M3wannabe
12-17-2006, 07:44 AM
Hey there
A friend of mine just inherited a 1979 orange E21 320i....
It was a very clean, reliable, well maintained car owned by his Grandfather.... but his uncle decided to use the car for a while and has basically driven the car to the ground. As far as we can tell, it never had an oil change for the whole time it was with his uncle (over a year or 2) and driven quite poorly aswell. When the car stopped running, my mate's uncle contacted him to say he could have it. (gee thanks)
Well, after taking the car from his uncle (via a tow truck) and trying unsuccessfully to start the car, he decided to drain the oil and put some new stuff in.
The oil that came out was very liquid-like - it basically smelled like fuel.
The engine is pretty much siezed. The starter motor engages, but cant turn the engine. You cant push the car when it is in 4th gear because the siezed engine makes it feel like the hand brake is on.
We've sprayed some WD40 lube down the cylinders overnight but it didnt help.
Does anybody know of a way to unlock this engine... other than a full rebuild? Or know of an online manual I can access? My mate has given up on it and wants to sell the whole thing as parts...... which is a real shame because the body is in good condition.
I was thinking of using a socket and long bar on the crankshaft pulley nut to try to turn it over.... but I have a feeling this might do more bad than good.
I dont like seeing cars like this scrapped. It just needs the engine fixed, a nice set of wheels and a polish.
Could be just another sad story i'm afraid......
A friend of mine just inherited a 1979 orange E21 320i....
It was a very clean, reliable, well maintained car owned by his Grandfather.... but his uncle decided to use the car for a while and has basically driven the car to the ground. As far as we can tell, it never had an oil change for the whole time it was with his uncle (over a year or 2) and driven quite poorly aswell. When the car stopped running, my mate's uncle contacted him to say he could have it. (gee thanks)
Well, after taking the car from his uncle (via a tow truck) and trying unsuccessfully to start the car, he decided to drain the oil and put some new stuff in.
The oil that came out was very liquid-like - it basically smelled like fuel.
The engine is pretty much siezed. The starter motor engages, but cant turn the engine. You cant push the car when it is in 4th gear because the siezed engine makes it feel like the hand brake is on.
We've sprayed some WD40 lube down the cylinders overnight but it didnt help.
Does anybody know of a way to unlock this engine... other than a full rebuild? Or know of an online manual I can access? My mate has given up on it and wants to sell the whole thing as parts...... which is a real shame because the body is in good condition.
I was thinking of using a socket and long bar on the crankshaft pulley nut to try to turn it over.... but I have a feeling this might do more bad than good.
I dont like seeing cars like this scrapped. It just needs the engine fixed, a nice set of wheels and a polish.
Could be just another sad story i'm afraid......