How to replace your coolant pipe, valve covers, timing gaskets and more

My alternator went bad. It was sending out 15 volts and higher. So I'm getting that taking care of while i'm in there.

I realize the All German kit stopped one step above but since my Valve covers leaked then my upper timing covers leaked. Based on that I'd hate to do all this work only to have the lower timing cover start leaking. Plus I want to replace some of the timing guide rails if I can get in there.

Good write up. While this far into it you might as well yank the heads too and do a nice p n' p and port match on them and manifolds.

Originally Posted by hotrod2448

Good write up. While this far into it you might as well yank the heads too and do a nice p n' p and port match on them and manifolds.

Now that is way beyond my abilities! I'd love to just replace the head gaskets they are so close. But NO WAY!


I'm considering Giving up on the lower Timing Gasket.

Getting the Alternator housing off to get the lower timing off requires dropping the driver axle and motor mount! Plus I cannot budge the Crankshaft bolt going counterclockwise with a 580lb impact wrench.

I guess a question is if the Valve covers leaked then the upper timing covers leaked after I had the valve cover gaskets replaced then would the lower timing cover be at risk of leaking? as well as the seal by the alternator housing and crankshaft seal? Why not just get them all replaced why I have the engine open.
Maybe a question for BMW_Tech?

Alternator-related:

I didn't drop the sway bar to pull the alternator off, but that will obviously give you more room. Instead, I unbolted the power steering pump and pushed it forward and out of the way, then used a crows' foot wrench to loosen/tighten the idler pulley bolts. Lawyeradam just did something similar in getting his alternator out.

I did drop my sway bar recently to replace its bushings. A word of caution, be very careful about how much you tighten up the nuts on that, I snapped one before it was anywhere close to the proper torque, and those upper ones look nasty to get out if you do break them.
 

I just did the same alternator repair using the Keif Removal Plan. Luckily I talked to him ahead of time (and many times during....) and got those crows feet sockets.. also, loosening the power steering pump and moving the resoirvoir down as much as possible was absolutely neccesary. The key for me was to have some towels to support my head so I could lay there and focus as comfortably as possible during the removal of those little idler bolts. The good news is putting it back together was a whole lot easier!

Yeah I dropped the Power Steering pump too afterward to see the housing better.

I am also replacing the rubber mountings on the stabilizer bar the Keif did a while back. So I had motivation to take it off.

I'll post some pics of the bolts in question soon.

CrankShaft Bolt.....

This BadBoy deserves its one little section. Thanks to 07841-tb for the help.

This thing would not Move. I tried 540lb impact at 120 psi and got nothing.

Finally I bumped the PSI to 140 with a 900lb 1/2 impact and put a torch on it for about five minutes then hit it. It came off fast and smoking.

So yes to remove the Crank Shaft Bolt you go CounterClock Wise (left Loosely) and have a 25 gallon air compressor and a HD Impact!






I really think my car must have got pretty hot at some point in its life

Keif Regarding the lower Timing Cover. It seems to me the Alternator Housing sits directly in front of the lower Timing cover. See Pics
07841-tb can you comment to this too?

Yes, that is correct that damn alternator housing bracket bolts on top of the lower timing cover. PAIN IN THE BUTT!!!!

Memory FAIL! I stand corrected. =] ...edited previous post.

I'm glad to see that the crankshaft bolt is difficult to get off...because of one of these bolts (loosened up somehow) I had the vibration damper hop off my old E3 (Bavaria) and eat up its woodruff key in the parking lot of a non-local airport. Bad day! Took me a week to find a new 25-cent woodruff key!!


 

Removing the Vacuum Pump on Passenger Side Upper Timing Gasket.

The Vacuum Pumps purpose is create vacuum as the valvetronic system reduces the manifold vacuum. Plays into Breakbooster. Usually found on Diesels.... So the local repair guy might be confused.


Press brakes to remove pressure on breakbooster
Remove Vacuum Hoses
Release inverted Torx screws

installing per TIS
Replace Seals
Align drive to fit into engine
Veritical alignment is best
If you can't get it to go in. Crank Engine at Bolt to line up vertically.
Attach Vacuum hoses to ensure no damage to engine gaskets occurs.

Removing the Solenoid Valves

I have no idea what they do other than control oil flow in the engine.

The seals will leak with age. Very easy to fix.

Loosing Clips and turn them around.
Unplug Wires
Using BMW Specialty Tool Flat Head Screw Driver Pop them out and label.
Replace seals and reinsert.

Intake Manifold Gasket Question

I removed my old Manifold gasket so I could start getting the engine clean and prepped for assembly.

I noticed that oil had seeped below the gaskets and weeped out onto the block.
I suspect the gaskets were just brittle so it was escaping, but is it normal for the intake manifold to have oil? I know I saw oil in the line that went from the Vacuum pump to the Manifold.

Keif?

Originally Posted by wilson009

Intake Manifold Gasket Question

I removed my old Manifold gasket so I could start getting the engine clean and prepped for assembly.

I noticed that oil had seeped below the gaskets and weeped out onto the block.
I suspect the gaskets were just brittle so it was escaping, but is it normal for the intake manifold to have oil? I know I saw oil in the line that went from the Vacuum pump to the Manifold.

Keif?

No, that's not normal. Thats one sign of engine blowby where oil is escaping paste the piston rings and getting into the air intake system.

Originally Posted by 07841-tb

No, that's not normal. Thats one sign of engine blowby where oil is escaping paste the piston rings and getting into the air intake system.

I agree that can be a sign. But I'm an optimist right now...

If that was the case I would expect to see oil on the sparkplugs. I'll pull and check them later. I did some searches and saw where this can be vacuum related as well.

I also have a new set of pressure regulator valves to install as well. I read those things can cause issues with the intake getting gummed up.

The car never smoked and ran well.

Hey, I PM'd you about that Alt. Housing.

Here's some more pics of the Intake manifold. There's definitely oil in it.

Not a lot. I'd like to take it apart, it has screws but doesn't look like there's a gasket for it?

Can the manifold be cleaned out?

Have you popped out the old CCV's and looked at them yet? That amount of oil seems indicative of those not doing their job properly; even if there was a lot of blow-by (and there will always be some amount), the job of the CCVs and the paths on the undersides of the valve covers is to get the majority of oil out of that air and back down into the pan (and to help regulate pressure, of course). Once those start to break, you'll definitely get more oil pushed (at idle) or sucked (above idle) into the intake manifold. Speaking of which, it's probably about time to do my CCV's.

I haven't read anything about anyone opening up the intake manifold, but it seems pretty simplistic. There is no gasket between the top and bottom halves listed on realoem.com, but I'm sure regular ol' gasket sealant would do just fine.

The VANOS solenoids control oil flow to the different sections of the VANOS units on the intake and exhaust cams (the gears on the front of the cams), making them twist to advance or retard the cams' timings dynamically.
 

Just out of curiosity, does anyone have an exploded view of what all is in the manifold? RealOEM didn't have anything on what exactly is inside the plenum.

Originally Posted by hotrod2448

Just out of curiosity, does anyone have an exploded view of what all is in the manifold? RealOEM didn't have anything on what exactly is inside the plenum.

I couldn't find any pics anywhere. And some say it doesn't come apart. But it has screws holding it together so I know it comes apart. I am going to attempt to open it as long as it doesn't feel like it will break. Will post pics of it if successful.

Originally Posted by wilson009

I couldn't find any pics anywhere. And some say it doesn't come apart. But it has screws holding it together so I know it comes apart. I am going to attempt to open it as long as it doesn't feel like it will break. Will post pics of it if successful.

How pissed are you going to be if you take the bolts out, it flies apart and springs of vary size and rate shoot out all over the garage with no clue how to put it back together.

Let's hope something like that doesn't happen but, you might want to take good notes of what's in there and how it goes since there seems to be a bit of a lack of available documentation.

omg that would be awlful lol. It looks like a giant turbine in ther but ill be careful. I'd almost be to embarrassed to share that if it happened.

Originally Posted by hotrod2448

How pissed are you going to be if you take the bolts out, it flies apart and springs of vary size and rate shoot out all over the garage with no clue how to put it back together.

Let's hope something like that doesn't happen but, you might want to take good notes of what's in there and how it goes since there seems to be a bit of a lack of available documentation.

Originally Posted by wilson009

omg that would be awlful lol. It looks like a giant turbine in ther but ill be careful. I'd almost be to embarrassed to share that if it happened.

I didn't realize it was a variably manifold. Forget the PNP.

There really is no good info out there about how it works. All I could find was this cut away drawing.

The motor on the back of it slides the clamshell looking things (the intake runners) to make them shorter or longer to tune the engine (based primarily on RPM, if I recall correctly). I'll try to post some material about it later this evening.
 

Ok I think I figured out the source of Oil in my Intake Manifold.

Both hoses that run from the Valve Covers are regulated by pressure regulator valves. Those hoses both have oil in them. Those hoses run directly into the Intake Manifold right? Since I have my car apart I can't just look lol.

But but following the trail of oil it went from the Valve Cover, pressure regulator valve, down the hoses and into the manifold where it weeped through the cracked Intake Manifold Gasket on to the Block or was quickly burned off.

Keif remember when I was getting those valvetronic error codes with No description? I wonder if that was the problem....Just Bad Pressure Regulator Valves

Anyway I'm sure this is the problem. No bad pistons No bad pistons!




During my waterpump install the small black Hose that attaches on the boot right infront of the mass air flow meter to the Throttle broke of at the base. It started running rough after that. I can't figure out where that hose goes to. Somewhere in the back of the engine and probably unrelated........But maybe.

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts...68&hg=13&fg=15 parts 4 and 7