She's dying :(

Makin it rain lol! I just gave my car a second look it does look like valve cover. Fingers crossed

Originally Posted by 93tillInfinity

Makin it rain lol! I just gave my car a second look it does look like valve cover. Fingers crossed

i'm confident that that is your issue. Good luck, we're pullin for ya.

Yea, Dont get me wrong im not a BMW tech (not yet at least) but I was always told with a rubber VCG not to put any sealant on it. Here is my reasoning, the rubber by itself will attach to both the head and the VC. But when you add a sealant the rubber will attach to the sealant not the metal of the head. I think that could be your problem, I think the sealant is leaking. This is just my 2 cents.

If anything take the VC off and see whats going on, but it really just looks like your VCG

Originally Posted by 95 E34

yes, I used black RTV, as per BMW requirements and specifications.

Are you suggesting that i replace my VCG and retry a finer coat of sealant rather than a haphazard bead? I got a promotion and i'm makin it rain all up in dis place so im more than willing to throw money at this car. Its my most prized possession, and because i just sunk $500 into the OEM 9" wide style 32s, i want to get her back to flaunting

Hey Joe. I agree with T. As I recall, the gasket only requires the sealant in a couple of places (can't remember where at the moment), but doesn't need it for the entire surface.

Did a little research and found this. Note #11. It is for the M52 in an E36, but I think it is the same for the M50.

http://www.dvatp.com/bmw/diy/valve_cover_gasket/

Hope this helps.

Originally Posted by 95 E34

yes, I used black RTV, as per BMW requirements and specifications.

Hmmm? Where is that specification? M60b40 never uses any RTV not sure why your engine would require it?

You should not be using any silicone/gaskets for valve cover it if it becomes solid before you tighten bolts you will have leaks in un even areas.

Bentley and my BMW tech friend both specify adding RTV to the mating area between VANOS and head, and at the half moons at the back of the head. That is where I put RTV. not down any of the sides, only in specified areas.

If I were you Id just crack open up the VC and see what you have.

ive done that.

I have cams, gaskets and spark plugs.

In regards to using the RTV, what should i be looking for?

Well can you see where its leaking from taking the VC off? Thats is going to be a good starting point, find the leak

I cant see any leak.

If you read the beginning of the thread, my thoughts were that it was a cracked head or a HG. Also stated at the beginning of the thread was that this was not the first time i tried to diagnose/solve this problem, also in the beginning of the thread, i stated that there wasnt any oil leaking from the valve cover down to the manifold. It seems to start right at the manifold.

A VCG gasket leak will not cause anything to come out of the tailpipe. It may be tantamount to a vacuum leak which could be responsible for a rough idle, but that should not go away after 30 seconds either.

Please contact Ricks5series. He wrote a seminal article on exactly where sealant ought to be used on the valve cover. This is not to say that you didn't do it right, this is just to totally rule out the VCG as a culprit in this situation.

Another thing I would advise that you do would be to do an undercarriage degreasing wash. If one is not commercially available in your area for a cheap price, a can of degreaser and the car jacked up would suffice. Hose the engine down, then spray the degreaser all around the engine where there is oil and around all sealing surfaces. Use the entire can. Let it set for 15 minutes then hose it off thoroughly with water. After that, drive the car for a few days, then jack it up. All leaks at that point would be fresh and coming from the exact problem areas.

Padre I'm really sorry to logon after so long and see this going on. We must help you fix it, and for good. It just would not do for a god fearin' town's padre to have a troubled engine.

As an aside, could you * or anyone else * in the recent past have done anything deliberately or through negligence to cause a HG or cylinder head problem?

Do you happen to have any error codes showing up?

Is coolant mixing with your engine oil? Have you checked your dipstick?

i washed my engine just because a week or so after i got it. May do so again tommorow sometime. Ordered my vcg today prob do it within next couple of days. hopefully thats the culprit

Originally Posted by 95 E34

I cant see any leak.

If you read the beginning of the thread, my thoughts were that it was a cracked head or a HG. Also stated at the beginning of the thread was that this was not the first time i tried to diagnose/solve this problem, also in the beginning of the thread, i stated that there wasnt any oil leaking from the valve cover down to the manifold. It seems to start right at the manifold.

Oh.

Head gasket at a minimum sir. Unlikely to be a cracked head.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Head_gasket

Please confirm this by doing a degreasing wash around the manifold area as described in an earlier post, and then drive the car for a few days and take another look. If it leaks from there again, then you have a HG leak for sure. Determine the location of this leak using the compression testing tool. If there is some way to rule out a crack in your head then do that.

Methinks that it is time for a top overhaul. Altogether not a bad thing entirely.

This would be the right time for you to plonk in those M3 cams you should've plonked in. it will cost more of course, but it won't be a case of throwing good money after bad, but of turning a repair into an upgrade. You will need to get the chip of course to maximise this upgrade. So all in you're looking at +$500 apart from the cost of the top overhaul itself, so it is expensive indeed.

But once you are done, you would prefer driving your e34 to sex, or so it is rumoured.

This might also be a good opportunity to see if you can stick in a bigger water pump and a better-than-stock head gasket (I believe there are such things).

Again, please speak to Rick5series. The man singlehandedly rebuilt his engine which justifies his near mythical status on this board. He has 'rastled' with the alligator indeed.

You are on your way to a much better ride. It won't take you too long to agree that it was worth every penny.


rgds,
Roberto

@robertobaggio20 you sure know how to make the board encouraged

Roberto, thanks for the ideas and theories. I am thinking its a HG but i have, within the past year done a gigantic amount of upgrades and replacements. The car has 250k miles on it so the Hg may just be wear and tear, no single deliberate action or accident to blame.

I have done:
Secondary vacuum hose
Breather hose connector
Crank Pos Sensor
Fuel Pump
fuel filter
Oil change and filter change
Oil filter housing gasket
New W/P (bosche metal impeller)
W/P Pulley
Belts
Hydraulic tensioner swap
Aluminum T-stat housing
Hoses
Coolant flush
Vanos gasket
Spark plugs
Powdercoated S50 Valve cover
VCG
o-rings around the valve cover bolts
cam bearings

And everything torqued to factory spec. This is my nightmare, rather my luck. Dump $1,100 in the motor and then another $500 on saturday for the wheels and tires and my HG starts to go.

Oil looks to be clean as well as coolant, spark plugs show normal wear.

At this point, i'm going to get a compression test and pay the piper. I'm absolutely dreading the phone call as i'm damn near positive its a HG dying. It's still usable and driveable, and i have done the cleaning, but the source of the leak isnt any more apparent.
The leak's attempt #1 information can be found here (Oil Leak thread) and it has yet to be resolved.

The car will last the summer (i still got my E28 and Z doing alot of leg work) and then over the winter, either just do the HG or an OBD1 swapped M52B28 swap. but next step is a compression test. Its like an STD test after Vegas...

The car now has a loud ticking sound. I really don't know what it could be. It's wry prominent, an I can hear it speed up as the revs increase.

This is not chip related, it happened before the chip swap. I'll post a video tonight.

EDIT: The Tube of You has me convinced that it's my Vanos. Beisan will be receiving a call from me as I rebuilt the Vanos in february using their kit to absolutely proper specs.

I believe I will just bite the $150 and get the Dr. Vanos replacement.

I replaced the VANOS and the ticking sound is gone. So far so good. 1 step closer to making it down to B'Fest in MD.

Rear brakes (pads discs and sensors) wil be picked up from dealership on Wednesday. I still need to get a compression test because it is still having rough idle problems and I'm going to replace the VCG again because its becoming very hard to stop the oil leaking, and if its a $20 fix then awesome.