M30 Cylinder Head Replacement [Update] Got the head off!

spinedocab · Post by **spinedocab** » Nov 13, 2009 1:36 AM

So that gummy crap sorta looks like the jello that "DexCool" turns into when it gets overheated. Was the coolant orange in color? If so you need to really clean out that block and reamove all the residue or it will clog you up bad when you run it again.

turbodan · Post by **turbodan** » Nov 13, 2009 10:23 AM

Bimmere28 wrote:Not too far yet, we haven't crakned it at all so the pistons are still at the same point as in the pics.

Go ahead and try to turn the bottom end over. The rust on the exposed part of the bore is a secondary concern. The bore is usually glazed/polished enough that it doesn't get eaten up. The rust between the rings and pistons is the big problem.

I had an M20 that looked like this, just not as bad. There was water in the cylinders but it hadn't turned into the putrified scum you have in those pics. Despite that I still had to hammer the pistons out of the bores. I cant remember if the block was okay, but the pistons and rings were finished.

bornagain · Post by **bornagain** » Nov 14, 2009 12:58 AM

so are there timing marks on the cam and head for tdc on the top end?

And here is my other question, will a head off a 535i work on a 533i, i noticed a nice looking, low kilometer 94 535 at the wreckers and i wanted to grab another head to possible build up but theres no sence grabbing a head that doesnt work for me.....

1st 5er · Post by **1st 5er** » Nov 14, 2009 9:31 AM

1st question - YES and do you own a Bentley Manual?

2nd question -

for sure.

genzox · Post by **genzox** » Nov 14, 2009 11:32 AM

Bimmere28 wrote:Ok so we got the head off and all I can say is "HOOOOOLYY HEEEELL"!!!!!!!!!

Pistons:

Valves:

And now for the Nitty Gritty! There are cracks all over this SOB and we pretty much have to replace the head.

how did you get the head off? right know i'm doing the same thing and i got everything out of the way. like i took off the valve cover, the top nuts of the intake mani cus i couldn't reach the bottom ones... and the exhaust mani's bolts off and i took off the big bolts holding the top part to the block... and i still cant get the blasted thing off... please shed some light on how you got yours off pleeeeeeaaassse

i have a 88 535is

mercury26 · Post by **mercury26** » Nov 14, 2009 12:03 PM

When I removed my cylinder head, I used a rubber mallet to knock it loose. It did not take much force to get it loosened up. Also, I left the manifolds on the head to make it easier to lift up and out.

Cheers,

Chuck

bornagain · Post by **bornagain** » Nov 14, 2009 3:36 PM

umm did you remove the timing chain and i really hope you did get the lower bolts of the intake mani. And then a spot hammer or rubber mallet.

No i actually dont own a bentley, i have a really crappy haynes. Seriously haynes sucks

WhoAMeye · Post by **WhoAMeye** » Nov 17, 2009 11:30 PM

I must have pulled 200+ big six cylinder heads off on my career. And I have NEVER seen anything that grody. Was that car fished out of salt water? Thats NASTY. Just get another short block.

Kyle in NO · Post by **Kyle in NO** » Nov 17, 2009 11:59 PM

No shit...get another motor. I pulled my turbo motor off a shelf that it had been sitting on for 15 years wide open. It had about 30 hornet nests in the coolant passages. It didn't look nearly as bad as that. You can see the rust from the piston rings creeping over the crown of one of the pistons. Don't waste your time with that block. Its trashed.

genzox · Post by **genzox** » Dec 13, 2009 4:27 PM

bornagain wrote:umm did you remove the timing chain and i really hope you did get the lower bolts of the intake mani. And then a spot hammer or rubber mallet.

No i actually dont own a bentley, i have a really crappy haynes. Seriously haynes sucks

i got the intake mani off today i just had to buy a new set of tools

and no i haven"t taken the timing chain off yet, i'm not sure how to and i'm afraid i'll mess up the timming

bornagain · Post by **bornagain** » Dec 13, 2009 9:48 PM

make sure your motor is set to tdc then take some zip ties and zip tie the timing chain to the cam sprocket.and then what i did was i had a coat hanger and i basically threaded it through the chain at the level of the main timing chain cover and i looped the ended over the sides of the cover. Basically holding the slack taught so that the chain wouldnt drop off the crank teeth. Then there are 4 bolts holding the upper timing gear on. take those off and you are good to go. Theres the wiring harness you will have to get out of the way in order to get the head off with manifolds and the rear coolant hose and front rad hoses. Basically you have to make sure that you have tension on the lower crank gear and you have the chain fixed to the upper gear. now when that is done you dont want to rotate your crank but obviously you wont cause it will be zip tied and stuff as far as the head you can rotate but when reassembling you need to rotate it around to match the pin back up.

Scottinva · Post by **Scottinva** » Dec 13, 2009 10:25 PM

That shit is ridiculous.

bornagain · Post by **bornagain** » Dec 13, 2009 10:26 PM

i hope you mean what is in the cylinders not my post.....

genzox · Post by **genzox** » Dec 13, 2009 10:42 PM

bornagain wrote:i hope you mean what is in the cylinders not my post.....

lol me too

thanks for the help ^.^ i have one more question for you... What i did to try to get it at TDC was starting the car and getting the tdc mark close to where it needed to be and now i'm stuck because i dont have a socket large enough to turn the crankshaft... am I doing something wrong?

oh and i have a buddy who's dads works with boats so I could get a hold of the socket if i needed to... but i'm not quite sure of what i'm doing being 17 and all.... i'll try to take pictures but i need to find my connector for the camera lol

nnarth212 · Post by **nnarth212** » Dec 14, 2009 1:21 PM

genzox wrote:... but i'm not quite sure of what i'm doing being 17 and all.... i'll try to take pictures but i need to find my connector for the camera lol

No pics needed-- and 17 has nothing to do with it-- give yourself some credit. NOW, get ahold of the 32mm ( I believe, perhaps 36mm) socket and get to cranking. There's much info on TDC-- cam lobes (bunny ears) pointing down on cylinder one and the T|O mark centered precisely with the centerline of the engine-- theres a fin to line it up with. Search and pics you will find, young jedi.

Check my thread posted today on my HG replacement issues-- cvillebimmer posted the pics you need.

Post by **Jeremy** » Dec 14, 2009 2:16 PM

Just for the record, the crank hub nut is 36 mm.

bornagain · Post by **bornagain** » Dec 14, 2009 10:15 PM

yup 36 it is but there is an easier way that i have found on here(i want to give credit but i cant remember who, maybe kholer) Anyway just jack up the rear driver side tire and put the car in 5th gear and turn the tire(only the driverside in the air the other has to be on the ground or held stationary) works really well and you can get it quite precise with about an inch rotation of the tire will give you about an 1/8" of rotation on the crank.

genzox · Post by **genzox** » Dec 15, 2009 9:33 AM

bornagain wrote:yup 36 it is but there is an easier way that i have found on here(i want to give credit but i cant remember who, maybe kholer) anyway just jack up the rear driver side tire and put the car in 5th gear and turn the tire(only the driverside in the air the other has to be on the ground or held stationary) works really well and you can get it quite precise with about an inch rotation of the tire will give you about an 1/8" of rotation on the crank.

but i dont have a manual.... yet

bornagain · Post by **bornagain** » Dec 15, 2009 11:24 PM

i wouldnt consider the conversion if i were you, just a different car. if you do a search there is a way to jump i think its pins 13 and 20(dont quote me do a search) it will click over the starter.

genzox · Post by **genzox** » Dec 20, 2009 11:57 AM

bornagain wrote:i wouldnt consider the conversion if i were you, just a different car. if you do a search there is a way to jump i think its pins 13 and 20(dont quote me do a search) it will click over the starter.

Well i think your right. i guess i'll just buy a second e28 one day with a manual. The first reason why i wanted to do it was because i wanted to have my first car in a manual. but thats ok i'm a lazy guy xD

Update I got the exhaust mani off today and I broke the connector to the sensor that plugs in the back of the engine.... I have nooo idea what it does lol do you guys know?

and do i need to buy a bigger socket to take off the timing chain? i took off the 4 little bolts but idk if i need to take off the really big one? 0.O

bornagain · Post by **bornagain** » Dec 20, 2009 1:57 PM

no you dont need to take off the really big one. just the four bolts holding the gear on it maybe tight with the chain still around and the tensioner still on. if the connector you are talking about is on the exhaust manifold then its your o2 sensor if its on the other side on the head, i believe thats the oil pressure sensor and there are also the 2 connectors for the speed sensors for your flywheel.

genzox · Post by **genzox** » Dec 21, 2009 12:16 PM

ahhh ok than you, you saved me

I believe its the oil pressure sensor because it's on the intake mani side. Do you know where the sensors are for the RPM for the tach? because my tach stopped working a long time ago.

Post by **Jeremy** » Dec 21, 2009 12:45 PM

genzox wrote: ahhh ok than you, you saved me I believe its the oil pressure sensor because it's on the intake mani side. Do you know where the sensors are for the RPM for the tach? because my tach stopped working a long time ago.

New questions unrelated to the original topic deserve a new thread.

People searching the archives later will thank you.

bornagain · Post by **bornagain** » Dec 22, 2009 1:30 AM

yeah the wire for the tach is under the dash on the glove box side tied in to the wire coming from your ecu for your coil it just spliced on inside the loom so chances are its not at that specific point in the harness that is causing your tach not to work.

I have read in a few places something about a little battery that controls the service indicator lights but im not sure if it is tied in to your tach. But i would search that and then if not my next logical step is to find the pin out of your gauge cluster for where the tach comes in and see if you have voltage at the pin by pulling the cluster out and testing, if you have voltage then look in to the cluster, and see if there is anything wrong that you can visibly see. if not then start tracing.... all in all i would just do a search of common problems and see if any of those help and if not pull another tach cluster out of a wrecker and see if that works.

genzox · Post by **genzox** » Dec 22, 2009 5:35 PM

This thread helped me so much!!! I got the head off finally and once i did.... it has half as bad as what i saw on the pics here! i cleaned it up and it looks a lot better. i wish i took pictures

i'll put up pictures of what it looks like now as soon as i can.

ohhh and one more thing... i thought i got the engine to TDC.... i didnt lol should i put the head back on and try again?

bornagain · Post by **bornagain** » Dec 23, 2009 10:07 PM

well if you dont move your cam shaft or crankshaft at all then no technically you dont have to but what did you use to figure out tdc?

Actually no dont put the head back on, just dont move the crank and makesure that your chain is tied up tight so that it doesnt slip a tooth on the crank. If you did all that like i said its fine the cam gear only fits on the camshaft one way.

tn535i · Post by **tn535i** » Dec 24, 2009 9:36 AM

Yes but, once the head is back on, you really should rotate it by hand (not the starter or even the leverage of the rear wheel) to make sure the marks line up and no resistance is met. It could turn over OK if it's off a tooth but would not run right.

My advice, you should have both the right tools and knowledge when getting this far into a motor. If not get some help from someone who does. You'll also learn much and avoid mistakes.

And, agreeing with others on the pics...nasty. I would be afraid that motor had plain or rain water in it and went through many freeze thaw cycles that destroyed both head and block.

bornagain · Post by **bornagain** » Dec 24, 2009 8:41 PM

tn535i: this thread has changed over to another person. the guy talking about the head now is not the one that shot the pics of the other motor.

As far as mistakes go, things do happen and nothing so far has gone wrong but you need to make sure, meticulous sure, that it goes back together the same way and the way its setup that he took the head off he should have no problems.

MyE28.com

MyE28.com

M30 Cylinder Head Replacement [Update] Got the head off!