It was an interesting morning. On the way into work doing about 70 mph I noticed a rattling sound in the engine that got louder under load. As I was only about half a mile from the next exit I tried to ease the car to the exit and into a gas station. By the time I got there the rattling was louder and the car would not idle, the car died as soon as I stopped. Upon opening the hood and inspecting, I found that the plug in the back of the oil filter housing was lying loose and there was oil all over the side of the engine. I was unable to locate the circlip that retains the plug, I assume it broke. The dipstick had no oil on it. A friend helped me trailer the car back home, once there I reinstalled the plug and refilled the engine with some old oil I had in the garage (no point in wasting fresh oil). I cranked the engine with the fuel pump relay removed to recirculate the oil and then tried to start the engine. The engine fired and ran, and surprisingly there is no bottom end knock, a testament to how well there things are built. There is, however, still a good deal of clatter in the top end, and the idle is a bit more laboured than it used to be.
The good news is that I have a spare engine which I got for cheap about a year ago. Before I install it I would like to replace the gaskets and seals which are prone to leaking. The guy I bought the engine from said he had replaced the valve cover gasket and oil pan gasket, I will removed the oil pan and valve cover to verify this and inspect everything underneath. I also plan to replace the oil filter housing gasket (the spare engine has the newer style filter housing with the screw-in plugs). Is there anything else I should replace before installing the engine? I would prefer to do a complete rebuild, but time and money to not permit that at this time. Mileage on the spare engine is around 144,000.
I pulled the valve cover and oil pan today, the top end looks clean but the oil has some water in it. May be from storage or a head gasket, but either way I'm going to pull the head and replace the gasket. When I cranked the engine over there was leakage from 4 exhaust valves so I'll have the head gone through as well. I pulled the rod cap from #5 piston and the bearing looked fine so I don't think the rotating assembly will need any work.
Water? That's not good... When you take the head off, be sure to have it checked out by a professional to ensure that it's straight and does not have any cracks. Anyway, regarding your question about gaskets, you'll also want to replace the rear main seal. It would probably make sense to replace the vacuum hoses and intake manifold gaskets as well. That's stuff is all very old by now.
If I go through with it I'll just do use a head gasket kit and a lower seal kit. As the bearings looked good I don't think I need to mess with the rotating assembly. I'll have the head gone through, valves cleaned up, etc. The only thing I'm really having a problem with now is whether it's worth going to all the trouble on a 300,000 mile car with recent deer damage to the front end and an interior that's starting to come apart. I'm seriously considering finding a lower mileage example and transferring any performance parts from the old car to the new one. I had hoped the spare engine wouldn't need this much work, but it may not be cost effective to use it at this point.
Although these cars do have a long life if maintained, I think 300k miles is pushing it on a top end rebuild. I would spend my money on a lower mileage version and transfer over what you want. There are plenty of them out there. I'm moving down to Franklin, TN in the spring. How far are you from there? I'm going to build up a 2 bay garage with a lift in the back of my house to "play". Looking for new car buddies.
I'm about 30 miles east of Nashville, and about 40 minutes from Franklin. I think I will try to find a 328is local and part out my 325is. If it hadn't been for that deer last year...
What's the extent of the deer damage? If it's just front end stuff, the E36 is super easy to fix in that regard. Of course, as you said, it may just make more sense to get into another E36 for all sorts of other reasons, too.
I'm about 30 miles east of Nashville, and about 40 minutes from Franklin. I think I will try to find a 328is local and part out my 325is. If it hadn't been for that deer last year...
Question, did you cover the intake ports when you had it in storage?
The two kits you are buying should be enough. Just make sure to get a new water pump and thermostat if they haven't been replaced before, hoses, especially the main long hose, air intake book, knock sensors, camshaft position sensor, crank sensor, and if you have a manual car, replace the rear main bearing (it may look good, but better to do it now), clutch if you have a manual transmission, intake manifold seals, throttle body seal, vanos oil line, remove the 18mm bolt from the oil gear sprocket and put some red or black loctite on there, then torque it back down, new secondary chain tensioner (for the cam gears), new radiator and expansion tank if it has been more than two years, oh man, it can go on and on. It all depends on how new an engine you want. I'd even go as far as new piston rings, new main bearings, LOL!!! But I am crazy anyways. Crazy Harry is my name.
All that is exactly what I think I need to avoid: throwing more money at this car. I ran it again today, there is still no bottom end knock but the lifters don't sound great. I will repair the oil filter housing, refill with fresh oil and check the oil pressure at idle and raised rpm with a manual gauge. If it's in spec then I'm not going to worry about it. I'll put an hour or two on the engine to see if the lifters settle back in and get quieter, if not I'll replace the ad ones with spares I have. Ultimately the car will be sold and replaced by a lower mileage example, a guy I work with is interested in it as a project. At this point it looks to me like the lifters ran out of oil first and caused the engine not to run, preventing further damage (just hope that didn't damage my recently rebuilt VANOS unit...).
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