PERFECTING the M60 (belt drive & cooling system)

[Layne]

Yep #8, just generic hose material. 1/2" should work in place of the 12mm. I use aeroquip hose whenever possible. It's way better than stock. On both of my M60's these little hoses appeared to be weeping but not really leaking. Like the fluid slowly soaks through the hose just enough to make that area filthy.

[Binjammin]

Now I wish I had bought a spare so I could spin it to failure and see what RPM it withstands.

LMFAO, Beijing Aluminum?

lulz. The thing is that I doubt it would blow apart from rpm alone. I would replicate the load of the belt and do it in a temp controlled environment to replicate underhood temps. Keep it around 125-150 degrees, that should be reasonable for temps considering how packed it gets in there. Spin it at a constant rpm until it fails. Build like ten or so of those fixtures and run them at different rpm and see what the failure rates are. You could also build in a water brake for load, or something similar. I'd love to watch one of them come apart, from across the room with a lexan shield in front of me.

[Layne]

It rained like crazy all weekend, so I got nothing done. Picked up my alternator yesterday. $85 for new bearings and a new voltage regulator and it's been spotlessly cleaned. Makes no sound at all now when I hand spin it. Really glad I found this guy. Turns out he lived 1 street over from my house in the 50's. There used to be a root beer stand at the end of my street where he met his wife working there. I can't believe anyone ever decided we didn't need root beer stands anymore.

[Layne]

Turns out the valve covers are magnesium. This means a couple of things: 1) according to my engine guy you should not attempt to powder coat them (he actually gave me an M50 cover he had powder coated and it looks like crap), and 2) they are subject to outrageous corrosion if not protected. This is the tab where the coil cover mounts on one of my covers. Apparently water ran in and dripped from this point? Not sure, but it looks bad. They were worse on my old 740, the holes were destroyed so the covers could only sit there. So anyway, make sure you paint all sides of these tabs.




Got some rustoleum primer that says "also works on plastic". Says not to exceed 200 degrees, so we'll see. I bet the covers get close to that.



I'm reversing the stock color scheme more or less. Looks good so far. Rustoleum gloss black and aluminum. My engine guy says he uses rustoleum all the time now, I didn't know it was good for higher temps.



Are '95 model injectors unique? These look totally different than the ones on my '94 740. There's 4 nozzle holes, but they're deep inside this ~1/4" hole at the end.

[Layne]

There's a problem with the valley pan... Originally they had a rubber gasket, which BMW apparently stopped making at some point. Now they sell a new cover with a rubber gasket made onto them (for 80 frikin' bucks). But I didn't know that, and realoem shows a part number for a gasket (11 14 1 736 175), so I ordered it. It's a completely different type, mostly paper. But it doesn't fit around the metal protrusions from the bottom of the valley pan, so there's no way it would seal. Must be for some other V8 with a different type of cover...? The holes all line up. So rather than order the $80 pan, and throw away the $14 gasket, and wait another week, I'm just going to machine the bumps off the cover. But the lesson is don't buy this gasket.

[Binjammin]

Looks like those raised areas are to keep you from over torquing the gasket (rubber one). Most people just run a bead of gasket making silicon.

[Layne]

Looks like those raised areas are to keep you from over torquing the gasket (rubber one). Most people just run a bead of gasket making silicon.

Not so much that I think, but if you compressed the rubber the right amount without those raised areas, the bolts would be loose and just rattle their way out. I honestly cannot see how the factory gets that rubber in place without gluing it. Maybe they turn the engine upsidedown. Anyway, it's fixed now. I like the traditional gasket better anyway, slathered as I always do with Indian Head gasket shellac.

[Binjammin]

I think it very likely was bonded from the factory, and I would bet money that it's for non overtorque. regardless, I like to use a quick blast of 3m spray trim adhesive on the gasket and surface for holding on gaskets like that.

[Layne]

Ha dissappearing comments! I guess you realized I'm not the one with custom brakes lines? I was starting to think you might have 'customized' them for me during the night.


It's not that I'm worried about $80 (this procedure easily cost $1000+), I just think it's a stupid amount to pay for a new cover when all I really need is a new gasket. Not even that really, it wasn't actually leaking.

[raceyBMW]

LOL, I deleted post, I was thinking this was Greg's M5 post at first (had multiple windows open, der). I agree though, wish they just sold the damn things separate, I ended up buying the whole pan but kept the black plastic cap piece as mine was in good shape. Did you end up having to replace any knock sensors? I had a couple that were cracked, but just put some sealant in the cracks to try and keep any external noise filtered out.

[Layne]

I should replace the knock sensors. They're beyond cracked, some have no housing left. I'm just not convinced it matters. Being bolted straight to the engine block, any sound transmitted by air would be the equivilent of a mosquito disrupting a rocket launch.

Mine is missing the cap over the valley pan. I seem to recall that it was dense foam from my last M60...? What is that supposed to do?

[Binjammin]

I should replace the knock sensors. They're beyond cracked, some have no housing left. I'm just not convinced it matters. Being bolted straight to the engine block, any sound transmitted by air would be the equivilent of a mosquito disrupting a rocket launch.

Mine is missing the cap over the valley pan. I seem to recall that it was dense foam from my last M60...? What is that supposed to do?

Ask jehu about bad knock sensors. his plastic housings were all cacked up. The sensors didn't throw any codes but he had severe detonation. If I were in there and saw even a little cracking it would be a no brainer on the knock sensors.

[raceyBMW]

I kind of agree on the knock sensors, but they are pretty pricey. Mine had very very small cracks at the time, but I went cheap and didn't replace them all.

No exactly sure what the cap is for (mine is a hard plastic, not foam I don't think), but it probably just prevents crud/moisture buildup in the pan is all, it has a slight upward camber....oh and it has a place to attach the big power cable that runs down the center of the valley.

[Binjammin]

They may be pricey, but in reality it's something you don't want to take apart to do again.

[Layne]

Ehow is ALWAYS wrong, but sometimes good for a laugh. Clicked anyway in spite of my better judgement and found this little gem: "The intake manifold is where the exhaust pipes connect to the engine."

http://www.ehow.com/how_5714471_test...#ixzz2i7Gn4bgk

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This is interesting... I don't like the idea of intentionally making the engine knock though. Could probably use a tone generator at 7khz to bench test them.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L8xRJIWkHuo

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Acutally it does appear that my valley cover is the one with the bonded gasket. It just had no bond left. And I guess they started making the paper one again after some absence, the old pan shown here is exactly what I've modified mine to be.

"But you can't buy the valley pan gasket any more. BMW no longer sells them. Those engineers doodling their time away dreamed up new ways to sock it to the owners. The got rid of the gasket. Instead a bead of rubber is baked onto the pan so you have to ditch the old pan and buy a new one on acount of the gasket." http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/showthread.php?t=320106

[Binjammin]

[Layne]

Lol that's exactly what I thought about.

[Layne]

I ordered new knock sensors... this project is taking forever. There's an option of Bosch sensors, or "OEM" sensors, which are clearly marked Bosch. So why pay more? My dealership ordered the Bosch from WorldPac for about $60 each.


I was thinking of preventatively replacing the crank sensor. There's OEM for $97 or "Vemo" for about $50. Never heard of Vemo, anyone know if they're any good? The crank sensor isn't hard to get to so I don't mind holding off for now. I just don't want it stranding me later.

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I'm not a fan of the rubber cap on the back of the manifold that always cracks... so I pulled out the fitting and made an aluminum plug to replace it. Pulling on the fitting broke it into 3 pieces.

[Binjammin]

I ordered new knock sensors... this project is taking forever. There's an option of Bosch sensors, or "OEM" sensors, which are clearly marked Bosch. So why pay more? My dealership ordered the Bosch from WorldPac for about $60 each.


I was thinking of preventatively replacing the crank sensor. There's OEM for $97 or "Vemo" for about $50. Never heard of Vemo, anyone know if they're any good? The crank sensor isn't hard to get to so I don't mind holding off for now. I just don't want it stranding me later.

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I'm not a fan of the rubber cap on the back of the manifold that always cracks... so I pulled out the fitting and made an aluminum plug to replace it. Pulling on the fitting broke it into 3 pieces.

The rubber plug (vacuum cap) that cracks, cracks every... 4 years or so? It costs $.25 to replace.

When that plastic thing you plan on shoving in cracks the plastic you're shoving it into, you'll pay more. I don't even know where you plan on sticking that thing, but there's no plastic that's soft enough to really make that work while still sealing correctly. Hard metal on hard plastic would need an oring somewhere to seal.

[Layne]

You don't own a M60 do you?

[Binjammin]

You don't own a M60 do you?

Actually an m62. Same plate. I was thinking you meant the nipples that take vacuum caps.

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As in... I own an m62b44

[Layne]

Oh ok. Nothing I can do about the smaller vacuum caps, but it's always the big one that cracks. I believe the M62 makes use of that port in some way, so there would not be a cap there. I'm sure you figured it out, but my aluminum bit replaces the plastic elbow and shoves directly into the orange seal.

[Layne]

Like so:

[WhoNew]

I don't even own an M60, and I love this thread. I'm going to go buy an old e32 740 just so I can do all this fun stuff !!

[Layne]

I don't even own an M60, and I love this thread. I'm going to go buy an old e32 740 just so I can do all this fun stuff !!

You better wait for the final price to come in.