagle said:

It probably is the German\BMW equivalent. Loctite works very well to seal threads once and resists anything ive thrown at it once cured, bit like plastic is you have ever removed big bits of it. I think ive got a few bottles of the green retaining compound if you never want to take it off again.

I think I'm desperate enough to try. What sort of stuff is it exactly?

Just gave it another go, turned the engine on and sure enough oil running down within seconds. Gallery plug of course. The sealant I'm using really isn't up to the task it seems, which is weird as that's what 50sKid successfully used on his. Willing to try anything at this point.

Grateful that it's just the 8 flywheel bolts to undo to check every time and not installing the whole gearbox... 

[Eagle 1522]

Will have a shortly and PM you. I looked it up once but forgot the actual number. Basically ultra high temp\locking compound iirc. Have to use heat to remove it. Im sure the usual 243 will handle the job though temperature wise. 

[Vass 702]

The thing that I'm hesitant about with 243 is this bit:

"LOCTITE 243 works on all metals, including passive substrates such as stainless steel, aluminum and plated surfaces. It is proven to be tolerant of minor contamination due to industrial oils, e.g., motor oils, corrosion prevention oils and cutting fluid."

Seems a bit more than a 'minor contamination' this 😄

[Eagle 1522]

I interpret that as when applied to threads. So if the threads arent fully clean it will still cure.

That the stuff ive got

https://www.henkel-adhesives.com/cn/en/product/threadlockers/loctite_2701.html

[Vass 702]

Cool cool. I've just cleaned everything up again and reinstalled the plug with a small lake's worth of 243 Loctite. Might let it cure for an extra day and try it out on Friday maybe. If it still leaks then I'll hit you up for that 2701 stuff. Or is it just readily available from Bunnings and such as well? 

[Vass 702]

Well, looks like we're onto a winner. Blue Loctite 243 seems to have done the job.

Thoroughly cleaned the threads and sat it in just a mm in from flush. At the same time did the same on the old engine as a test. Took it out the next morning to check and it looks to have set pretty well.

Compare that to the Permatex 59235 that got completely washed out and didn't set at all.

Anyway, ran the engine for a couple of minutes last night and so far so good. Haven't put it under any real load yet but previously the oil began dripping down within seconds. Removed the flywheel and didn't find any other signs of leaks, everything is bone dry. Happy days.

Video

Started putting everything back together now and hoping to finally go for a longer drive over the weekend.

Jumped on and reset the self-adjusting pressure plate. Looking at the before and afters, it doesn't look to have made much of a difference so it hadn't gone out of whack by much, but good to make sure anyway. Did it by bolting it down onto a piece of ply laid over a pallet instead of using jaw pullers, similar to this video.

Before

During

After

Also made up a couple of tidy plugs for the O2 sensor wiring out of old sensors. These will properly clip into the brackets and keep the wires from rattling around under the beauty covers. Might later remove the redundant wiring altogether.

Will just have the ABS light trifecta to clear away from the cluster after everything is back together. I suspect it's just a matter of going through the steering angle sensor calibration procedure as I did play around with it a bit. Will see how she goes.

[Vass 702]

Kicked off the reassembly straight after work yesterday and couldn't stop myself until it was all put together... at 4am. Despite mustering up just the 3 hours, didn't manage to stay asleep past my usual 7am so got up and went for a drive. Did the steering angle sensor calibration with BMW Scanner which cleared the trifecta lights from the dash. Only annoying light that remained was the fuel level warning...

Did some varied driving, slow bits around the neighbourhood at first followed by a scenic ride through Sumner - Governor's Bay - Dyers Pass. Did a bunch of gentle rolling pulls from 2k to 4k RPM and coast down to 2k, then hit some hilly-twisty bits, frequently stopping to check for leaks and temps. Clocked up just over 100km.

The car starts up fine but the starter seems to make a different sound than what I can remember, bit of a higher pitched whirring noise with a slight rattle. The last startup I did when checking for leaks I forgot that I hadn't put the flywheel on the night before so it spun over freely without and load for about a second. Don't know if that would have done anything but hope it didn't stuff it. The starter itself was from I believe 2012 so was replaced at some point, I took it apart, checked that the brushes were still good and lubed it up so does function as it should. Not sure what the issue might be but will monitor it. When removing the gearbox, it got caught on the sound deadening fabric and ripped it a bit so it could just be the extra noise coming through.

The engine feels super solid, got more used to the gearbox as the drive went on. Power feels good and effortless, idle is smooth but had a couple of patches of grumbling when sitting still at lights. The gearbox still feels lurchy / jittery at times in 1st & 2nd. Even when not changing gear but, for example, going over railway lines all the way in second, it starts lurching when getting back on the power. Hopefully it goes away as the clutch beds in properly. The 3.38 diff probably doesn't help either, first gear is virtually useless, definitely not sticking with it long-term.

Otherwise, absolutely buzzing to have gotten to this point. Small gremlins aside, the car is an absolute joy to drive, tracks nice and straight, the ride is smooth, and it'll only get better from here as I kick on with refurbing the rear subframe, suspension, brakes, wheel bearings etc.

Thanks to everyone that's chimed in with advice and encouragement along the way. Special shout out to @Eagle who's been a massive help throughout. Absolute legend mate.

Probably overkill this soon but will do a quick oil change and do another 500km with the running in oil. Will take the bottom covers back off and give everything a once-over whilst I'm at it but nothing seems to be leaking past them so far anyway. Happy days.

[M3AN 4015]

Very, very well done, you should be proud of that effort, props.

[adro 1052]

Fantastic! Love how fast you have executed this project. Also thanks for supplying such a detailed thread for others (but mainly myself) to follow. Has been great to follow and looking forward to the future progress. 

[Eagle 1522]

Agreed. The amount of effort and hours you have put into is certainly commendable.

1 hour ago, Vass said:

The car starts up fine but the starter seems to make a different sound than what I can remember, bit of a higher pitched whirring noise with a slight rattle. The last startup I did when checking for leaks I forgot that I hadn't put the flywheel on the night before so it spun over freely without and load for about a second. Don't know if that would have done anything but hope it didn't stuff it. The starter itself was from I believe 2012 so was replaced at some point, I took it apart, checked that the brushes were still good and lubed it up so does function as it should. Not sure what the issue might be but will monitor it. When removing the gearbox, it got caught on the sound deadening fabric and ripped it a bit so it could just be the extra noise coming through

Basically a bench test by starting it without the flywheel, not a problem. When you say lubed what are we talking about here?. Bendix and pinion cleaned?. Could record the noise next time you start it.  

1 hour ago, Vass said:

The gearbox still feels lurchy / jittery at times in 1st & 2nd. Even when not changing gear but, for example, going over railway lines all the way in second, it starts lurching when getting back on the power. Hopefully it goes away as the clutch beds in properly. The 3.38 diff probably doesn't help either, first gear is virtually useless, definitely not sticking with it long-term

Im assuming you dont think its engine related?

By lurching and you saying its bucking forward and back when accelerating in lower gears?, when going on\off the throttle? or is a just an initially lurch when re-applying throttle?. Yeah first gear can be a little jerky on\off throttle a low speeds with drivetrain movement and im sure that 3.38 diff doesnt help. New clutch and flywheel shouldn't give any issues assuming they are working correctly. Sounds like one of those things you really want to drive it yourself to experience.

[Vass 702]

11 hours ago, Eagle said:

By lurching and you saying its bucking forward and back when accelerating in lower gears?

Yeah, basically. Don't know how to describe it better. Not every time though, got the hang of it after a while and just applied throttle more gently, basically being a grandpa off the line. Only happened when taking off or when coasting in 2nd and start applying throttle from zero. Might just be a matter of getting used to it and the short diff.

More concerningly though, figured out what the deal with the starter is - it didn't seat properly. Realised what I'd done wrong. When installing the transmission, the first thing I did was tighten up the 4 big bolts, lifted the rear of the transmission in place and bolted up the mount. Only then did I go to seat the starter in place and although the bolts (somehow) torqued up to spec, on closer look, it clearly sits at an angle, the pin at the top of the bell housing not going into the hole and pressing against the casing so the starter sat with the top tilted outward. Surprised it started up at all and luckily doesn't look to have done any real damage. 

What must have happened is the backing plate got tightened down just a millimeter or two out of whack. Played around with if for a good 2 hours yesterday and just cannot get it to seat even - either the bottom's in and the top pin rests against the rim or the pin is somewhat aligned and the bottom edge sticks out.

Such a tight and awkward space as well, can't really see much of what you're doing and just going by feel. I guess all I can do is drop the exhaust, driveshaft again, tilting the engine back to get to the damn top bolts, crack all the bolts slightly loose and try align the backing plate properly. Can almost do it with my eyes closed at this point... Super annoying but happy to have caught it before it grenaded itself.

In more positive news, how good is this? Not a single drop of fluids on the bottom covers. Taking bets on how long it remains like this 😄

Oil change done. A good amount of magnetic sludge in there, as to be expected but nothing too concerning otherwise.

Another wrenchfest incoming. 

[Eagle 1522]

28 minutes ago, Vass said:

Yeah, basically. Don't know how to describe it better. Not every time though, got the hang of it after a while and just applied throttle more gently, basically being a grandpa off the line. Only happened when taking off or when coasting in 2nd and start applying throttle from zero. Might just be a matter of getting used to it and the short diff

Sounds like drivetrain slop made worse by the diff ratio. Once you do the subframe, rear bushings and swap the diff it should be much improved.. I assume you preloaded the center support bearing?

28 minutes ago, Vass said:

More concerningly though, figured out what the deal with the starter is - it didn't seat properly. Realised what I'd done wrong. When installing the transmission, the first thing I did was tighten up the 4 big bolts, lifted the rear of the transmission in place and bolted up the mount. Only then did I go to seat the starter in place and although the bolts (somehow) torqued up to spec, on closer look, it clearly sits at an angle, the pin at the top of the bell housing not going into the hole and pressing against the casing so the starter sat with the top tilted outward. Surprised it started up at all and luckily doesn't look to have done any real damage

Damn. At least you figured it out. Worse case you may have to pull the transmission back slightly.

28 minutes ago, Vass said:

Taking bets on how long it remains like this

I reckon you can tick that one off having done 100km and gotten it nice and hot.

[Vass 702]

12 hours ago, Eagle said:

Sounds like drivetrain slop made worse by the diff ratio. Once you do the subframe, rear bushings and swap the diff it should be much improved.. I assume you preloaded the center support bearing?

Yeah, to the best of my knowledge. The guidelines I've read haven't been the most detailed so not sure if I interpreted it correctly but here's what I did:

How it sits undisturbed

How I tightened it down

I think the guidance was to push it forward 5/6mm, I probably got about 4mm but the washers already started hanging off the plate so didn't want to press it any further. Hope I got it roughly right.

12 hours ago, Eagle said:

I reckon you can tick that one off having done 100km and gotten it nice and hot.

I don't mean the gallery plug specifically. It's still a BMW, on a long enough timeline it'll revert to doing BMW things 😄

 

After a whole bunch of swear words and a couple of bruised & bloody knuckles, got the starter seated properly. Dropping the exhaust and driveshaft has almost become second nature at this point. Undid the trans mounts, tilted it backwards, undid all the bolts enough to get about a 5mm separation between engine and gearbox and in the starter went, smooth as butter. Getting pretty good at this now. Started 8am and had her back down on her wheels around 4pm so for once a job actually took me way less time than I thought it would. Goes quicker when you've got little furry helpers.

On the downside, it looks like the seals on the rear driveshaft joint are on their way out so another issue to address somewhere down the line.

The starter is back to singing its usual song, startup is smooth, lifter tick is gone and all seems to be ticking along pretty smoothly. Knock on wood. Went for a quick 40km run after dinner to keep putting some longer k's on. Such a great cruiser machine this, missed it so much. The power difference from the extra displacement as well as new bearings and rebuilt components is definitely noticeable, the power delivery is way smoother and more effortless, and as much as the 3.38 diff is a nuisance in 1st & 2nd, it makes up for it by livening up 3rd & 4th. Have a local club run to Arthur's Pass coming up in a few weeks' time, can't bloody wait.

Will book in a WoF tomorrow and slowly start digging into rebuilding the brakes and rear subframe.

[Eagle 1522]

11 hours ago, Vass said:

I don't mean the gallery plug specifically. It's still a BMW, on a long enough timeline it'll revert to doing BMW things

Given the extent you have gone to it should be a very very long time. The M54 isn't too bad for leaks in my book and most are easy fixes anyway.

11 hours ago, Vass said:

The power difference from the extra displacement as well as new bearings and rebuilt components is definitely noticeable, the power delivery is way smoother and more effortless

I bet and you got a lot of new sensors etc. It would be interesting to see a before and after engine re-build dyno. If i ever do mine in the future i think ill have to do it. 

[darren_mk 52]

Nice work, glad you got her sorted!